Football

BELLEVUE – As his teammates quietly hugged and shed tears, Alex Crane took a snap from a lineman and threw a touchdown pass to Carson Zajonic as players and coaches signaled touchdown with smiles on their faces.

Bainbridge didn’t have much to smile about otherwise, as the Bellevue Wolverines ran for over 350 yards as they defeated the Spartans 54-7 Friday at Bellevue Memorial Stadium.

It’s the second straight season that Bainbridge has been eliminated in district play.

The Spartans opened with a strong drive as they mixed run and pass plays to drive down to the Bellevue 12-yard line. But Will Devereaux’s field goal attempt barely went outside of the right post.

“It was a big accomplishment for us to drive the ball 80 yards,” senior running back Corey Touchette said.

Bellevue quickly took the ball down the field and scored, as Dwight Jones ran it in. The extra point was missed.

“We lost a little bit of momentum (after that Bellevue score),” Touchette said. “I don’t know what it is, but if we don’t get that first score, things go downhill.”

After a pass by Chris Bell was picked off, Kendrick Van Ackeren threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Elan Richard to capitalize on the turnover. The Spartans also lost starter Logan Dieterich to an ankle injury.

The Wolverines took advantage of another Bell pick as Joey Mangialardi scored with 3:05 in the second quarter. He ran another touchdown in from 30 yards out to put Bellevue up 27-0 at the half.

It became clear it wasn’t the Spartans’ night when Miles Jack let the ball go right between his legs on the second half kickoff. Jack recovered it at the one-yard line and ran right through the coverage for a 99-yard return.

After a Touchette fumble, Dakota Jones scored from three yards out. He scored on a 30-yard run on a fourth and 15 late in the third quarter to effectively end the game.

Touchette scored his last touchdown of his prep career on a one-yard plunge in the fourth quarter.

“They just kept running and running,” Touchette said. “We didn’t bounce back at all.”

Despite the loss, Touchette said he’s proud of what the team accomplished this season.

“It’s hard to lose like that, but I’m proud of our winning record,” he said.

Head coach Andy Grimm said he was proud of how the players fought all season.

“I’ve watched these guys since they were little,” he said of the players, many who came through the Bainbridge Junior Football Association when they made the switch to play in the Greater Eastside Junior Football Association in 2005. “They didn’t have a ton of success at the youth level, so they surprised me as being a team that hung tough all season.”

Next season, the Spartans will lose 20 seniors, including starters and contributors in Zajonic, Crane, Touchette, Alec Grimm, Karl Hunt, Nick Miller, Jordan Ashton and Will Devereaux.

Grimm said they’ll have some talent coming back including Bell and Dieterich, but said they’ll have to find someone to fill the fullback position.

“It’ll be tough,” he said. “That person has to be a tough SOB and be willing to take an awful lot of punishment.”

Bainbridge finished its season at 7-3.

Cross Country

Two Bainbridge cross country runners did their best in a tough 3A field Saturday at the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.

Freshman Signe Lindquist placed 58th out of 137 girls at the meet with a time of 20:15, while junior Isabel Ferguson finished 114th with a time of 21:41.

Head coach Anne Howard Lindquist said that Signe executed her plan to stay on a conservative start for the first mile, then pass through the crowd on the next two miles. In doing so, she moved up 19 places and was in the top five for 3A freshman.

Ferguson struggled with her goal to set a new personal record at state. Lindquist said she was fighting a cold, but said Ferguson did her best in the condition she was in.

“We are very proud to have Isabel and Signe continuing Bainbridge’s competition in this fast crowd,” she said. “And we all look forward to seeing a few more Bainbridge blue uniforms at the starting line next year!”

Amy-Eloise Neal of Glacier Peak won the individual title and helped her school win the team title. Shadle Park was second, with Oak Harbor taking third.

Boys Water Polo

Team Ray took sixth at the state tournament last weekend at the King County Aquatic Center at Federal Way.

They lost to eventual state finalist CPA 15-0 and Bellevue 16-2 Friday, then dropped a 15-7 decision to Newport and lost 15-6 to Bellevue in the fifth/sixth place game.

Grant Dunaway led the team with 10 goals and was named honorable mention to the All-State team. Goalie Blake Harper had 29 blocks.

Rowing

Both the Bainbridge Island Masters Rowers men’s and women’s crews won their respective races at the Head of the Lake Regatta in Seattle Tuesday in the final regatta of the master’s season.

The men’s Masters coxed four of Jeff Shepard, Bill McGonagle, Brandon Fleet, Kirk Frost, stroke, and Rachele Turnbull, cox, won with a time of 21:36.9.

The women’s Masters Quad of Nina Mitchell, Marilyn Tsolomitis, Jane Stewart and Mary Madison took first with a time of 21:36.61.