SPORTS
by Jack Kintner

Borderites celebrate 45-20 win over Coupeville

Blaine opened the 2005 football season on the road last week with a very pleasant 45-20 shellacking of the Coupeville wolves down on Whidbey Island. Joey Paciorek, moved from receiver to quarterback this year to replace the departed Doug Goldsby, provided the expected fireworks, scoring three times, rushing for 179 yards and passing for 150 to account for 329 of Blaine’s 458 yards of offense.

But two other players not heard from at the varsity level last year figured huge in Blaine’s win. Adam Dykstra enrolled at Blaine last spring as a sophomore after moving here from Colorado. The junior running back, often found playing a wide receiver position in the slot, caught two passes for 28 yards, rushed nine times for 55 and scored 20 of the Borderites’ 45 points.

Jordan Villars begins his senior year three inches taller and 20 pounds heavier than last year, when he saw limited varsity action toward the end of the season. In this first game of the year he caught three passes for 15 yards, but more than that came up huge in the second quarter, snagging a screen pass for a first down when Blaine declined to punt on a fourth and nine and went for it.

On the previous play Joey Paciorek had rolled to his left and thrown long from midfield to Nick Jordan, streaking down the left sideline, only to have the ball tipped away from him in the end zone by the Coupeville’s agile if diminutive junior defensive back Trevor Tucker. After a nicely done screen Blaine found itself faced with a fourth and nine on Coupeville’s 32, a tempting opportunity.

Coach Dave Fakkema decided to go for the yardage instead of a field goal or punt, and Paciorek threw a perfect crossing pass to Villars, who turned to face Paciorek, soared over Coupeville’s Mike Bagby and caught the ball right on the numbers.

Bagby, the son of Coupeville’s head coach Ron Bagby and probably their best athlete, stopped Villars cold with a hard but clean hit from behind, driving his shoulder into the small of the receiver’s back and dropping him to the turf like a sack of potatoes kicked off a bridge. One could hear the pads pop clear down to the Keystone ferry, but Villars held on to the ball, and with it the 13 yard gain and the first down on Coupeville’s 19.

The ebullient Borderites went on from that momentum-grabber to score three more touchdowns in the three minutes and change left in the first half.

Villa’s reception led to Dykstra’s first touchdown, a six yard sweep around the right end in which he used deceptive speed to turn the corner and score. The kick failed but Blaine scored twice more in the final minute, first on Dykstra’s four yard circle around the left end. On the ensuing kickoff Paciorek booted the ball straight into the legs of a Coupeville lineman, and then Blaine recovered the bounce back to take possession on what amounted to a surprising and perfectly played on-side kickoff. A play or so later Paciorek sprinted 45 yards to paydirt after breaking a gang tackle at Coupeville’s 20, running over Bagby in the process.

The halftime score was then 24-7, and Coupeville came back gamely to match the Borderites’ lone third quarter touchdown, another long Paciorek scamper, but Blaine dominated in the end with Dykstra adding another score from 18 yards out and reserve sophomore quarterback Dylan Haines scoring on a one-yard plunge toward the end of the game.
Blaine dominated defensively, sophomore Cody Dobbs nabbing Coupeville’s Trevor Tucker by the jersey as he flashed through a gaping hole in Blaine’s defensive line early in the second quarter. Dobbs saved a certain first down and possible score, giving Coupeville a second and five instead of a first and ten or, possibly, the lead.

Blaine showed poise, running 52 plays to Coupeville’s 36, getting more first downs (20) than the Wolves and outgaining them offensively 468 to 135 yards. The offensive production was spread out among seven players in both rushing and receiving departments. Mike Poitras shared running back duties with Dykstra, picking up 15 yards the hard way in nine carries, and Rob Bleecker had six receptions for 76 yards.

The Borderites next play at Lynden Christian in their league opener next Friday night at 7:30. An aerial circus may ensue as LC’s senior quarterback Blake Holleman found out he had a receiver last week in the lanky, six foot three inch 170-pound junior Zach De Boer when LC took the measure of Nooksack 17-7 in their league opener. What De Boer couldn’t catch, junior running back (and Blaine resident) Mike
Martin earned on the ground.

This is a much better and deeper Blaine team than we’ve seen for a while, with heft and agility on the line and a lot of varsity experience in the backfield.

An even sweeter beginning to a promising season would be to steal a
victory from the proud Lyncs in their stadium where for the last few years they’ve pretty much had their way.