PE ELL – The youthful Blaine football team played hard, but ultimately found itself on the losing side as Pe Ell/Willapa Valley defeated the Borderites 27-13 at Pe Ell High School on Saturday afternoon.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Titans were driving down the field when junior middle linebacker Axel Shelton shot through the line and made the stop behind the line of scrimmage, while also stripping the ball loose. Although Blaine wasn’t able to recover the football, Pe Ell found itself with a 9-yard loss. One play later, the Titans scored on a 21-yard touchdown pass.
The ensuing kickoff was returned to midfield, but the ball was eventually fumbled and Pe Ell went right on the attack and scored on the next play with a 50-yard touchdown pass.
The two teams each traded punt on the following two possessions, and the Titans then put a big drive together, but it was halted for a moment when the Borderites intercepted a pass deep in their own territory. It was one of those good news/bad news things, however. The good news was obviously the interception. The bad news was that he was quickly stripped of the ball and the Titans fell on it for a new set of downs.
Two plays later, Pe Ell scored its third touchdown of the quarter.
Blaine didn’t fold up and go home, though. An interception by freshman safety Jackson Bogaards gave the Borderites great field position just before halftime, and they took advantage of it with a 6-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Connor Brown.
The Titans scored a 2-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and Blaine finished out the scoring with a 27-yard deep ball down the left side line from Brown to junior wide receiver Peyton Bouma. The 6-foot-3 Bouma finished with seven receptions for 129 yards.
Shelton led the defensive attack for Blaine with 16.5 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble. Bouma added six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack, while sophomore outside linebacker Saihou Kanagie finished with 8.5 tackles and one tackle for loss.
The Borderites (0-2) will play their first home game on Friday at 6:00 against Chelan (2-0).
Pe Ell/Willapa Valley 27 Blaine 13 BLA 0 6 0 7 - 13 PWV 0 21 6 0 - 27 PWV - 21 yard touchdown pass (kick failed) PWV - 50 yard touchdown pass (2pt good) PWV - 5 yard touchdown run (kick good) BLA - C. Brown 6 run (bad snap) PWV - 2 yard touchdown run (kick failed) BLA - P. Bouma 27 pass from C. Brown (P. Bouma kick) BLA PWV 18-(-2) Rush Att-Yards 43-194 17-31-0 Comp-Att-Int 8-18-2 229 Passing Yards 167 Individual Leaders RUSHING - BLA: C. Brown 11-4, Kerwin 1-0, Johannesson 6-(-6). PWV: N/A. PASSING - BLA: C. Brown 16-30-0-182, Kerwin 1-1-0-47. PWV: N/A. RECEIVING - BLA: P. Bouma 7-129, Kerwin 7-33, L. Brown 1-47, Candanoza 1-19, I. Bouma 1-1. PWV: N/A.
