BY JEFF WOOD – For Whatcom Preps
BELLINGHAM – The calendar turned to fall this week and so did the weather as a rainy evening greeted two Northwest Conference football teams looking for their first wins of the season.
If you were picking the winner based on which mascot would fare better in the wet conditions, you would be correct, as the Sehome Mariners pulled out a high-scoring affair over the Lakewood Cougars, 35-27 on Friday night at Civic Stadium.
It didn’t look promising for Sehome early on as Lakewood jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter on a balanced attack, getting both rushing and passing touchdowns before Sehome ran an offensive play. This was because of a successful onside kick by the Cougars after their first score.
As is a time-honored strategy at Lakewood, they lined up in the “swinging gate” formation for their two-point play attempts. The first time, they shifted to PAT and were successful kicking the extra point. However, leading 13-0, Lakewood snapped the ball to their quarterback who attempted to run an option play to the right. Sehome senior Linebacker Eljas Lara made a sure tackle and prevented the conversion which proved important later in the contest.
Sehome moved the ball down to the Lakewood 36 yard-line on its first offensive possession, but a holding call forced them to punt the ball back to the Cougars. Then the Sehome defensive backfield started to lock down the Cougars and senior defensive tackle Logan Rogers got a sack on 3rd-and-10.
As the game moved into the second quarter, Sehome started to run the ball effectively. Sophomore running back Cash Barnes started following his offensive line and ran downhill into the Lakewood red zone. Barnes finished the drive with a one-yard plunge that got the Mariners on the board at 13-7.
Lakewood also worked the running game in the second quarter and answered the Sehome score.
Six consecutive Cougar rushes culminated in a 14-yard touchdown and Lakewood looked to be in control with a 20-7 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, however, Sehome senior Nicky Smith briefly fumbled the ball before securing it, finding a seam, and racing 78 yards for a Mariner touchdown. Senior kicker Bane Mitchell then kicked the PAT and with only 1:47 left before the half, it was Lakewood 20, Sehome 14.
Sehome also got in on the onside kick party as Mitchell blasted the following kickoff at the Lakewood frontline. It bounced off a Cougar player and was recovered by Mitchell himself. Sehome moved into field goal range but a delay of game penalty took 3 points off the board and Mitchell’s second attempt sailed wide left, keeping it a 6-point lead for the Cougars at halftime.
The Mariners were efficient on offense in the third quarter, scoring in just four plays and taking a 21-20 lead. The touchdown came on an accurate pass from junior quarterback Jad Geiger to senior tight end Devon Bengtsson who broke free of his defender and burst into the end zone 16 yards later.
The Cougars came right back and scored on an 8-play drive, reclaiming a 27-21 lead, electing not to attempt another 2-point play after their failed attempt in the first half.
From that point on it was the Cash Barnes and Sehome offensive line show. Barnes ran for 177 of his game-high 200 yards in the second half and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:38 to play in the third quarter.
After a stop by the Sehome defense, a Cougar punt was downed on the Mariner one yard line. Sehome fed Barns to push the ball up to the 35. Then, on a nifty toss around the left side, Smith got the edge and sprinted 65 yards to paydirt. A final Mitchell PAT pushed the Sehome lead to 35-27.
A Bengtsson interception sealed the win as the Mariners secured their first victory of the season besting the Cougars in a hard fought and exciting contest.
Sehome (1-3) will host Lynden (3-1) at 7:00 on Friday at Civic Stadium.
Sehome 35 Lakewood 27 LAK 13 7 7 0 - 27 SEH 0 14 14 7 - 35 LAK - 1 yard touchdown run (kick good) LAK - 14 yard touchdown pass (run failed) SEH - Barnes 1 run (Mitchell kick) LAK - 14 yard touchdown run (kick good) SEH - Smith 78 kickoff return (Mitchell kick) SEH - Bengtsson 16 pass from Geiger (Mitchell kick) LAK - 1 yard touchdown run (kick good) SEH - Barnes 24 run (Mitchell kick) SEH - Smith 65 run (Mitchell kick) LAK SEH 31-104 Rush Att-Yards 31-259 13-29-1 Comp-Att-Int 7-14-0 146 Passing Yards 85 Individual Leaders RUSHING - LAK: N/A. SEH: Barnes 27-200, Smith 2-69, Lara 1-10, Geiger 1-(-20). PASSING - LAK: N/A. SEH: Geiger 7-14-0-85. RECEIVING - LAK: N/A. SEH: Bengtsson 3-25, Anderson 3-25, Smith 2-26.
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