LANGLEY – The lead changed hands three times in the first six minutes of the game, but the Falcons ran away with it after that as South Whidbey beat Bellingham 53-9 at Waterman’s Field on Friday night.
The Bayhawks turned the ball over five times, and it came back to bite them as the Falcon rushing attack capitalized on a big way, totaling 313 yards on the ground.
Bellingham scored first after a long opening drive that had a good mix of runs and passes ended with a 34-yard field goal by senior Liam Poulton-Claypool.
South Whidbey answered back with a long touchdown run on its second play from scrimmage.
The ensuing kickoff was taken 93 yards for a touchdown by 230-pound sophomore Tyler Frost, but that would be the last time the Bayhawks would be able to put up points.
Sophomore Gabriel VanHofwegen got his first varsity start at quarterback, and completed 10-of-18 passes for 46 yards. Senior slot receiver Lucas Cousens caught seven of them for 32 yards.
Senior running back Logan Steeves had another big game on the ground, rushing for 95 yards on 18 carries. He also tied for the team-lead with six tackles on defense. Frost also chipped in with six tackles from his middle linebacker spot.
The Bayhawks (2-2) will try to get back on track on Saturday when they take on Napavine (4-0) at 1:00.
South Whidbey 53 Bellingham 9 BEL 9 0 0 0 - 9 SW 16 22 8 7 - 53 BEL - Poulton-Claypool 34 FG SW - 62 yard touchdown run (2pt run good) BEL - Frost 93 kickoff return (kick failed) SW - 26 yard touchdown run (2pt run good) SW - 40 yard touchdown pass (2pt run good) SW - 25 yard touchdown run (2pt run good) SW - 3 yard touchdown run (run failed) SW - 3 yard touchdown run (2pt run good) SW - 7 yard touchdown run (kick good) BEL SW 34-156 Rush Att-Yards 36-313 10-21-3 Comp-Att-Int 5-6-0 46 Passing Yards 106 Individual Leaders RUSHING - BEL: Steeves 18-95, Frost 8-50, Cousens 3-15, VanHofwegen 3-6, Rasset 2-(-10). SW: N/A. PASSING - BEL: VanHofwegen 10-18-3-46, Rasset 0-3-0-0. SW: N/A. RECEIVING - BEL: Cousens 7-32, Arcese 2-11, Steeves 1-3. SW: N/A.
