The past week was a mixed bag for Blaine High School sports.
Coming into a huge game against Lynden Christian, at home, after starting the season 4-0 and earning a 1A state ranking – which also neatly functions as a giant target on the team’s back – Blaine football lost 28-7 and dropped its first conference game of the season.
Meanwhile, both girls soccer and volleyball took care of business against Mt. Baker and earned dearly-needed, bounce-back wins after brief losing skids. Rounding things out, cross-country has kept chugging along, performing well in massive invitational meets across the state.
The Borderites weren’t able to keep its undefeated start to the season alive against Northwest Conference (NWC) rival Lynden Christian (LC) at home on October 4, losing 28-7 and dropping to 4-1 (0-1 NWC).
The Borderites, on multiple occasions, drove the ball cleanly and efficiently down the field against a talented LC defense, only to be held up in the red zone without any points to show for, most notably via two red zone interceptions committed in the first half.
Head coach Andy Olson said he knows this team can compete physically with anybody in the always-tough NWC, but that the Borderites weren’t mentally prepared on Friday night.
“Ultimately what did us in, and I feel strongly about this, is our mental toughness,” Olson said. “Learning how to handle adversity and being able to move on to the next play, LC did a better job than we did.”
Despite Blaine outgaining its opponents in both passing (145 to 87) and rushing yards (224 to 162), Blaine was only able to muster a single second-half score – albeit on a pretty touchdown connection from senior Colin Davis to Blake Koreski that cut the score to 21-7.
But Lynden Christian was able to capitalize off of its offensive opportunities, while the Borderites kept letting chances slip by.
Throughout the second half, the Lyncs were able to run between the tackles efficiently and gash the Borderites’ interior defense with the rushing attack. Olson said the defense was primarily concerned with getting beat by long passes to Lynden Christian’s skillful perimeter players, and thus left the middle of the defense more susceptible to big rushing plays.
The defense allowed only four scores to the Lyncs, and gave the offense ample chances to keep the game close, but penalties and turnovers deep in enemy territory were the difference in the game.
“When you’re playing a really good team, you can’t beat yourself, because the opponent’s hard enough as it is,” Olson said. “That’s part of the growing process of building a program - understanding that we can take confidence in the work we put in, but we also have to be confident in our ability to respond when bad things happen.”
A big response from Blaine will be surely needed against NWC powerhouse Nooksack Valley on Friday, October 11.
Olson said the team will be focused on stopping running back Colton Lentz, who will go on to play division one football at University of Montana, and defensive lineman Brady Ackerman, who has committed to play at Eastern Washington University.
“We’re going to play against teams that have very talented individuals, but we have to try and be the better team,” Olson said. “That’s where that mental toughness, this ability to pick each other up is going to come into play. Can us 11 be a better team than Nooksack?”
The Blaine volleyball team earned a needed conference win against Mt. Baker on October 8, winning in straight sets, 25-20, 25-15, 26-24. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Borderites before the team comes home to face Burlington-Edison on Thursday, October 10 and Anacortes on Tuesday, October 15.
Multiple Blaine players showed out on offense, led by senior outside hitter Kaitlyn Harrington who shined with 11 kills and four aces offensively, along with nine digs. Sophomore Teia Dube nearly earned a double-double, posting nine kills and 10 digs, while junior Carly Saunders also earned nine kills on a .500 hitting percentage.
Senior Brie Smith led the team in assists with 23 on the day, along with four service aces, and junior Hannah Phelps-McDonald had 10 digs.
It was a huge turnaround for the Borderites, and surely a confidence booster for Blaine to defeat Mt. Baker, one of two winless teams in the conference.
The win brings Blaine’s record to 2-8 (1-7 NWC) with seven games remaining in the regular season. Luckily for the Borderites, it will host four of its next five games, as the team hopes to make a late season surge up the conference standings.
Stats provided by whatcompreps.com
Similar to how volleyball rightfully beat an underperforming Mt. Baker team, girls soccer beat Mt. Baker 2-1 on October 8, bringing Blaine’s season record to a middling 4-6-0 (3-6-0 NWC). The win puts the Borderites just barely above Meridian (3-6-1, 2-6-1 NWC) in the 1A conference standings, but firmly below first-place Lynden Christian (7-4-0, 5-4-0 NWC).
All 1A teams will make the district playoffs in late October, but conference standings will determine seeding, and the first place team will earn a first-round bye in the tough, double-elimination postseason tournament.
In the win against Mt. Baker, the Mountaineers opened up the scoring in the 18th minute with a goal from Abby Washburn, but the Borderites were able to respond with a goal of its own just six minutes later when Nevaeh Zaddack scored on a long distance shot. The Borderites led 1-1 going into halftime.
With 10 minutes remaining, junior Bea Dickson scored on a wild clearance by the Mt. Baker defense, and the Borderites were able to hold on thanks to multiple clutch saves from senior goalkeeper Larissa Pluschakov.
Blaine snapped a three-game losing streak with the win, and – with just six regular season games remaining – will look to start the team’s first winning streak of the season with a home game against Burlington-Edison on Thursday, October 10 at 7:30 p.m. before traveling to face Mt. Vernon on Saturday, October 12 at 6 p.m.
The Borderites will finish the regular season with a pair of home games on Tuesday, October 22 at 7:30 p.m. against Ferndale, then Thursday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m. against Bellingham.
Stats provided by whatcompreps.com
Blaine cross-country had a busy first week of October, with a NWC meet against Mt. Vernon and Burlington-Edison on October 2, then the Twilight Invitational, a 5,000-meter, nighttime course at Cedarcrest Golf Course on October 5.
In Burlington on October 2, the Borderites competed in a 5,000-meter race, finishing in third place out of the three NWC teams competing, with a team score of 69.
Senior Tucker Greene led all times for the Borderites with a time of 19:44, achieving a 13th place overall finish. Greene was followed closely behind by Steven Phelps-McDonald in 14th with a time of 19:51, Ian Tuski in 16th with a 20:06 time, and Verdaan Aujla in 17th with a time of 20:13.
All told, Blaine ran a dozen athletes out against its NWC rivals, and all but one finished with a sub-30 minute time.
On October 5, Blaine raced among dozens of teams with thousands of individual runners, and placed consistently in the middle of the pack as a team. In the JV freshman and sophomore race, Blaine sophomore Steven Phelps-McDonald led the Borderites with a time of 19:26, placing 115th in a field of 544 runners.
In the JV junior and senior race, Tucker Greene led the way for the Borderites with a time of 19:38, finishing 125th among 452 athletes.
The Borderites’ next meet will be the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational, a 5,000-meter race at Lakewood High School on Saturday, October 12.
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