Whatcom County - Power House in High School Football
The 2006 Grid Iron Classic of high school football was held today in Tacoma, Washington at the Tacoma Dome. Whatcom County had a high school football team representing the 2A, 1A & 1B divisions this year...which is absolutely amazing considering there are 39 counties that make up The State of Washington. But it's no surprise to residents of Whatcom County who are use to great football games every Friday night in the fall. Here are the results from today's big games.
The Meridian High School Trojans 14-0 beat Connell High School 13-1 today in the 1A Washington State High School Football Championship in Tacoma, WA today. Meridian High School is located just North of Bellingham in the Laurel area of Whatcom County. The Meridian Football Team is coached by legendary head coach Bob Ames.
Thing’s got really exciting during the fourth quarter of this game. To start the fourth quarter Meridian’s Connor Herman scored a touchdown to make the score 21-10. Connell scored twice within 5 minutes to pull ahead at 22-21. Then Sean Hurlbut scored with less than a minute left to play to give the Trojans the lead 27-22. With time running out, Connell threw a pass which was caught, but Meridian players were able to stop Connell on the 2 yard line to end the game with time running out….Wow! Connell entered the game as the top-ranked team in the state for 1A.
What a finish…congratulations to the Meridian High School Football Team. This is the third state championship for Meridian High School in the last eight years. They won it all in 1999, 2003, and now in 2006. Congrats also to Connell High School for a great season as well.
Lynden High School 12-1 defeated Centralia High School Tigers 12-1 in the state 2 A football championship. With the win Lynden made it two-for-two for Whatcom County in the 2006 Gridiron Classic. The Lions beat Centralia 14-10 in the 2A championship game to win the third football title in school history.
The first quarter saw both Lynden and Centralia trading momentum back and forth. The Centralia Bobcats scored first making the score 7-0. By halftime Centralia pushed its lead out to 10-0.
The second half belonged to Lynden and the Chris Bolt show. Lynden’s Landon Vandenhoof ran for their first touchdown of the game and closed the score to 10-7 early in the third quarter. Centralia marched right down the field to Lynden’s 15 yard line only to be stopped by Lynden’s defense, which then blocked a field goal try by Centralia. Going into the fourth Lynden had the ball with quarterback Chris Bolt taking charge this half. He marched his team down the field and scored Lynden’s go ahead touchdown with Lynden now leading 14-10.
Lynden’s defense stopped Centralia and then controlled the ball the rest of the way. They marched down to the Centralia 15 and allowed the clock to tick off to a championship. The Lynden Lions are the state 2 A football Champions. Curt Kramme is the head coach. The only blemish on Lynden’s Championship season is their sole loss to their arch rival in Whatcom County, powerhouse Ferndale High School Golden Eagles.
Lummi High School 11-2 lost the 1B Washington State High School Football Championship to St. John-Endicott High School 13-1. For the second year in a row the Black Hawks from The Lummi Nation have been in the state tournament.
Their team should be able to return to state competition because very few seniors were on this year’s team. Their head coach is Jim Sandusky. The final score was 12-6.
The half time score was 6-0 with Lummi trailing. It was 12-0 for St. John-Endicott in the third quarter. Then the Lummi Blackhawk’s scored a touchdown making it 12-6 with 3:21 left in the third quarter. Lummi had driven all the way down to St. John-Endicott 20 yard line twice in the fourth quarter and couldn't convert either chance to a score. Lummi had several chances to score further in this heart breaker, but they ended up on the wrong side of the score at 12-6. But they still took the number 2 spot out of the entire state...and were proud of our Blackhawk’s. Good luck next year guys!
Ferndale High School Golden Eagles were undefeated at 12-0 before they were beaten in the 3A football playoffs to Kennedy High School. Kennedy was in last night’s championship game and lost in triple overtime to Bellevue High School, who won their 5th state football championship since 2001. Ferndale was the Defending champion from last year with their 2005 15-0 team record. Their star quarterback Jake Locker, graduated and spent the fall as a red-shirt quarterback for the University of Washington. He is expected to start for the University of Washington next fall as a freshman.
Oak Harbor High School defeated Bothel High School tonight in the 4A Washington State High School Football Championship. With the Wildcats Championship win, this completes the total dominance in state football by northern counties, especially for Whatcom County Football. Congratulations to The Wildcats who are coached by Dave Ward. This is the first state football championship for the Oak Harbor, WA high school team.
Our hearts go out to the team's on the losing end of these games, to get so close and have it end in a big game like the state championship. It's even tougher for a an area like Centralia, when this past Monday, the community lost about 600 jobs when TransAlta shut down the areas coal strip mine. Some how the area will recover and the football traditions will go on in these great small towns.
Our Bellingham WA Homes site proudly supports all local sports in the Whatcom County area.