Football, volleyball and girls soccer drop consecutive losses

It was a week most Blaine fall sports teams would like to forget. After wins against Mt. Baker last week, girls soccer lost its next three games and volleyball was swept in its last two games. After a hot 4-0 start, football has cooled off with its second straight loss, this time to conference stalwart Nooksack Valley. The lone bright spot was cross-country, which placed fourth overall in the men’s varsity bronze race at the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational.

Football

Blaine football had one of the best starts to a season in team history, getting off to a 4-0 record while beating its opponents by a combined score of 163-54. Since then, the Borderites have been tested, losing to Lynden Christian 28-7, then losing to Nooksack Valley 42-7 on October 11.

While the 2024 Borderites (4-2, 0-2 NWC) are a vastly improved team, going on the road to face one of the best 1A teams in the state in Nooksack Valley (5-1, 2-0 NWC) proved too big a task. The turnover bug bit the Borderites early in the game, and the hosting Pioneers were able to capitalize and get out to a 35-0 lead before halftime.

On just the third play on offense for the Borderites, senior quarterback Colin Davis’ pass was tipped, intercepted, and returned for a 63-yard touchdown. Nooksack Valley scored on a blocked punt return to go up 14-0, and star senior running back Colton Lentz scored on three of his next four rushing attempts.

Blaine turned the ball over four times in the first half, and just couldn’t drag itself out of a hole that big in the second half, though a garbage-time scramble from Davis did avoid a shutout.

It was the first game this season where senior running back Jaiden Paez was held to under 100 yards rushing, earning a solid 86 yards on 21 carries. Nooksack Valley’s Lentz, who will go on to play Division 1 football at University of Montana, showed why he’s one of the most feared players in the state, amassing 146 yards and four touchdowns while carrying the ball just six times.

Blake Koreski, Kai Kerwin and Logan Villareal all caught a pass each from Davis, tallying just 56 yards of passing on the day.

The Borderites will have a chance to get back in the win column on Friday, October 18, hosting Friday Harbor at 6 p.m. at Borderite Stadium. Friday Harbor (2-4, 0-1) lost to Cedar Park Christian earlier in the year, a team the Borderites beat handily in the second week of the season.

If the Borderites want to make a run at state playoffs, the team will need to win more than just non-conference games, as it now sits at the bottom of the five-team 1A NWC standings. The Borderites will have two chances to improve its conference record, facing Mt. Baker (4-2, 0-2 NWC) on October 25 and Meridian (5-1, 1-0 NWC) on November 1.

Stats provided by WhatcomPreps.com

Volleyball

After a sweep against Mt. Baker on the road last week, the Borderites had two home games to try and start a mid-season turnaround and string some wins together, but couldn’t win a set against conference leader Burlington-Edison (11-1, 10-0 NWC) on October 10, and Anacortes (8-3, 7-3 NWC) on October 15.

Despite the lopsided final score, the Borderites were able to harass Burlington-Edison in the first set, falling 25-19, but the conference-leading Tigers closed the door in the final two sets, winning handily 25-10, and 25-7.

The usual suspects on offense showed up again for the Borderites, with senior Kaitlyn Harrington and sophomore Teia Dube each tallying four kills, five digs and an ace apiece. Junior libero Hanna Phelps-McDonald finished with five digs, showing why she’s one of the teams defensive leaders.

Against Anacortes, the Borderites again were able to hang close in the first set, but the visitors were able to pull away with stifling offensive production.

The Borderites (2-10, 1-9 NWC) have struggled against an extremely talented Northwest Conference, but still sit above Bellingham and Mt. Baker, who have yet to earn a conference win with five games remaining.

The Borderites get a chance to face Bellingham on Wednesday, October 23 at home, but must first face Sehome (8-2, 8-2 NWC) and Ferndale (7-4, 7-2 NWC), which sit at third and fourth place in the conference, respectively.

Blaine will travel to play Sehome on Thursday, October 17 at 7 p.m., then host Ferndale on Monday, October 21.

Stats provided by WhatcomPreps.com

Cross-Country

Blaine cross-country bucked the trend of losses that plagued the rest of the fall sports teams this week, with the team traveling south to face a massive, multi-team 5,000 meter race.

The Blaine long distance runners had a solid showing at the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational at Lakewood High School on October 12, placing fourth as a team among a field of 22.

Blaine posted an official team score of 204 in the 5,000-meter men’s varsity bronze race, a heat with times averaging 19:30 to 20:59. Exact times for individual runners were not posted before press time.

The Borderites will have one more race before the postseason begins, with Blaine travelling to Bellingham for the 2024 Lake Lap Invitational at Lake Padden on Thursday, October 17. The 2.6-mile race around Lake Padden will feature nine Blaine runners starting at 3:45 p.m. in the gold heat, then five more in the silver heat at 5 p.m.

The NWC Championships will be held on Wednesday, October 23 at Civic Stadium in Bellingham, and the District 1 1A Championships will be held Saturday, November 2 in Deming.