This Friday the Bishop Blanchet Bears traveled to Memorial Stadium to face off against the Ballard Beavers. This was almost a come-from-behind victory for the Beavers, but the Bears had other ideas and scraped by with 34-32 win. This game was an absolute track meet with lots of points and big plays.
Blanchett’s running backs were the stars for the Bear offense. They gave the Beavers a hard time, breaking off 50+ yard runs and constantly gaining positive yardage. In total their team’s rushers had 188 yards. This was the primary reason the Bears’ offense would get into scoring positions as the Beaver’s couldn’t find an answer to stop them. The Bear’s would call various types of runs, from QB sneaks to triple option plays to keep Beavers’ defense on their heels. The Bears’ defense also played a key role for the close victory, as they had 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery.
Blanchet leapt out to 21-6 first-quarter lead, but from there, the Beavers outscored the Bears 26-13 — highlighting the quality coaching adjustments Ballard made after the opening frame. The Bears closed out a nerve-wracking contest — despite the Beavers’ strategic adjustments and individual success from their quarterback.
Ballard’s QB Chase Ihle, had a pair of second half touchdowns, good for 290 passing yards and 3 TDs on the day — 2 passing and 1 rushing score on the Beavers’ opening drive. Though he was almost the hero, he couldn’t get it done in the end, and Ballard was left walking away with a loss.
This loss brings the Beavers to a 1-7 record, and the Bears move to 2-6. Up next in the last week of the regular season, the Bears play West Seattle Wildcats at West Seattle. The Beavers will host Lakeside.
