POSTED: Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008
PREP FOOTBALL: Red Raiders pass test against Anacortes
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closeBELLINGHAM - Don't double-check those schedules. The team wearing red and black playing at Civic Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 11, was indeed the Bellingham High School football team.
Yes the same Bellingham football team that only runs the ball.
But on Saturday, the Red Raiders came out throwing, and it helped set the tone for a 40-7 Northwest Conference Class 2A victory over visiting Anacortes.
"We wanted to focus on the pass a little bit, so we committed to it this week," Bellingham coach Doug Trainor said. "We knew we're a bit one-dimensional, and we wanted to make some passes that we could be proud of. (Quarterback) Kris Peterson did a good job with it."
It took Peterson and the Red Raiders (3-3, 2-2 NWC 2A) only four plays to attempt their first pass of the game - a 12-yard completion to Max Nelson from their own 31. Before the 18-play drive was finished, they completed two others to Nelson - and eight-yarder deep in Anacortes territory and a 17-yard touchdown pass to cap the drive.
The three completions on the drive matched the number of pass attempts Bellingham had in its entire Week 5 victory over Mount Vernon. Peterson also had two incompletions on the drive, meaning the play selection was 13 runs and five passes.
The touchdown pass was a thing of beauty, as Peterson and the entire offense rolled to the right. The Seahawks defense followed, leaving Nelson completely alone on the left side of the field for an easy score with 2.7 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
But as nice as that drive was, it's unlikely Red Raiders fans will have to start breaking out any "Air Trainor" references any time soon.
Peterson attempted only five more passes in the final three quarters, completing one, and Jeremy Rick hit two of his four pass attempts and had one intercepted. All six Bellingham completions went to Nelson, who finished with 67 yards receiving.
Fortunately, Bellingham knows a thing or two about how to run the ball, as the Red Raiders' bread-and-butter ground game took over.
Rick, Reid Chivers and Michael Gonzalez each eclipsed 100 yards rushing in the game, as Bellingham piled up 404 yards on the ground.
"Our backs and our offensive line did a great job again," Trainor said. "They took control of the game."
Chivers, who finished with a game-high 129 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries, scored on Bellingham's second and third possessions of the game on runs of 1 and 44 yards to give the Red Raiders a 21-0 halftime lead.
Rick, Chivers and Gonzalez each added a second-half touchdown to put the game away, as Rick rushed for 101 yards on 19 carries and Gonzalez had 103 yards on 12 attempts.
The Bellingham defense also got the job done Saturday, holding Anacortes to 173 yards of total offense. The only score of the game for the Seahawks (0-6, 0-4) came on a 91-yard kickoff return by Carenza Farrell.
With the win, Bellingham moves into a three-way tie with Blaine and Squalicum for third place in the Class 2A playoff picture behind Lynden and Burlington-Edison. The top four teams earn a trip to the Northwest District crossover games in Week 10, while the fifth-place team faces a play-in game to the crossover round.
"It's going to be a dogfight all the way to the end," Trainor said of the playoff picture. "The schedule is set up nicely for the all those teams, because we all get to play each other. It's going to be fun."
Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2271.
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