BALLARD CARRIES. Eliott Tonning, Number 27, the wide receiver, carries the ball in the third quarter.<br><br><b>Photo by Steve Shay</b>
The goods news is the Ballard Beavers season opening win over Juanita 29-21 on the first day of September.
Then bad news came in losses to Woodinville 31-6, Redmond 32-0 and the latest defeat 35-19 to the inner city rival Franklin Quakers last Friday.
“They out played us,” said Ballard Head Coach Alex Barashkoff after the Quaker game.
Beaver starting quarterback Joey Bolinger dislocated his left shoulder diving after a fumble in the first half and that was bad news for the Ballard offense.
“Joey got hurt. They are a good football team. Once he got hurt, that took a lot out of us,” said Barashkoff.
Backup quarterback Clayton Brenden replaced Bolinger and he threw four interceptions. The Beavers also fumbled in the red zone, late in the second quarter when they had built up some offensive momentum to excite their fans.
As the game got out of hand, one of the Ballard linemen kicked a yard marker out of frustration. Fortunately, officials were at the other end of the field and did not call penalty.
Franklin hurt the Beavers with scoring runs of 69 and 80 yards.
“They made the big plays and we didn’t. Turnovers and penalties hurt. It was the same as last week,” said Barashkoff.
Beaver kicker Kenichi Sato had a field goal for Ballard’s first score. Brenden scored on a quarterback sneak on the one-yard line and Miles Schwaab scored on a two-point conversion.
Brenden also found Danny Hawkins for a 13-yard touchdown pass late in the game, Clayton then passed to Colin Matthieson for two points.
The bright spot in the season so far was the win over Juanita.
In that game wide receiver Miles Schwaab, who was on the All-KingCo team last year, threw a touchdown pass to Clayton Anderson for the Beavers first score.
Schwaab’s half-back pass is a trick play coaching staff has put into his offense to give the defense something to think about.
“We will try to continue running it with Miles,” said Barashkoff.
Bolinger found Antonio Morton for a 79 pass that scored Ballard’s second touchdown. Schwaab then converted a two-point conversion with a run.
Running back Terrance Garcia then caught a 10 yard screen pass from Bolinger for a score. Colin Mathieson had a 3 yard run for Ballard’s final touchdown. Kenichi Sato provided the extra point.
Bolinger competed 12 of 20 pass attempts for 174 yards. Garcia rushed for 84 yards and Mathieson added 61 yards. Garcia and Danny Hawkins had four pass receptions each.
Despite being rusty for the season opener, Barashkoff said Bolinger threw some nice balls on his touchdowns.
Bolinger is Ballard’s best quarterback since Cole Morgan (now a Washington State Cougar). In statistics compiled through the Redmond game, Bolinger has completed 29 of 56 passes and 337 yards.
After his shoulder injury against Franklin, Bolinger was taken to Swedish Hospital in Ballard for treatment.