FRIDAY HARBOR – The Wolvernies recovered a pair of onside kicks early on, in an attempt to keep up with the Borderites, but Blaine wound up taking down Friday Harbor 42-21 on Friday night.
The Borderites got on the board first after senior Kai Kerwin returned the opening kickoff 51 yards. He and his teammates then put together a drive that ended with a 6-yard touchdown run by Kerwin.
After forcing a punt on the following drive, Blaine was faced with a 4th-and-16 on its own 47-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Connor Brown relaxed under the pressure, and fired a dart over the middle to a streaking Peyton Bouma and the 6-foot-3 junior wide receiver did the rest as he scored on a 53-yard touchdown.
The Wolverines then ripped off a 56-yard touchdown run to bring the game within seven points, but Borderites quickly scored their third touchdown of the quarter when Kerwin scored on a 1-yard run.
Friday Harbor quickly returned the favor by scoring a short touchdown of its own on the final play of the first quarter.
The Wolverines began the second quarter by successfully recovering an onside kick, and when they completed a 15-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-goal, they were able to tie the game at 21-21 with 7:15 left in the first half.
Friday Harbor then recovered a second onside kick in a row, and it was proving to be the best way to keep the hot Borderites offense off the field. After eventually turning over the Wolverines on downs near midfield, Blaine took over the football, and for that matter, the rest of the game.
Kerwin then scored his third touchdown of the first half when he took a shovel pass from Brown, and scampered 15 yards towards the endzone with a little over a minute remaining in the first half.
Brown then went on to throw two more touchdown passes in the second half, with a six-yarder to Bouma and a 16-yarder to junior Landon Brown, who scored his first career touchdown. Connor Brown finished with 316 yards though the air on an incredible efficient 22-of-27 passing. Kerwin and Bouma each hit the century mark in receiving yards.
Bouma once again led the defense, as he finished with 10 tackles, four tackles for loss and two quarterback sacks. Sophomore linebacker Matt Campion had nine tackles and an interception, and junior linebacker Axel Shelton added eight tackles, one tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.
The Borderites (2-5) will return to conference play on Friday when they host Mount Baker (6-1) at 7:00.
Blaine 42 Friday Harbor 21 BLA 21 6 7 7 - 42 FH 14 7 0 0 - 21 BLA - Kerwin 6 run (P. Bouma kick) BLA - P. Bouma 53 pass from C. Brown (P. Bouma kick) FH - 56 yard touchdown run (kick failed) BLA - Kerwin 1 run (P. Bouma kick) FH - 1 yard touchdown run (2pt pass good) FH - 15 yard touchdown pass (kick good) BLA - Kerwin 15 pass from C. Brown (kick failed) BLA - P. Bouma 6 pass from C. Brown (L. Brown pass from C. Brown) BLA - L. Brown 16 pass from C. Brown (P. Bouma kick) BLA FH 21-94 Rush Att-Yards 29-120 22-27-0 Comp-Att-Int 9-18-1 316 Passing Yards 131 Individual Leaders RUSHING - BLA: Kerwin 11-59, Johannesson 3-17, Hagee 2-11, C. Brown 5-7. FH: N/A. PASSING - BLA: C. Brown 22-27-0-316. FH: N/A. RECEIVING - BLA: Kerwin 9-100, P. Bouma 5-124, Candanoza 5-57, L. Brown 2-48, Bogaards 1-2. FH: N/A.
