BELLINGHAM – Little could be done to stop the Storm as they rattled off 49 points in the first half, on their way to a 56-7 win over the Bayhawks on Thursday night at Civic Stadium.
Senior speedster Maddox Strickland slightly mishandled the opening kickoff, and then quickly made up for it by returning it 95 yards for a touchdown.
Bellingham then went 3-and-out, and Squalicum scored two plays later on a 49-yard touchdown run by Strickland.
A fumble on the next play from scrimmage was recovered by Storm junior linebacker Brock Scammell, which gave the ball back to Squalicum at the Bayhawk 20-yard line. A few plays later, sophomore fullback Tucker Hofstedt powered his way into the end zone from two yards out.
Bellingham was forced to punt once again, and this time junior Asher Asbjornsen was able to fly around the edge and partially block the punt, which gave the Storm great field position once again, this time at the Bayhawk 33-yard line. Four plays later, Asbjornsen found the end zone on a pitch to the outside which covered 28 yards as he got a great block downfield from junior right tackle Kolby Giles.
The Bayhawks started to move the ball on their next drive, but Scammell was able to force a fumble and Asbjornsen scooped it up and returned it 28 yards, deep into Bellingham territory. Two plays later, junior wingback Mason Sone took a misdirection carry eight yards for the score. The score was 35-0 nearing the end of the first quarter.
Bellingham then picked up a number of first downs, and was able to move the ball into Storm territory, but Squalicum senior strong safety Ray Hoffmann squashed any ideas of the Bayhawks getting on the board as he intercepted a pass and took it 77 yards for a touchdown. It marked Squalicum’s 24th pick-six since Coach Nick Lucey arrived in 2014, the most by any Whatcom County team since that time.
On Bellingham’s next possession an incomplete pass on fourth down gave the ball back to Squalicum who then scored on the next play with a 39-yard rushing touchdown from Asbjornsen.
With the continuous clock in the second half, the game moved quickly over the final two quarters.
Asbjornsen intercepted a pass, and sophomore reserve running back Logan Huntley scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.
Bayhawk seniors Ben Leonard and Matthew Steel connected on a 75-yard touchdown pass in the final minute. It was the 14th time they hooked up on a passing touchdown, more than any other connection in Whatcom County this season. It was also Leonard’s 46th career touchdown pass, which ties him with Nick Knutson for the most in school history.
Squalicum (4-5) will await it’s opponent for next week’s Round-of-32 game, while Bellingham (3-6) will finish the season on Friday night at 6:00 against Cedar Park Christian (6-3) at Civic Stadium.
Squalicum 56
Bellingham 7
SQU 35 14 0 7 - 56
BEL 0 0 0 7 - 7
SQU - Strickland 95 kickoff return (Larranaga kick)
SQU - Strickland 49 run (Larranaga kick)
SQU - Hofstedt 2 run (Larranaga kick)
SQU - Asbjornsen 28 run (Larranaga kick)
SQU - Sone 8 run (Larranaga kick)
SQU - Hoffmann 77 interception return (Larranaga kick)
SQU - Asbjornsen 39 run (Larranaga kick)
SQU - Huntley 1 run (Larranaga kick)
BEL - Steel 75 pass from B. Leonard (Diaz kick)
SQU BEL
26-216 Rush Att-Yards 6-10
2-4-0 Comp-Att-Int 23-39-2
49 Passing Yards 233
Individual Leaders
RUSHING - SQU: Asbjornsen 4-81, Strickland 2-45, Hofstedt 7-32, Sone 2-28, Young 4-15, Price 1-9, Oswald 4-6, Huntley 1-1, Smith 1-(-1). BEL: B. Leonard 2-9, Chartier 1-2, Miller 1-2, Malone 1-(-1), Maina 1-(-2).
PASSING - SQU: Price 0-2-0-0, Smith 2-2-0-49. BEL: B. Leonard 23-39-2-233.
RECEIVING - SQU: Hofstedt 1-27, Larranaga 1-22. BEL: White 9-79, Steel 6-116, VanHofwegen 5-36, McGerr 2-2, Malone 1-0.
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