It was a busy week of sports, filled with lots of road games for Blaine athletics.
Football continued its hot start with a 27-0 shutout of Chelan moving to 3-0 for the first time since 1990, girls volleyball earned its first win of the season against Orcas Island, and girls soccer improved to an even 3-3-0 record.
Blaine football kept its winning streak alive on September 20 after a long road trip to face Chelan, shutting out the Goats 27-0 and moving to 3-0 on the season. It’s the first 3-0 start to a Blaine football season since 1990, according to
WhatcomPreps.com.
Head coach Andy Olson said the road trip was the first time in eastern Washington for many players, but the five-hour commute didn’t stop Blaine’s early season momentum.
“It was a great challenge for us to get mentally dialed in,” Olson said. “We were probably sluggish out the gate, it was a scoreless first quarter and a lot of that was mental errors […] but it’s a good learning experience.”
Blaine’s defense again stood out with a strong performance, and the offense ran the ball well, with three rushing touchdowns and senior running back Jaiden Paez rushing for over 150 yards.
Junior quarterback Colin Davis had his most productive day passing, completing seven of eight passes for 132 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.
The lone passing touchdown came on a pop-pass to junior receiver Kai Kerwin, who lit up the stat sheet with a team-leading four catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.
“[Kerwin] makes us more than one dimension,” Olson said. “Having a guy like Kai [Kerwin] who can stretch the field, whether it’s horizontally or vertically, teams have to account for that.”
Olson said Kerwin’s physical style of play has made him one of the most impactful players on the field.
“That dude goes around, he hits people, he’s finishing blocks on the perimeter,” Olson said. “You’ll never hear him complain about his touches. When he gets the ball, he makes the most of it. But he’s out there celebrating his teammates’ success as much as anyone.”
If the defensive line was the standout from the first two weeks of the season, this time it was the defensive backs that stood out against Chelan, racking up three interceptions and holding Chelan to just 62 passing yards.
“I thought our secondary played maybe their best game of football,” Olson said. “They play really well, they communicate really well, they take their job seriously and they’re just a fun group to work with.”
The Borderites will go on the road again to face a well-coached, undefeated Granite Falls on Friday, September 27 at 7 p.m.
Stats provided by WhatcomPreps.com
Blaine volleyball earned its first win of the season with a 3-0 sweep of Orcas Island at home on September 18, which was also the first win of head coach KJ Assink’s varsity tenure.
The Borderites are still looking for more consistent play, Assink said, after starting the season 1-5. Multiple Blaine losses have come after winning the first set, with the team unable to keep pressure on and losing in four sets.
That happened in Blaine’s 3-1 loss to Lynden Christian on September 19, the third game in three days for the Borderites.
“I think our next challenge is being able to bring a consistent energy, not having these hills and valleys with our energy, and communication,” Assink said.
The Borderites have been led by strong senior performances from captains Kaitlyn Harrington and Brie Smith, who Assink said have adapted well to the coaching change in their final year, and taken on leadership roles well.
“They really have grasped on to every challenge that I’ve given them,” Assink said. “They’re able to be the ones that get the team out of the rut when we need it.”
Hopefully the Borderites can right the ship after a rocky start to the season, with Blaine now near the bottom of the Northwest Conference after starting 0-4 in conference play.
The Borderites have an opportunity to bounce back with a road game against Sedro-Woolley on Wednesday, September 25 at 7 p.m., then a home game against conference rival Meridian on Monday, September 30 at 7 p.m.
Blaine girls soccer continues to ride the waves of a long season, and now stand at 3-3-0, sitting in the middle of the Northwest Conference standings.
The Borderites had a stretch of three games in three days, and suffered a few key injuries through that stretch, testing the bench depth of a relatively young and inexperienced team.
The Borderites lost 4-0 on September 17 and 19, and beat La Conner 3-1 on September 18. Most recently, the Borderites narrowly defeated conference rival Nooksack Valley 2-1 with goals from sophomores Nevaeh Zaddack and Kate Koreski.
The game-winner came from midfielder Koreski, who placed a beautiful shot into the top corner of the goal to ice the game at 2-1 and preserve a huge conference win for Blaine.
The Borderites were without starting goalkeeper Larissa Pluschakov and other key contributors, but the bench was able to step up and hold off Nooksack Valley after the Pioneers tied the game 1-1 midway through the second half.
The win brought Blaine’s conference record to 2-3-0, as the Borderites prepare to go on the road and face Sedro-Woolley on Thursday, September 26 at 7:30 p.m.
The Borderites will come back home for two games, October 1 against Meridian and October 3 against Lynden, both kicking off at 7:30 p.m.
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