BLAINE – The Tigers scored scored three touchdowns in the second half, while holding the Borderites out of the endzone, as Granite Falls defeated Blaine 27-6 on Friday night.
The Tigers scored first on a short touchdown run, but a strong passing attack from the Borderites allowed them to move down the field and the answered with a 45-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Connor Brown to senior wide receiver Kai Kerwin.
The extra point was wide right, which allowed Granite Falls to hold on to a 7-6 lead at the half. Despite the single-point lead by the Tigers, it was the Borderites who had dominated most of the first half as they racked up 167 yards of offense to Granite Falls’ 86 yards.
The second half started with a big boost for the Tigers as they recovered a fumble on the kickoff that began the third quarter. Four plays later they punched it in from a yard out.
The Borderites were never able to recover as Granite Falls also scored on a long touchdown run in the third quarter, and capitalized on a bad snap on fourth down in the final quarter with a 6-yard touchdown run.
Kerwin finished with six receptions for 104 yards to lead the Blaine on offense. The defense was led by sophomore linebacker Matt Campion who finished with 11.5 tackles.
Junior linebacker Axel Shelton had 9.5 tackles and stop behind the line of scrimmage, while junior outside linebacker Peyton Bouma had four tackles, two passes knocked down and an interception and junior defensive tackle Blake Collins finished with seven tackles.
The Borderites (1-3) will begin conference play at Lynden Christian (4-0) on Friday at 7:00.
Granite Falls 27 Blaine 6 GF 7 0 14 6 - 27 BLA 0 6 0 0 - 6 GF - 1 yard touchdown run (kick good) BLA - Kerwin 45 pass from C. Brown (kick failed) GF - 1 yard touchdown run (kick good) GF - 36 yard touchdown run (kick good) GF - 6 yard touchdown run (kick blocked) GF BLA 40-176 Rush Att-Yards 28-9 4-11-1 Comp-Att-Int 11-23-0 24 Passing Yards 159 Individual Leaders RUSHING - GF: N/A. BLA: Johannesson 9-27, Kerwin 4-2, C. Brown 14-(-1), bad snap 1-(-19). PASSING - GF: N/A. BLA: C. Brown 11-23-0-159. RECEIVING - GF: N/A. BLA: Kerwin 6-104, P. Bouma 3-47, I. Bouma 1-6, Candanoza 1-2.
