Bellevue knocks out Skyline early in matchup of Washington dynasties

SEATTLE – Washington's highly-anticipated matchup between high school football dynasties may have come a year too late.

Five-time defending 3A champ Bellevue – ranked No. 16 nationally by MaxPreps – dominated two-time defending 4A champ Skyline (Sammamish) from start to finish in a 45-7 win Saturday night at the University of Washington's Husky Stadium.

"It would have been fun to play them last year but tonight our defense came out and set the tone," Bellevue head coach Butch Goncharoff said. "We kind of stunned them and got after them a little bit."

The contest was the last of four played on the day at the revamped UW facility as part of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association's Emerald City Kickoff Classic.

Bellevue notched its 41st win in a row – the fourth-longest active streak in the nation. That run of success began following a 28-21 setback to a Max Browne-led Skyline team Sept. 11, 2010. The Spartans have split four games with Bellevue dating back to 2006.

But the Wolverines shut down Skyline's dreams of taking bragging rights once again in the showdown between neighboring powers. Bellevue ran away with scoring plays covering 65, 66 and 47 yards during a decisive five-minute span in the first half.

Already up 7-0 courtesy of a 12-yard run by blue chip recruit Budda Baker, junior running back Sam Richmond went straight up the middle and ran nearly untouched 65 yards to make it 14-0 with 45 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

Senior receiver Marek Spooner-Leduff took a screen pass 66 yards for another Bellevue score less than two minutes later.

Baker put an exclamation point on Bellevue's first-half efforts by going 47 yards on a fourth-down play with 8:23 remaining in the opening half.

The Wolverines piled up 324 yards on the ground and 418 total yards while limiting the typically-potent Spartans to just 182 total yards. Skyline's only points came with the mercy rule (running clock) in effect late in the fourth quarter.

Despite the overwhelming dominance, Baker claims his Wolverines have a long way to go.

"It feels great but we made a lot of mistakes," Baker said. "We have a lot of work to do and when we get there we will be great."

Baker finished with 69 yards and two scores on just six carries. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior speedster also recorded a pair of tackles and broke up a pass.

Sam Richmond led Bellevue's run game with 113 yards and a TD on seven carries. Older brother Max added 71 yards and a TD on just four carries.

Following a line of high-profile quarterbacks at Skyline, Florida transfer Kilton Anderson struggled in his debut. The South Alabama verbal commitment completed 11 of 24 pass attempts for 77 yards and ran for 13 times for 61 yards and the team's lone score.

Bellevue and Skyline both finished undefeated in 2012 and dominated their respective title games, leaving fans clamoring for some type of unsanctioned postseason showdown. The Wolverines have won 10 of the last 12 3A state titles while Skyline has won seven state crowns in the 3A and 4A classifications since 2000.

Both programs suffered major personnel losses from a year ago, but Skyline was especially hard hit. In addition to All-American signal caller Browne, the Spartans lost their top three rushers, top 10 receivers and seven of the top eight tacklers from a year ago.

Skyline will attempt to get back on track next week at Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) while Bellevue hosts Bothell.
 
Other Emerald City Kickoff Classic games

Bothell 44, Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) 43
Ross Bowers, Bothell: 20-41 passing, 274 yards, 4 TDs
Gunnar Amos, Coeur d'Alene: 25-41 passing, 267 yards, 2 TDs

Roosevelt (Seattle) 7, Seattle Prep 0
Bereket Anshebo, Roosevelt: 22 carries, 150 yards, TD

Lynden 14, King's (Seattle) 6
Lucas Peterson, Lynden: 11-21 passing, 170 yards, TD