It was not a shutout, but barely.
The Spartans had a big night offense-wise, and the defense technically did put in a shutout performance Friday, Sept. 20 against the visitors from Interlake. However, the final score was 47-6 after the Saints scored with a fumble recovery late in the game to get on the board.
That blip did nothing, though, to detract from from the achievement of the Bainbridge High School varsity football team, who, with the win, upped their overall season record to 2-1.
Both Interlake and BHS went into the game 1-all, so somebody was coming out ahead in more ways than one regardless.
“We got it on track; that’s where our offense should be,” said BHS Head Coach Jeff Rouser.
He said he was especially impressed with the way some of the greener members of the squad had stepped up in light of the continued absence (due to a hairline tibia fracture) of senior Elliot Weaver, who was earlier this season expected to be a pivotal part of the Spartan line.
“Elliot’s been out; he’s one of our best,” Rouser said. “And we have young guys who were filling the void, and now they’re starting to learn how to play.
“They’re learning their plays, they’re getting confident and that’s one of the good things.
“If you can get through and deal with adversity — then you can learn from it. And I think that’s what’s hopefully happening. Now, we’ll have more depth when Elliot comes back.”
When exactly that will be remains unknown.
Still, Bainbridge has covered a lot of ground in the meantime. In total, the Spartans stockpiled 447 rushing yards Friday, led by senior Franco Abullarade, who ran for 167 yards and scored three touchdowns.
Senior Charlie Hughes piled up 74 yards and scored two touchdowns, and senior Alex Ledbetter rushed 65 yards and scored a touchdown, as well.
Juniors P.J. Miller and Gabe Todd chipped in 28 yards and 24 yards and one touchdown, respectively.
It was a seemingly easy, breezy win for Bainbridge. The Spartans scored first and there was no time when they were not safely ahead.
“We didn’t take them lightly,” Rouser said of the visitors. “They were good sports. They tried to stack us with a five-man front, which is different than what we saw on film, so we adjusted to it.”
The win was a much-needed boost, Rouser said, after the team’s disappointing loss to Olympic the week before.
“We had a real bad day last week and we needed to get back and our offense got going early.”
Against Interlake, the island squad seemed to be firing on all cylinders, in fact.
The team’s passing leader was Todd, who completed 2-for-3 for 30 yards.
The receiving leader was Cal Breen, who managed two catches for 34 yards.
Sophomore Matt Ledorze chipped in one catch for 17 yards, and Abuallarde hauled in a pass for 16 yards.
Defense-wise, officials noted BHS did technically shut out Interlake, as the Ravens scored by returning a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Senior Brett Dudgeon blocked the extra point attempt.
For Bainbridge, star senior Sio Peato led the way with one sack, one tackle for a loss, multiple assists and a QB hurry.
Fellow senior John Devlin contributed two tackles, two QB hurries, and four assists.
And many younger Spartans did their share, too, including juniors Brian Taylor (one interception, two tackles, and multiple assists), Breen (one tackle, multiple assists, and multiple pass defenses), Jack Mielke (one interception, two tackles and multiple assists), P.J. Miller (one tackle for a loss, two tackles, and multiple assists) and Austin Coupland (two tackles and multiple assists).
Three freshmen found their way into the stats as well.
Sasha Herrmann chipped in one sack, four tackles for loss, one tackle and multiple assists, earning a specific call-out from the coach afterward.
“That kid’s a freshman,” Rouser stressed. “He’s a man; it’s crazy he’s a freshman. He had a really good game.”
Also, Jeff Utter had three tackles, and Cole Weathers had one sack and multiple assists.
The Spartans next hit the road to take on Roosevelt Friday, Sept. 27, and will return home to host Lakeside at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4 for homecoming. It will be the penultimate home game of the regular season, the last scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, against Chief Sealth.
