Bellevue busts loose

SAMMAMISH — Bellevue High School ends every other football practice with its linemen taking turns pushing a heavy blocking sled up and down the field, 100 exhausting yards, four exhausting sets.

Looks like the hard work is paying off.

The big boys at top-ranked Bellevue showed their strength Friday night in a sloppy, scrappy but still impressive 28-0 shutout of No. 10 Skyline. On defense the Wolverines recorded four sacks, and on offense they flashed dominance during the opening scoring drive in the second quarter.

First, the defense. In a highly anticipated KingCo 3A season opener, the Wolverines' defensive front helped stuff the traditionally fearsome Skyline attack to just 98 total yards, including 18 rushing.

At one point in the third quarter, they had also knocked Skyline's top two quarterbacks, Tony Rehn and Eric Biege, out of the game with a minor concussion and a right-leg injury, respectively. Rehn, who returned later, completed 10 of 21 passes for 80 yards with an interception in his starting debut.

"The defense did a great job of getting 11 guys to the ball and hitting them really hard," said senior safety Travis Stanaway, whom Bellevue coach Butch Goncharoff also singled out for slowing Skyline's passing game. "We had a great defensive plan, and we executed it."

Skyline had not been shut out since 1997, the school's first year. Spartans coach Steve Gervais, who started coaching there in 1998, had never been shut out at Skyline.

"We know we're a young team, we're going to work to get better," Gervais said of his squad, which returned just one starter from last year's team. "I think across the board, we've got a lot of room for improvement."

The pregame atmosphere buzzed like the playoffs. Hundreds of fans from both schools swarmed the school grounds hours before the gates were open. Skyline's brand-new Field Turf glistened under the setting sun.

The crowd, including former players for both teams and Washington coach Tyrone Willingham — his son Nathaniel starts for Skyline — was estimated at about 4,000.

The two coaches, Gervais and Goncharoff, have nine state titles between them. Bellevue has the third-best overall record among all Washington high schools since 2000, and Skyline has the fifth-best.

Bellevue led by only that touchdown heading into the fourth, with the Skyline defense playing well.

But Bellevue running back Loka Kanongataa broke the game open, scoring two touchdowns less than two minutes apart, including a nifty 32-yarder, featuring two "ooh-aah" ankle-twisting cutbacks.

Ladell Carroll, who led Bellevue in rushing with 23 carries for 88 yards, also scored twice.

Other games

At Issaquah 41, Interlake 21

Matt Gellatly ran for four touchdowns and Brian Brady caught a pair of scoring throws from Ryan Wewerka as the Eagles outscored the Saints in a KingCo 3A opener. Gellatly scored from 7, 56, 5 and 13 yards. Issaquah broke the game open with three TDs in a three-minute span of the first quarter. The Eagles needed a big offensive night to overcome Scott Galland's 347 passing yards for Interlake. Galland completed 25 of 42 throws, including three scoring strikes. J.D. Schultz had 11 catches for 152 yards and two TDs for Interlake.

At Mount Si 46, Sammamish 0

Brandon Yakaboski carried 17 times for 215 yards and scored four touchdowns as the eighth-ranked Wildcats rolled in their KingCo 3A opener. Ian Atkinson threw TD passes of 63 yards to Yakaboski and 17 yards to Sean Bothell, and Dan Reeves recovered two fumbles for Mount Si.

Newport 35, at Liberty 24

Brandon Mezistrano ran 68 yards for a touchdown and caught a 52-yard scoring pass from Ryan Benoit to help the Knights win their KingCo 3A opener. Mezistrano carried eight times for 85 yards and Collin Bennett had 12 carries for 71 yards and two short TDs for Newport. Justin Whitman ran for two TDs and Jordan Jenkins had 75 yards on 17 carries for the Patriots, who were outgained only 315 yards to 291.