Bay walks off proud after loss to Bellevue

BELLEVUE — Ray Lions’ final timeout with 5 seconds remaining Saturday night in a game’s fate sealed by a mandated running-clock rule was far from meaningless.

The Hudson’s Bay seniors walked off the field, locked arm-in-arm as the first-year coach turned to the Eagles’ fanbase who braved the cold and steady rain that fell all night at Bellevue Memorial Stadium and urged the applause.

Because this defeat actually felt like a celebration, the Eagles say.

The Eagles’ 51-20 loss in the 3A football state preliminary round might’ve shown a defeat at the hands of a Bellevue program that’s been a powerhouse of Class 3A in Washington, a game that seemed out of reach before halftime watching the Wolverines what seemed like effortlessly racking up 42 of their 51 first-half points on offense running just 18 plays.

Celebrate because Saturday was an accomplishment, and that’s reaching the playoffs. No Eagles team has done that since 2001 when Hudson’s Bay reached the same round of the playoffs as it did Saturday — the Week 10 state preliminary round, finishing 8-2 overall.

“We rebuilt the program,” senior Marco Cadiz said. “I’m glad people don’t look at us as the normal Bay; we’re not the same team and it’s a good feeling.”

This year’s Bay team went 6-4, and the six victories is the most since the ’01 team won eight games. Bay last reached the state playoffs in 1999; a victory Saturday would’ve accomplished that.

Three years ago, the senior class who were on varsity won one game. As sophomores, they won two.

Now, not only are they a winning program, but a playoff one, too.

And outgoing senior Myles Artis is proud of the legacy he and the rest of the senior class built at Bay and is excited for what’s in store for the future.

“And hopefully go further,” he said. “They have the potential.”

Saturday, the Eagles simply were no match for a program that made 15 consecutive state playoff appearances beginning in 2001 before an independent investigation into Bellevue’s football program found facts that supported allegations of wrongdoing. Part of the sanctions placed on Bellevue included a two-year postseason ban for 2016 and ’17. The WIAA lifted Bellevue’s two-year postseason ban in September.

The most plays Bellevue (9-1) needed on a touchdown drive was six; the fewest was one. After Bay fumbled on its second possession, Isaiah Ifanse scored what was the second of his six first-half touchdowns.

Three plays in, Bellevue had 104 yards and 14 points.

With a 51-7 halftime lead, Ifanse had all six of Bellevue’s offensive touchdowns on runs of 13, 24, 50, 34, 11 and 3 yards. He finished with a game-best 217 yards on 14 carries before exiting with 7:17 left in the third quarter.

Three Bay players didn’t return because of injuries, but none more serious than offensive lineman Logan DeGrandpre suffering a serious leg injury that led to his transportation to the hospital via ambulance. It happened with 1:11 to go in the first quarter as the game was delayed 20 minutes.

Bay’s best drive ended with Quadrese Teague’s 28-yard touchdown run, stiff-arming and hurdling his way down the left sideline that made it a 35-7 game with 5:08 left in the second quarter. He also had a 12-yard fourth-quarter score as Bay’s leading rusher and top receiver on the night. He finished with 115 yards on six catches and also had 72 yards on 10 carries.

Back-up quarterback Parker Marsh, who played the entire second half for the injured Brian Perez, completed 4 of 8 passes, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to Carter Morse in the fourth quarter.

BELLEVUE 51, HUDSON’S BAY 20

Bay 0 7 0 6–20

Bellevue 28 23 0 0–51

First quarter

B — Isaiah Ifanse 13 run (Jed Michael kick)

B — Ifanse 24 run (Michael kick)

B — Ifanse 50 run (Michael kick)

B — Quinn Sullivan 62 INT return (Michael kick)

Second quarter

B — Ifanse 34 run (Michael kick)

HB — Quadrese Teague 28 run (Nicholas Campbell kick)

B — Ifanse 11 run (Michael kick)

B — Safety

B — Ifanse 3 run (Michael kick)

Fourth quarter

HB — Carter Morse 14 pass from Parker Marsh (Campbell kick)

HB — Teague 12 run (kick failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Bellevue: Isaiah Ifanse 14-217, Quinn Sullivan 2-65, Joey Echigoshima 3-23, Stiles Satterlee 1-8, Daniel Pratt 1-2, Joby Schneider 6-23; Hudson’s Bay: Quadrese Teague 10-72, Marco Cadiz 8-43, Julio Vara 1-5, Brian Perez 5-(minus-12), Carter Morse 1-0

PASSING — Bellevue: Joey Echigoshima 1-1-0-45; Hudson’s Bay: Brian Perez 9-18-1-62, Parker Marsh 4-8-0-76

RECEIVING — Bellevue: Hunter Hansen 1-45; Hudson’s Bay: Miles Artis 2-8, Julio Vara 1-4, Quadrese Teague 6-115, Carter Morse 3-11