SPORTS

Powerful Meridian tops Borderites 34-0
Meridian, state finalists the past two years, defeated Blaine 34-0 in North Cascades football at Laurel on September 21, making the Blaine-Nooksack Valley game September 28 at Borderite Field a contest of the crucial variety.
State quarter-finalists Lynden Christian (2-0) are favored to challenge Meridian for first spot in the NCC. Nooksack and Blaine are expected to vie for the third and final playoff position.
Blaine went into Meridian game without running back Matt Timothy, out with a hip abductor tear. The short-bench Borderites (they had 27 bodies in uniform) had to rely on Zeth Simpson, probably the best in the conference.
With only one threat to watch, Meridian keyed on Simpson and held him to 103 yards in 23 carries. Blaine’s team rushing total was 100 yards, all other Borderite carries totalled in the negative. The air routes for Blaine were not through friendly skies either, the O&B being held to 14 air-borne yards.
Things went sour for Blaine from the very start, the Trojans recovering their own kickoff on the Blaine 23-yard line when the Borderites failed to down the ball. Three plays later Colin Morris went on a 22-yard safari for a TD and after a missed PAT attempt, Meridian led 6-0.
Late in Q1, Meridian QB Mark Simmons passed long and lethal to Sean McKinnon in the deep left corner of the end zone for MT’s second TD. Simmons then flipped to Will Wantz for a two-point PAT. Meridian were up, 14-0.
The Borderites came back to move the ball from their own 32 to the Trojan three on 12 plays. But four tries later, Blaine was six blades of grass and a few inches short of a TD.
Meridian promptly went on a 16-play, 99-yard drive that culminated in another L & L (long and lethal) pass from Simmons to McKinnon in the left corner of the end zone. RB Jesse Alderson added a couple more TDs to MT’s total in the second half..

Neil's Notes
Two Shutouts For Lady B’s
Blaine blanked Mount Baker 1-0 at Kendall on September 18 and Lakewood 2-0 at the Pipe on September 20 in North Cascades Conference girls’ soccer competition.
The Lady B’s got their first goal against the Cougars at 9:30 of the first half as Linsey Taylor put a 30-yard shot into the upper right corner of the Cougar net. Brenda Johnson got the assist.
Blaine’s second goal came at nine minutes of the second half and was, as Borderite coach Dan Steelquist said, “A thing of beauty.”
Krista Jones began maneuvers with a pass to Kristina Francis, who was going down the left sideline on an overlapping run. Jones then accelerated past Francis on an overlapping excursion of her own while Francis crossed to Kim Harmening in space just off the left corner of the Cougar box. Harmening snapped the ball back to the left side to Jones who was completing her run past Francis. Jones culminated the “out-in-out” combination she had started by blasting the ball into the Lakewood net.
Harmening scored the Lady B’s lone goal from a yard away six minutes into the MB game when the Baker keeper bobbled Linsey Taylor’s long, hard cross. Blaine keeper Shela Robertson made five saves against Lakewood and six against MB in getting two shutouts.

Coulter, Walcon Win
Blaine’s Grace Coulter and Alden Walcon got wins in a tri-way NCC cross country meet with Mt. Baker and Granite Falls at Deming on September 20. Coulter won the girls’ race, cruising the Silver Lake Park course in 18:33, 10 seconds off the course record. Walcon ran a 16:36 to win the boys’ bit. Other finishers for Blaine boys were Dan Balmer, 8th in 18:47; Garrett Highley, 30th in 21:29; and Ken Cunningham, 31st in 21:32.
Vangie Gorsuch was 15th for the girls in 24:26.

Lady B’s Fall to Top Duo
The Lady B’s suffered a pair of 3-0 defeats to the NCC’s power-packed duo of Lynden Christian and Meridian. LC topped Blaine 15-9, 15-5, 15-2 on September 18 at Lynden and Meridian stopped the B’s 15-2, 15-11, 15-5 at Blaine on September 20.
Blaine’s Becky Riddle and Jess Freeman had perfect serving evenings in both games. Amanda Stall had a perfect game and an ace against LC and Jessica Summers got seven kills against Meridian.

Blaine Goes 2-for-3
Blaine’s boys tennis team bested Coupeville 6-1 on September 18 at Coupeville, were defeated 5-2 on September 20 by Ferndale at Blaine and rallied to win the Friday Harbor Invitational on September 22.
The Borderites won 3-of-4 in singles and went 3-for-3 in doubles in the Coupeville contest. It was Scott Bianchi over Casey Clark 6-2, 6-3 in No. 1 singles; Grant Sanders over Ben Kortlever 6-2, 6-1 in No. 2 ; and Michael Allan over Trevor Mueller 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-2 in No. 4.
In doubles, it was C.J. Stauffer-Jake Hamburg over Nathaniel Mouw-Eric Taylor 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; Jack Freal-Lucas Werdal over Andrew Mouw-Adrian Kuschnereit 4-6, 7-5, 6-4; and Alex Cross-Ben Mallahan over Arlan Pringle/Bill Bond 8-4.
Blaine’s wins against Ferndale came in singles with Bianchi over Ferndale’s Chris Bateman 6-2, 6-1 and Sanders over Will Menzies 6-1,
7-5.
The Borderites tallied 27 points to second-place Stanwood’s 26 to take the Friday Harbor happening. FH got 20 and Coupeville, 17 points.
Bianchi beat FH’s Jake Byron 6-0, 6-2 and Coupeville’s Casey Clark 6-2, 6-2 before topping teammate Sanders 6-3, 6-1 to win singles.
Hamburg-Stauffer defeated Coupeville’s Kuschnereit-Mouw 6-4, 6-7 (5) (7-2); lost to FH’s Andrew Westphalen-Elliot Thomsen 3-6, 6-4 (7-3); then topped Stanwood’s Greg Zacher-Ryan Willmer 6-3, 6-2 to take third place in doubles.
Freal-Werdal fell 6-0, 6-2 to Coupeville’s Nathaniel Mouw-Eric Taylor and 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to FH’s Drew Allen-Alex Altman.

Sponsors Needed
Blaine High School’s and Blaine Force’s summer fastpitch team are looking for sponsors for their “Gold, Silver, Bronze” Banner program. The 3x9 foot banners will be displayed on the ballpark’s fences at the Pipe from March through July. Sponsors, who choose a gold banner, can have their ad placed in game day, tournament and jamboree programs as well. To have a spot held for your business and for further info, call Mike Dodd at 332-8425 or 371-7188; Rob Adams at 325-8157 or Tim Walter at 332-7128.

Wrestling sign up now
The 3rd annual Whatcom County K-6 Folkstyle Wrestling League, which runs from Thursday, September 27 (registration night, 6-7 p.m., Ken Waters Gym) until Saturday, November 3, the day of the championship tournament held at Blaine high school.
What?
• A fall folkstyle wrestling program, which is the same style wrestled middle and high school.
• An opportunity to compete locally against kids with the same level of experience.
• Kids are matched up by weight, age, and experience.
• An opportunity to be part of a quality program at a very low cost.
How much?
• A $20 registration fee to join, which pays for excess insurance coverage and a t-shirt.
The season is relatively short – about 5 weeks – so it’s important to register on (or before) the registration date. Registration night will include a parent meeting to discuss the league, and plans for the season. Your kids will need to sit with you during the meeting. If you have questions, call 371-7467.
Attention football players: Did you know that wrestling is tremendous for football players, and vice versa? Just ask Blaine high head football coach and assistant wrestling coach Jim Rasar. He says the sports go hand-in-hand! We will do everything possible to schedule practices and matches around your football schedule, and we may even schedule sessions for football players who may need to miss a regularly scheduled practice.

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