By Christopher Duclos

The boys from Ballard traveled to Issaquah on Friday night to take on the Eagles. Coming off of a two-game winless drought against Skyline and Newport, the beavers were hoping to achieve their second win of the season.

In the first quarter, the Issaquah Eagles carried all the momentum as they scored a pair of unanswered touchdowns. In the second quarter, following another Issaquah score, Ballard showed signs of life as Dominique Smith grabbed a 60-yard pass from senior quarterback Johnny Verduin to put the score up to 21-7. Unfortunately, Issaquah did not let up on their offensive assault, chalking up two more touchdowns to end the first half, 35-7.

The second half proved to be difficult for Ballard. Junior running back Dana Williams took a 90-yard rush to the house in the 3rd quarter. The extra point was then missed by senior kicker Andrew Ingham.

The Beavers responded in the 4th quarter with more life as a pair of two rushing touchdowns were performed successfully by Dominique Smith and Shea Carroll. Following Shea Carroll's touchdown, John Degarmo converted a two-point conversion on a pass from Johnny Verduin.

Final Score: 49-28 Issaquah

Dominique Smith played with tremendous effort, scoring 2 of Ballard’s 4 total touchdowns. His stats for Friday night include one receiving, one rushing touchdown. Rushing: 3 carries for 42 yards, his longest carry was for 38 yards. Receiving: 7 catches for 133 yards, longest catch was on the 60-yard touchdown.

This loss drops Ballard’s win loss ratio to 1-6. The boys will hope to cut the deficit to 2-6 as they take on the Roosevelt Roughriders this Friday, Oct. 19, at Memorial Stadium.

Notes:

• Nate Rauda has had a touchdown in all of the past 3 games for Ballard. However that streak ended against Issaquah. He had 6 receptions for 79 yards. His longest reception was for 41 yards.
• Andrew Ingham was not perfect on the night as he missed the third extra point. The offense made up for the miss thanks to a Johnny Verduin pass to John Degarmo to convert two points on the 4th touchdown.