BELLINGHAM – A big second quarter catapulted the Bayhawks out in front, and then they held on at the end to defeat Oak Harbor 24-19 at Civic Stadium on Thursday night.
The Wildcats possessed the ball for the majority of the first quarter with a long, sustained drive, but a fumble in the red zone was recovered by senior linebacker Sonny Powell, and that’s when Bellingham came alive.
The Bayhawks began the first quarter with a 2-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback to senior wide receiver Myllo Wright to kickoff the scoring. It was Wright’s 40 reception of his career, but it also happened to be his first varsity touchdown.
Oak Harbor came back inspired and after back-to-back rushing plays that combined for 57 yards, a five-yard touchdown took place to tie the game with 6:06 left in the first half.
Bellingham took the lead when Leonard went over the top and found senior wide receiver Kai Nelson on a 19-yard touchdown pass, which happened to be Nelson’s first varsity touchdown.
As Leonard kept feeding his seniors on the final game of their careers, there was one senior who appeared to be the hungriest, and that was the 6-foot-4 202-pound Joe Harward.
Numerous plays went to Harward to move the chains, and Leonard then found him on an 8-yard touchdown strike with 33 seconds left until halftime. It was Harward’s 12th receiving touchdown of the season, which tied a school record.
Numerous records would fall later in the contest.
A third-quarter drive stalled for the Bayhawks, and they elected to attempt a 42-yard field goal, which was pounded home by junior Constantine Frank.
Bellingham held a 24-7 lead going into the final quarter, and a fumble recovery by senior nose tackle Josh Kroll made it seem like the rest of the game would be smooth sailing for the Bayhawks. However, it was anything but that, as the Wildcats also had seniors playing in their final game, and on the next play Oak Harbor intercepted a pass, which set up a 6-yard touchdown run.
The Wildcats then recovered an onside kick, and were able to put another strong drive together, this time ending with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Now down by five points, with a little less than seven minutes remaining in the game, Oak Harbor was able to recover another onside kick, and the Wildcats had all the momentum on their side.
A stingy Bayhawk defense, led by senior linebacker Caiden Hamidian who ended with a team-high 11 tackles and two tackles for loss, was able to stop Oak Harbor in the red zone on third down. The Wildcat quarterback tried a bootleg run to the right on fourth down, but was pushed out of bounds short of the line to gain by Harward, which gave the ball back to Bellingham at the three-yard line.
The Bayhawks were able to run the final few minutes off the clock and solidify the win.
Leonard completed 28-of-35 passes for 206 yards, and his 28 completions established a new school record for completions in a single game, which was previously held by his older brother Josh.
Harward also had himself a day, as on his final night as a varsity football player he broke school records for receptions in a career (105) and receiving yards in a career (1607). He also established a new Whatcom County record with 20 receptions in a game.
Bellingham finished the season with a 5-5 record.
Bellingham 24 Oak Harbor 19 OH 0 7 0 12 - 19 BEL 0 21 3 0 - 24 BEL - Wright 2 pass from Leonard (Franz kick) OH - 5 yard touchdown run (kick good) BEL - Nelson 19 pass from Leonard (Franz kick) BEL - Harward 8 pass from Leonard (Franz kick) BEL - Franz 42 FG OH - 6 yard touchdown run (run failed) OH - 1 yard touchdown run (pass failed) OH BEL 54-298 Rush Att-Yards 13-41 1-3-0 Comp-Att-Int 28-35-1 (-3) Passing Yards 206 Individual Leaders RUSHING - OH: N/A. BEL: Harward 2-14, Powell 5-12, Leonard 4-12, Hanstead 2-3. PASSING - OH: N/A. BEL: Leonard 28-35-1-206. RECEIVING - OH: N/A. BEL: Harward 20-168, Wright 3-15, VanHofwegen 3-2, Nelson 1-19, Gerstl 1-2.
