Borderites fall to Sedro-Woolley

By Ian Ferguson

After a strong start to the season, the Borderites took a beating in a loss to Sedro-Woolley on the road October 2.

The defending 2A state champion Cubs beat the Borderites 48–8. One of the best running backs in the league, Sedro-Woolley senior Carter Crosby, played his first game of the season at multiple positions, keeping the Borderites guessing. Crosby scored two running touchdowns, caught a touchdown pass and even spent some time at quarterback.

“He’s one of the best players in the league, and we weren’t ready for him,” said Blaine head coach Jay Dodd. “They have a lot of good players besides him. They played very well, and on our side, one bad thing led to another and kind of snowballed throughout the game.”

The Cubs scored twice in the first quarter on a 52-yard pass and a 23-yard run. Blaine took an aggressive track on offense in the second quarter, but repeated stalls led to good field position for the Cubs, and Blaine’s defense couldn’t stop them. The score was 27–0 by halftime.

Blaine came out strong in the second half, with a textbook onside kick by Kyle Sentkowski and a recovery by Eric Davis. Jalen Kortlever threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Starcer* to give the Borderites their only touchdown of the night, and then threw a pass to Anthony Ball for the two-point conversion.

Despite the third quarter rally, Blaine couldn’t keep up with the Cubs on either side of the ball, and Sedro-Woolley continued to pile on touchdowns. The Cubs scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter and one in the fourth for a final score of 48–8.

Kortlever threw for 88 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Riley Fritsch ran for 119 yards. Blaine earned six first downs, while Sedro-Woolley earned 23.

Dodd said the loss, rather than revealing a “weakest link,” on the team, showed that everyone has areas to work on.

“When bad things happen on offense, everyone tends to blame the linemen, but it was a collective failure. It was everyone, and we all have to do a better job to continue win games,” Dodd said.

With the loss, the Borderites fell to 1–2 in the Northwest Conference (NWC) and 3–2 overall. Sedro-Woolley improved to the same record. There are four games left in the regular season.

“The kids were upset on the way home, and they were upset during the game. That’s actually encouraging to see. They don’t like to lose and they weren’t happy with how they were playing. They want to do everything they can to get better.”

Blaine will take on Anacortes at home this Friday, October 9 for the homecoming game. The Seahawks have yet to win a NWC game, and are 2–3 overall. Dodd said his Borderites are looking to improve in all aspects of the game in preparation for the homecoming matchup.

“We’re working on all those things that we need to improve on from last Friday,” Dodd said. “Gap control and getting off blocks for the front seven, better tackling on defense; everyone has to get better at something. We’re looking forward to proving to ourselves that we’re better than what we showed on the field at Sedro-Woolley.”

The NWC game against Anacortes begins at 7 p.m.

*Article changed to name correct player October 8. We regret the error.