Jerry's Jargon: a Borderite in New York

Borderite Boys Stumble Once Again vs Sedro-Wooley

2011-12-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

For the second consecutive season, Blaine managed to find a way to lose to a beatable Sedro-Wooley squad, this time in their own gym. Issac Bianchini lit the Borderites up for 21 points and even the return of Andrew Price to the lineup after a two-game hiatus wasn't enough to rescue Blaine from a 59-51 loss. Again, as with several of the frustrating losses this season, the Borderites squandered a fourth quarter lead.

Blaine's Devan Stefanovic shoots over a Sedro-Wooley defender in the Borderites' 59-51 loss to the Cubs, Tuesday December 20 in Blaine.

Price, returning from a football recruiting trip to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, scored 18 and ripped 15 rebounds, but got little scoring support except from Luke Feenstra who chipped in 10.

The primary culprits of the loss can easily be identified as the Borderites were a paltry 9 for 21 from the free throw line as well as an anemic 2 for 10 from the three point range. Bianchini was complemented by Aaron Stroosma who scored 15.

Borderite Girls Race to 7-2 Start by Crushing Cubs

2011-12-21T06:38:00.000-08:00

Lost in the later entries of the preview of girl's basketball teams in the Northwest Conference, the Bellingham Herald had a modest entry about the Blaine Borderites. They were undersized. They were young. If they won a couple more games than the previous season, they would consider that improvement, the article inferred. Going into the Christmas break: mission accomplished.

Aided by Sedro-Wooley's 0-10 free throw shooting and a suffocating defense, the Lady Borderites smothered the Cubs 59-25 in their own house. This comes on the heels of a 61-51 victory over Granite Falls at home on Tuesday, with Stefawn Perrin scoring a season-high 21 points in the victory.

Blaine's Taylor V'Dovec rises up to score against Granite Falls last Tuesday night. (photo by Janell Kortlever)

The win propelled the Borderites into a virtual tie with Sehome for first place. The Mariners sit at 6-1, while the Borderites have the most wins in the conference.

Against the Cubs, emerging Taylor V'Dovec registered a double-double pouring in 13 points down low while swiping 10 rebounds. Perrin and Alexis McElwain scored 11 each and the team shot a crisp 15 of 21 from the free throw stripe. The 25 point defensive effort was the best since Blaine's 63-33 drubbing of Lakewood earlier this season.

Alexis McElwain goes up for a shot against Granite Falls Tuesday night in the Borderites' sixth victory of the season.(photo by Janell Kortlever)

Coming up is a Lynden Christian team that is struggling out of the gate at 2-5 at home on January 2.

Borderite Boys Recover From 3 Game Slide

2011-12-17T05:35:00.000-08:00

With the Blaine frontcourt now firmly manned by 6-10 Serbian transfer Dejan Stefanovic, and 6-7 forwards Andrew Price and Chase Speelman, the Borderites opened the 2011 season with a note great optimism, pounding hapless Nooksack Valley 50-28 on the strength of an opening 14-2 run and a 24-5 first half lead.

Everything fell into place as coach Dougal Thomas could have wanted in the non-conference opener for both teams. Stefanovic led all scorers with 12 including 6 in the first period run, and Blaine dominated the boards led by senior Andrew Price with 13. The Borderites outboarded the Pioneers 44-29.

However a three game losing streak of the most frustrating kind dampened the optimism that is surrounding the Borderite nation. A hard fought loss to last year's conference champion Sehome in a non-conference game, 69-65 was lost on the strength of 18 Mariner three pointers.

That loss was followed by two inexplicable losses; a one point loss to lowly Meridian and, for the second consecutive season, to visiting LaConner, 59-56 in overtime. Against the Trojans, the Borderites squandered a 10 point fourth quarter lead.

"They were on their toes and we were on our heels," Thomas said in an email. "We were playing not to lose when we should have been playing to win."

The Borderites righted the ship somewhat though as Lakewood came to town, Saturday December 10.
Using the formula that worked against Nooksack Valley, Blaine opened up a gaudy 17-3 first quarter lead that Lakewood was unable to recover from as the Borderites won 57-47. Squalicum transfer Gabe Trump stepped to the fore as the lead scorer with 14 while Andrew Price ripped down 15 boards.

"Gabe just really understand how to play," Thomas said of his senior guard. "He crashes weakside boards. He's always in the right place. He can make jumpers. He's deceptive with the ball and sneaky inside. I love his game."

Price swiped 18 boards in the next game but it wasn't enough as Blaine lost a non-conference road game to the 2A state runner up, Burlington-Edison 66-50. Blaine held a five point lead with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter but couldn't capitalize as the Tigers grinded out a ten point lead that the Borderites couldn't overcome.

With Price out last night, Chase Speelman got the opportunity to shine and scored a career high 20 points and 11 boards as the Borderites opened their conference schedule with an important 61-57 NWC win at Mount Baker. The arrival of Stefanovic has changed Speelman's role for the Borderites.

"It's allowed us to play him primarily on the wing which suits him," Thomas said. "They're still learning to play together. They need to be looking for each other and feeding off each other."

Stefanovic added 15 points and Trump chipped in 10. Even without Price, the Borderites dominated the boards once again tallying 39 rebounds. The Borderites have been averaging nearly 40 rebounds a game this season.

Moving out to a ten point first half lead, the Borderites had to withstand a frantic rally by the Mountaineers for the win.

Price and Gabbato Lead 2011 Borderite Hoops

2011-11-29T06:25:00.000-08:00

There is no place to go but up. With second year head coach Dougal Thomas at the helm, there is much to be optimistic about both practically and culturally. For the first time in many years, Blaine will be one of the biggest teams in the Northwest Conference across the front line. Culturally, the Borderites will have had a year of the intense, defense-oriented coaching of Thomas.

This will be important for a team that didn't get much time playing basketball together in the summer. The slow summer has been countered by a strong turnout this winter and there is reason for hope after a dismal 3-17 record and a last place finish in the NWC.

With the graduation of the four-headed guards of Dustin Dhanani, Sean Allen, Todd Bird, and Andrew Miller, the focus will be in the front court where there was considerable debate as to whether 6-7 Andrew Price, who led the Borderites in scoring with 15.5 a game last season would return for a senior year of hoops. Price is being courted by Pacific 12 schools to play football and much speculation swirled around whether he felt it necessary to play a senior year.

Lead scorer, senior Andrew Price played the first half of the season with a broken hand last year.
(photo by Janel Kortlever)

However, Price returns and perhaps not as the post man he was last year. Despite being triple teamed most of the year, Price worked hard on a losing ship. He is strong and fast, though not as long as many posts but does have the softest hands in the conference. Price may find himself in the enviable position of being in the 4 or 3 spot with the arrival of 6-10 exchange student, senior Dejan Stefanovic. If Stefanovic can bolster the interior defense and rebounding, he won't need to carry much of scoring burden as Price will be able to be utilized in a wider variety of ways. On the other side of the front will be 6-7 Chase Speelman, who got considerable playing time last year. Thomas has been pleased with the senior's progress.

"(Chase was) consistently our best player on the court during the summer," Thomas said in an interview with the Bellingham Herald.

Luke Feenstra, who provided spark off the bench last year, is long and quick. He will provide depth for the front court along with massive Jesse Antczak. Feenstra has the ability to shoot the three which will be important as teams pack down the paint to battle the Blaine Big Three. With four shooters lost graduation, scoring outside the paint will be crucial to Blaine's success.

Luke Feenstra returns to add depth to the Borderites' lineup. (photo by Janel Kortlever)

In the backcourt, junior Mario Gobbato will step into the point position after dominating the football season's headlines. Gobbato became a regular starter in the backcourt midway through the last season. Not a prolific scorer, Thomas frequently brought Gobbato in to be a stopper of defense. If he can stay out of foul trouble, Gobbato will be a stablizing force on the floor.

The two spot will be up for grabs this season. Tyler Chau saw time on the varsity last season but faded as Gobbato's role grew. Ephraim Westbrook, who played the two on JV last year might be ready as well. The dark horse might be junior Zach Rector who can play in both front and back court. He was dynamic last season on JV, though streaky and inconsistent.

What remains to be seen in year two of the Thomas regime is how the program will continue to adjust to the ferocious intensity of his style of basketball. A big front line that can rebound could spell run-outs and easy baskets for the Borderites. What will remain to be seen is how well the rest of the conference will respond. The NWC is easily the toughest conference in the state featuring the 2A runner-up, Burlington-Edison. An increase of just four or five conference wins could get Blaine into a play-in game. The last time that happened was when Connor Oldham took the Borderites into Lynden for a close loss in 2007-08. However, the Borderites haven't had a team as physically intimidating as this since the Luke Ridenour era.

Blaine head basketball coach Dougal Thomas (center) begins his second season leading the Borderites.
(photo by Janel Kortlever)

Last season, three of the Borderite losses could have easily swung the other way. What will be important for Blaine will be to beat teams they are supposed to beat as well as not getting run off the floor by bigger faster teams. Stunning losses against winnable opponents like Nooksack Valley, Sedro-Wooley, and Meridian were compounded with punishing routs Mount Vernon, Lynden Christian, Squalicum and even 1A LaConnor. If the Borderites can mentally stand the stress of the conference with their big front line and strong rebounding, Blaine should see immediate dividends in the win column.

The first test for the Borderites comes tonight on the road at 1A Nooksack Valley. The Borderites last victory was against the Pioneers on Senior night in the season finale.

Borderites' Season Ends 11 Points and Nine Yards Short

2011-11-07T05:02:00.000-08:00

The ghosts of the Borderites' early-season defensive woes made a post-Halloween appearance as Blaine returned to the 2A football playoffs in the Northwest/Cascade conferences cross-over play-in game at Cedarcrest last Tuesday night in Duvall. As was the case during the first half of the season, the offensive line showed its dominance, leading the state's leading rusher, Mario Gobbato to a career-best 386 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Also like the 1-5 start, the defense couldn't cash Gobbato's hard work into a victory. In the wake of missed tackles and Red Wolves third down conversions, Cedarcrest outlasted Gobbato and the Borderites 35-24 to move on to play Lynden Friday night at Civic Field.

"Our defense was dissappointing," Blaine head football coach Jay Dodd said emphatically in an email. "We weren't remembering our keys and they had too much success with their basic plays. We'd get the third down and couldn't make a play to get off the field."

The Red Wolves converted 10 of 15 third downs to wear down the Blaine defense. Cedarcrest also converted two fourth downs, one for a game-changing 44 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chris Dowd to Hunter Lee to put the Borderites down by 10 late in the third quarter.

While the defense bore much of the responsibility for the loss, other errors contributed to the loss. Despite the gritty rushing performance by Gobbato, the Blaine tailback, uncharacteristically put the ball on the ground three times, losing two of the fumbles. Blaine was also unable to convert any of its four point after conversions.

"Because our defense played so poorly, the turnovers were magnified," Dodd said. "We needed to score pretty much every time we had the ball. The turnovers didn't allow us to do that."

Lost in the bitter sting of the loss, was the titanic effort by Gobbato and the offensive line. Gobbato finished the year with 2,669 yards, just nine short of Ferndale's Matthias Wilson's state single-season record for rushing as well as leading the state with 38 touchdowns. A Blaine victory would almost certainly allowed Gobbato to shatter the record.

"The record is a bonus for the team's hard work," Gobbato said in an email, before the game. "We are a team and need each other. (We have) a big, hard working offensive line that work well together. I'm lucky to have them."

Borderites Return to the Playoffs

2011-11-01T05:51:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night, all order will be returned to Borderite Football Nation. Completely blotting out the grievous wound from last year's last second loss to hapless Sehome, Blaine ran rough-shod over the Mariners with a 48-14 dismantling. The win propelled the Borderites into a play-in game against 6-3 Cedarcrest from the Cascade Conference. The winner of that game will get the pleasure of playing Lynden as the 2A playoffs get started in earnest next Friday.

Andrew Price drags down a Sehome back in Blaine's playoff clinching victory over the Mariners (photo by Alex Roberts of the Bellingham Herald)

Against Sehome, Blaine used the perscription they have used in the second half of the season to win. That was to sic their offensive line to crush the Mariner's defense and open gaping paths for the state's #1 running back, Mario Gobbato.

"Our offensive line is continuing to get better," Blaine head football coach Jay Dodd said in an email. "We expect alot of them on game nights and for the most part they are performing. The interior of our line is doing well. I'm referring to guards Eddie Avena and Jesse Antczak and center Jesse Niewendorp. This is one fo the better interior lines we've had. They are doing a good job of handling the opponents noseguard and getting to the inside linebackers. Handling the noseguard is their first priority but getting the linebackers allows our running game to improve that much more. Our next few opponents have good inside linebackers, so it's important we keep improving in this area."

The fruit of the offensive line's labor is now reaching previously unimagined hieghts. With their help, Gobbato rushed for his fourth 300 yard game, all victories, and a staggering six more touchdowns. Gobbato now has rushed for 2283 yards on 299 carries and scored 34 touchdowns to lead the state in all three catagories.
His total leaves him only 395 yards short of the state record set in 1997 by Ferndale's Matthias Wilson.

On his way to 328 yards on 37 carries, Gobbato set the tone for the night early when on his third carry of the game he burst through the Mariner defense for a 33 yard score.

With the exception of two plays that Sehome was able to execute and score on, the Borderites frustrated and controlled the Mariners for the balance of the game. Particularly successful these past two games has been the play of the secondary against some of the Northwest conference's better passing teams.

"The secondary has improved so much in just the last month," Dodd said. "We've spent a lot of practice time just in seven on seven drills, so the secondary can get to continue to understand zone coverage and how to react to certain routes. Anacortes and Sehome both had good quarterbacks and our secondary did a good job on both nights."

While the defense continued it's resurrection from its slow start, holding Mariner QB Austin Rapp to under 50 percent passing and only 72 yards, senior reciever tight end Andrew Price finally had the showcase play he had needed. Taking a short pass from freshman quarterback Nathan Kramme at the Mariner's 25 yard line and worked his way across the Sehome defense, manhandling the smaller defenders with at least three ferocious stiff arms on his way to a 40 yard touchdown that made the score 42-14 late in the third quarter.
Price finished the game with three receptions for 105 yards.

While Kramme's most important job has been to manage the game and secure good hand-offs to Gobbato, Dodd sees an opportunity for Kramme as the playoffs begin.

"I think there will be a limited expansion of our passing game heading into the playoffs," Dodd said. "Teams are not blitzing safeties and even corners on some plays to stop our running game. We've worked a lot on certain play-action passes and screen passes to exploit aggressive safety play and try to keep the defense honest."

The second season begins tonight at Cedarcrest which shares a common opponent with Blaine in 3A Hazen. The Highlanders beat Cedarcrest 20-17 on a last second field goal a week after defeating the Borderites 35-32 in the Emerald City Classic at Century Link Field in Seattle. They boast a 1300 yard running back averaging 10 yards a carry. A win over Cedarcrest would assure a second playoff meeting between Lynden and Blaine the following Friday either at Lynden or Civic Field, depending on turf conditions at Rollie DeKoster Field.

In 2008, Blaine took a deep run into the playoffs before being beat by Lynden in the state semi-finals on a rainy night at Civic Field. The Borderites last visit to the playoffs ended abruptly in the first round in 2009 with a loss to W.F. West.

Bradley Takes Second at NWC Meet; on to District

2011-10-25T05:55:00.000-07:00

Blaine cross-country runner Tom Bradley has been aiming for this time of year all season. With that in mind, he promptly went out and set a personal record of 15:44.11 to finish second behind Patrick Gibson of Squalicum at the Northwest conference meet at Civic Field. Now firmly ensconsed as one of the NWC's top three runners, he now turns his attention to the District meet this week.

"This is a fast course," Bradley told the Bellingham Herald, "but it's a good way to head into the district and state meets the next couple of weeks."

Blaine head cross-country coach Carey Bacon is quick to temper comparisons especially after Gibson ran away from the field half-way through.

"Tom is progressing as he should. Patrick Gibson is better," Bacon said in an e-mail, "but Tom has put himself into position for a good finish at state. I've learned not to prognosticate about exact placing at state, but Tom is likely to be in the top ten at this point."

Also finishing strong was Eddie Fontes who finished 13th with a time of 16:25.91. Going into the district meet, he is on the bubble for a berth at the state level.

"Eddie is going to have to fight to make it to state," Bacon said. "He is battling the flu right now. He vomited four times after racing the conference meet. Only the top 15 qualify and there is a dogfight for those places. It won't be for lack of effort. Eddie is one of the most competitive runners I have coached."

Also turning in a season best performance was Kiersten Sigfusson on the girls side, finishing 26th with a time of 20:26.38, leaving her with an outside hope of qualifying for state if she can continue to improve after a slow season.

"Kiersten really had a good meet, for this season," Bacon said. "That was her fastest time of the year (and) about 15 seconds behind last year's time. Unfortunately, there are alot of fast girls. I won't count her out, but on paper, it doesn't look promising."

Volleyball Team Focus on Improving Down the Stretch

2011-10-25T05:30:00.000-07:00

There is such a small margin between improvement and victory and the Blaine volleyball team continues to hover there with one game remaining. After a third consecutive loss after winning two out of three, Blaine head volleyball coach can see how close they are to turning the corner Without prospects for the post-season, the Borderites will set themselves up for success with a strong finish this season.

"It's hard for us to be on the two point losing end of so many sets this season," Moore said in an e-mail. "The players have been playing very hard each set. We have continued to fine tune our game and are starting to see it being applied during our matches."

Also with more experience, comes less mental errors. Close losses to Lynden, Nooksack and Mount Vernon all came with enough errors to turn the tide in each game.

"We had some hitting errors, serve receive errors, mental errors," Moore said, "simple ones, but costly."

As the season winds down for Borderite seniors like Claire Nelson and Yvonne Alvarez, Moore can look to the future with next year's experienced sophomores. Mandy Hayes will be manning the net again next season.

"Mandy will continue to be a force and I look forward to watching her develop as a middle blocker," Moore said. "She will be tough to hit around."

Also at the forefront of next season's line-up is freshman setter Breanna Chau.

"Breanna has been our designated setter since late September," said Moore. "She has developed tremendously since the first of the year. She is a natural athlete and has quick reaction time which is crucial to the game of volleyball. We need to work on the proper type of contact when she's on defense and she's doing a great job learning when to use different contacts while setting. She will be exciting to watch develop in the next three years."

The Borderites will have one last opportunity to reach the win column when they travel to Mount Baker this Wednesday, October 26 at 7 P.M.

SUPER-MARIO has Blaine Knocking on Play-off Door

2011-10-24T06:35:00.000-07:00

This time it wasn't a struggle for the Borderites. This time the defense rose to the occaision. This time the Borderites had no trouble with dispensing away with the Anacortes Seahawks.

After three consecutive years of spine-tingling close games, including two in Anacortes, the Borderites took a 15-8 halftime lead, had a big third quarter and cruised to a 36-16 victory over the Seahawks. It was a titanic effort by Mario Gobbato that sparked Blaine to victory.

Rebounding from an early fumble, Gobbato toted the rock a career-high 50 times for a personal best 332 yards and five more touchdowns. It was Gobbato's third 300 yard rushing game this season. Gobbato now is moving into rarified air, statistically. With two games remaining, Gobbato has rushed for 1955 yards and 28 touchdown to lead the state in both catagories. Gobbato has carried the ball 29 times more than anyone else in the state, averaging 7.46 yards a touch. He leads the state with 244.4 yards per game average.

Junior tailback Mario Gobbato bursts through the Anacortes defense on the way to his third 300 yard rushing game.

Going into the Northwest conference finale at home against Sehome, Gobbato will most certainly eclipse the 2,000 yard mark against a Mariner defense that has been exposed this season as weak against the run. Gobbato yardage has already shattered the school season record for rushing yardage set by Brad Scheib. The importance of the game is not lost on Blaine head coach Jay Dodd and for the rest of the Borderite players, payback may be on their minds. Last season in the finale at Civic Field, Sehome QB Austin Rapp threw a desperation touchdown pass on the second to last play of the game and knocked Blaine out of the post-season.

"We've had the Sehome newpaper article taped in our weight room for an entire year now," Dodd said in an e-mail. "It's definitely something we've been looking forward to. We need to improve though. Sehome is a very capable team."

Despite the strong finish, Dodd wasn't completely anamored with his players performance against Anacortes.

"We made mistakes," Dodd said. "We turned it over on our first series and had a chance to score at the end of the first half and didn't execute. We should have scored seven touchdowns this game."

What did come to the fore especially against pass-heavy Seahawk team was the defense. Blaine held Seahawks QB Cody Culp to 158 yards passing and intercepted him twice.

"This game was, by far, our best game defensively," Dodd said. "We held them under 100 yards rushing and our secondary did a great job on pass defense."

There are three scenarios that could come out of next week's games. A Blaine victory over Sehome combined with a Burlington victory over Bellingham would make the Borderites the fourth seed in the NWC and they would have to face Cedarcrest on the road the following Tuesday in a play-in game. Wins by Bellingham and Blaine would give the Borderites the third seed and they would travel to Lakewood the following Friday. Burlington is favored against Bellingham. The third scenario is more familiar to Borderite fans. A loss to Sehome would shut the Borderites out of the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

'Win and they're in' is the simple maxim, and though the prospect of playing two game in a week is daunting, it does leave one attractive mystery. Just how many yards can the offensive line and Mario Gobbato pile up this season?

Gobbato Leads State in Rushing

2011-10-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

After Blaine's 34-7 loss at Ferndale earlier this season, there was a meeting of old and new Borderites as former Blaine tailback Caleb Statham visited with this season's junior starter, Mario Gobbato. As they were visiting, they were asked which one they think was better at which point they automatically pointed to each other.

Mario Gobbato rushes for a touchdown against Hazen

Former Borderite Running Back Caleb Statham

It was an unsurprising answer from both soft spoken backs. Statham, who played last in 2009 when he rushed for 1488 yards and 21 touchdowns while leading the Borderites to the state playoffs, had radical football speed and was able to cut laterally between the tackles. He also played behind a physical offensive line. Blaine head football coach Jay Dodd finds it difficult to rate them.

"It's hard to compare him to other backs we've had in the past," Dodd said in an email. "We've had some good ones. Ben Bohnson, Casey McCabe and Caleb Statham have all been terrific backs recently at BHS, all with different abilities."

Statham's argument that Gobbato might be better has some strong statistical data behind it.

Going into week 8 of the football season, Gobbato is the leading rusher in all classifications in the state of Washington and by a wide margin. Gobbato has rushed for 1,623 yards on 212 carries. That's 7.66 yards a pop. He is averaging 231.9 yards a game; a pace that will put him over 2300 yards. His 23 touchdowns leads all classifications in the state in scoring as well. Easily within reach is the Blaine school rushing record of 1,793 yards by Brad Scheib in 1999.

It's not exactly a secret what Blaine is going to do either as they are weaning a freshman quarterback into the position in Nathan Kramme. Still, despite the fact that teams are putting eight and nine men into the box, Gobbato invariably is either running free in the secondary or dragging three or four tacklers for extra yards.

Gobbato has been able to foil every defense thrown at him including the NWC's leading defense, Lynden.

"Mario has the ability to take it the distance on any play," Dodd said. "He's also got the toughness to put his shoulders down and get three or four yards and a first down. These short runs can be just as important as the long touchdowns."

Gobbato, who has rushed for 300 yards twice this season, including 320 and seven touchdowns last Saturday night against Bellingham, took a supporting role last season as the Borderites were primarily a passing team lead by former quarterback Sean Allen. At the beginning of this season, all eyes were on 6 foot, 7 inch Andrew Price at the receiver position who is being courted by PAC-12 schools as a division one tight end. However, it has been Gobbato who has consistently stole headlines and surged to the top of the state rushing charts. Gobbato has also been quick to point out that his offensive line has been the real stars.

Ferocious, physical and big, the offensive line, led by huge Jesse Antczak and Palmer Sandel have dominated smaller defensive lines from the opening game this season when Gobbato pierced 3A Hazen's defense for 224 yards and four touchdowns at Century Link Field in Seattle back in September. Athletic James Fakkema has been joined by Eddie Avena, Carlos Serrano and Jesse Niewendorp to lead Blaine to ranking
third overall in the state, in all classifications in rushing behind only Washougal and Ferndale.

"As a whole, this year's line is bigger than year's past," Dodd said. "They can handle bigger defensive lineman without any troubles. They move well and are learning how to adjust as the game goes along. This year's line is deep. We've started seven different players on the line this year without any drop in overall performance."
What is sure is that this combination of offensive line and running back talent are moving into lofty territory statistically. With three games remaining, it seems unlikely that anyone will be able to catch Gobbato for the state rushing title, a catagory he leads by over 300 yards. Even more delicious a prospect than the three remaining years is the thought that a lusterous senior year for Gobbato awaits Borderite fans in the future.

Borderites Still Have a Pulse

2011-10-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

The eerie way that this season is unfolding so much like last year is want to cause white knuckles for Borderite fans.

Last season, an immensely talented offensive team carried a struggling defense but stumbled out of the gate to 1-5 before a thrilling come-from-behind win over Bellingham at home started a mini-rally down the stretch that was short-circuited by a final play win by Sehome to push Blaine out of the playoffs.

Once again, a juggernaut offense kept the Borderites competitive despite a 1-5 start going into their game with Bellingham at Civic Field last Saturday night. The Borderites shook off the pesky but overmatched Red Raiders with a ferocious fourth quarter of wild big-plays to wind up mauling Bellingham 61-34. The 61 points were the most since Blaine's 60-0 victory of Sands of B.C. in 2008.

Even more startling was the performance of the offensive line and its primary benefactor, junior tailback Mario Gobbato. Gobbato, with three touchdowns already in his pocket, exploded in the final period, rushing for 175 yards and a staggering four more touchdowns. Gobbato finished with 320 yards rushing, his second 300 yard output this season. Gobbato is the leading rusher in the state now in all classifications by a healthy margin and is on pace to rush for over 2200 yards.

Despite the lopsided score, Bellingham hung in through the third quarter partially due to the poor secondary coverage and tackling in space. Three of Bellingham's scores were from long distance.

"We need to continue to work on our open field tackling," Blaine head football coach Jay Dodd said in an email. "It's a learned skill that takes time. We've adjusted our defense a little to help out with this and make some of the space smaller for some of these tackles. We also need to continue to improve our ability to cover in the secondary. We're young and this is the first time some of them are covering passes."

Bellingham actually took a lead in the second quarter after two long touchdown passes from Justin Pruett to Oliver Dougherty and Kyle Redmond, before defensive back Brett Allen picked off a deflected pass by Pruett and raced 59 yards for a touchdown. Then began an unlikely sequence of a whirlwind of scoring.
Pruett then hit Dougherty again, this time from 66 yards out to give the Red Raiders a 20-19 lead. Speedster Isaiah Jackson got loose for 38 yards on an end around to allow Gobbato to score shortly after for a 4 yard touchdown and a 26-20 halftime lead for the Borderites.

A scoreless third quarter gave no hint of the maelstrom about to strike the scoreboard operator at Civic Field.

Gobbato scored his first TD of the fourth quarter on a 29 yard run on fourth down. He scored again from 39 yards out moments later after Tyler Chau intercepted Pruett for the third time. Gobbato added touchdowns of 46 and 53 yards through gaping holes in the Red Raider line. Jackson added a 49 yard touchdown reception from freshman quarterback Nathan Kramme which he tipped to himself to add to the onslaught. Kramme was 5 of 10 passing for 120 yards and a touchdown to compliment Gobbato.

"Nathan just continues to get better every week," said Dodd. "He was able to his some short passes early in the game and completed a long touchdown in the fourth quarter."
The win leaves the Borderites in the exact same position as last year. With a road game with upstart Anacortes and a home game against Sehome, Blaine needs to win out to qualify for one of the final two playoff positions.

"Playing at Anacortes can be difficult," said Dodd. "We've been there twice and won both but both games were won in the last minute of the game. We're expecting another close game. They have a good running game and their quarterback is a returning senior starter."

Bradley Quietly Leading Borderite Cross-Country Team

2011-10-17T06:30:00.000-07:00

Two years ago, the focus was on his older brother, Tim. After taking a year off from cross-country running, Borderite junior distance runner Tom Bradley is becoming the focus of Northwest Conference (NWC) cross-country fans. A year of growing and maturing as a runner both in track and in cross-country is paying dividends as the season moves into the home stretch and the district meet looms on the horizon.

"I don't want to burn myself out," Bradley said after winning his initial meet earlier this season at Lake Padden. "I want to run smart and not try to win every race."

If last week's performances are any indication, NWC runners will be taking note come District time. In two 5000m events, Bradley finished with sub 16 minute times and top five finishes. On October 8, Bradley placed fourth overall at the Hole in the Wall Invitational in Lakewood with a time of 15:52.98. Blaine head cross-country coach Corey Bacon thinks that's a good sign for what's coming up for Bradley.

"Tom is currently in excellent shape to qualify for state and take a run at getting a medal," Bacon said in an email. "His training has progressed and his is working hard to solidify his pace so he can run under 16 minutes at state. Tom's off-season training has made a big impact on his stamina and controlled speed"

Bradley isn't alone at being poised to make a splash when the district meet begins. Eddie Fontes has been steadily improving through the season. However the odds are longer for Fontes, who qualified for state last year, as only the top 15 individual placers at districts will qualify for the state meet, five less than the previous season.

"I think Eddie has a good shot at making it," Bacon said, "but the competition will be steep."

On the girls side, big-striding Kiersten Sigfusson is struggling to return to state for a fourth consecutive season. Sigfusson, who has two state titles on Blaine's relay teams in track, has had to work from behind after falling ill earlier in the season. The road back has been long but Bacon sees her earnest effort to qualify again as a hopeful sign. Now a senior, the physical assets that help her as a sprinter are hurdles to overcome in cross-country.

"She has fully matured physically and is impacted by having grown over the past year," Bacon explained. "Her chances at present to move on are not great, but I won't count her out. She has proven that she has the will and the drive to make a strong effort at the district meet."

Sigfusson was in a similar situation last year. She qualified for state with an excellent district meet after a sub-par regular season. Like Fontes, however, the number of available slots has been reduced to 15 and the opportunity to qualify will be harder.

The NWC cross-country meet will be held this Thursday at Civic Field in Bellingham.

Borderite Girls Post First Soccer Win of the Season at Sedro

2011-10-15T06:47:00.000-07:00

There is always a fine line between 'coach-speak' and genuine enthusiasm, particularly when enduring a difficult challenging season, but Blaine girls head soccer coach Dan Steelquist has trouble hiding his fondness for his team.

"I know this sounds like a bunch of cliches, but really...they are fun people to be around," Steelquist said in an email. "They work at it and while soccer won't be the center of their lives, they are growing into great adults."

One thing is certain, the Lady Borderites will not be without a victory as they traveled to Sedro-Woolley and came out with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Cubs, their first of the season.

"We are trying to get the girls to play more of a possession game and do more combination play," Steelquist explained. "While it doesn't show up in the score line yet, team soccer is more effective, more entertaining to watch, and more fun to play when compared to kick and run play."

As Blaine continues the season having endured a series of tough losses, Steelquist and the Borderites have often had to find solace in the quality of the losses against the bigger, more physical teams that seem to teem the front end of their schedule. Outmatched early, the Lady Borderites have tightened their defense, only being routed three times this year since a first game thrashing by Lynden Christian. Defense and discipline manifested in their victory at Sedro-Woolley, facets that have been continually improving for Blaine.

"I believe that to turn the corner, the girls need to believe in themselves and each other more," Steelquist said. "The stuff they are doing in practice every day is pretty cool. The play relaxed and are very effective at team play. The challenge for us is to bring that same attitude on game day and sprinkle in a heavy dose of competitive fire. That will come with time and working together. The occasional win will add to our confidence as well."

Sharin Roth-Lerner and Nicole Statham help provide some of that fire. Taking over mid season as goalie, Roth-Lerner had been barraged with shots but continues to improve. With her play in the net and tenacious mid-field play led by the physical Statham, the Lady Borderites had their best defensive performance of the season against the Cubs.

The youth movement served on this year's team has contributed to both the pain and the pleasure that Steelquist has experienced this year. One of the challenges has been to mesh the girls into a unit particularly with no one player standing out as was the case last season when Samantha Nault dominated play.

"As far as specific leaders on the team, it's tough to give that title to any one or two players," Steelquist noted. "We have a wide variety of personalities on the team and different players step us as leaders in different situations. That is really a plus for us. It seems that everyone has a role and they all listen to each other in different situations."

With the first win in their pockets the Lady Borderites can now look to not only ruining other teams post season hopes but setting a course for next season with a few more victories. Yet for Steelquist, it is far more about the growth of his players as persons.

"That's why I coach," Steelquist said. "So I guess that's why I'm so fond of this team."

Photography Credits

2011-10-14T10:43:00.000-07:00

Just a note that all of the sports photography thusfar has been provided by Janell Kortlever, whose terrific work can be seen in the Northern Light and at http://www.nwcathletics.com/ . We have worked together numerous times over the last two years and I consider myself lucky to have access to her fine work.

An October to Remember for Borderite Volleyball Team

2011-10-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

During my last week in Blaine, Blaine head volleyball coach Sheli Moore was exceedingly encouraged by the progress of her win less Borderite team. What a difference a week can make.

By the time I had arrived in New York, the Borderites had played their best week of volleyball this season. In a sport in which the emotional swings can be more dramatic than basketball, the Blaine girls used such a swing to spark a week of superlative volleyball.

Against Bellingham, the Borderites got out to a 1-0 lead on the Red Raiders, winning a hard-fought 25-23 win in the first game. Old ghosts from the beginning of the season rose up as Blaine found themselves in an 18-5 hole in the second game. Stiffening with resolve, the Borderites surrendered only one side-out for the rest of the game and stormed back. Gretchen Kordas served out from behind 20-24 to complete the rally as Blaine won the second game 26-24 and went on to sweep the match from Bellingham 3-0.

"I have never seen a more determined, focused comeback," Moore said of her charges in an email.

After a tough, five-game loss to Squalicum, earlier this week, the Borderites again exhibited uncommon grit in storming to a wild 4 game victory at 3A Sedro-Woolley, 25-17,25-19,25-27,25-17. Winners of two out of three, the Borderites have won five times as many games in the last four matches as they have the entire season.

Yvonne Alvarez (right) and Mandy Hayes are imposing at the net.

While Moore will not single any one player as being an overall catalyst, opponent coaches are paying close attention to senior outside hitter, Claire Nelson who is all over the floor. Senior Yvonne Alvarez has been joined by freshman Mandy Hayes have become formidable in the middle, getting multiple kills per game. Breanna Chau has blossomed and shown improvement in the setters position and freshmen Elle Moore and Kordas have been providing quality minutes on defense and serving. Senior Aubrie Hagen has been consistent in passing and defense. setting up the rest of the team.

Senior Claire Nelson has taken a leadership role with the Lady Borderites.

Freshman Breanna Chau has become an important part of the Blaine offense

"There is no one player that is the best," said Moore. "We have multiple freshmen on the varsity roster and one of them cannot be single out as the best or most improved. They brought a solid fundamental game to the gym and have had a huge learning curve to overcome with the speed of the game from eighth grade to high school level. They are playing against players that have at least three years more experience...and even more court time playing club volleyball."

While district qualification may not be in the cards for this Borderite team, no longer will they be an easy out either. Look for this young squad to muddle the rank and file of the NWC as a spoiler. One thing is certain there is no lack of energy and excitement on Tuesday and Thursday evenings with Borderite volleyball.

"They have all done a great job improving at each match played," said Moore. "I'm looking forward to the rest of the season."

The Best 1-5 Team in the State?

2011-10-12T06:28:00.000-07:00

For the second time in two weeks, Blaine football coach Jay Dodd has heaped a large portion of responsibility on himself for a second consecutive close loss, this one an unpalatable 21-19 heartbreaker on homecoming to Burlington-Edison.

"Close games are won and lost by coaching," Dodd told the Bellingham Herald. "So myself and my staff have got to take some of the blame for what has happened the past two weeks. We're going to look at what we're doing to help give our team a better shot to win these games."

The Tigers, a team that the Borderites seem to play just well enough to wonder how they didn't beat them, won for the fifth consecutive time against Blaine. So now the Borderites are once again looking down the barrel of playoff extermination, facing a trio of winnable games against the Bellingham, at Anacortes, and then hosting Sehome.

Borderite fans will take no relish in recalling last season's late push for the final playoff spot that got smited by a desperation touchdown pass on the last play of the game against winless Sehome. Once again, Blaine is in the same situation. If they win out they will almost certainly lock up the final slot into the play-in game against the Cascade conference counterpart. Lynden, Mount Baker, and Burlington have punched their tickets already. Blaine must win out and hope to at least tie Squalicum to win the final play-off spot.

Also chillingly similar to last season is the offense-heavy make up of the Borderites this season. Like last year, the offense has carried the load and the defense has been victimized, particularly in space and the secondary. While last season the Borderites took to the air, this season it has been trudging through defenses on the sturdy legs of Mario Gabbato, who surpassed the 1000 yard mark and leads the NWC in rushing and touchdowns.

Mario Gobbato drags a Tiger defender.

This is a talented group of kids playing one of the most brutal schedules in the state and being led by freshman quarterback Nathan Kramme. The defense seemed to rise up finally during the homecoming game and let the offense have the opportunity to win the game, led by the ferocious pass rush of Caleb Johnson and James Fakkema. Yet the defense has yet to put together a complete game so that the offense doesn't have to score 35 points for chance to win.

James Fakkema rushes the Burlington-Edison quarterback during the Homecoming game.

First chapter in the saga to win a playoff spot is this Friday at Civic Stadium as the Borderites face Bellingham. It will be interesting to see if this season is one that turns a page back to playoff football or if the next installment of playoff drought begins.