Beavers clinch state playoff berth

By Dean Wong

The Ballard Beavers ran over the Franklin Quakers on Friday in a 48-14 victory that clinched a state playoff spot for the first time in four years.

Ballard will play an exhibition game against the perennially tough Bellevue Wolverlines next Friday on the road.

Then comes their first post-season game with Edmonds Woodway, the undefeated leader of the WesCo South Division. Edmonds Woodway is ranked third in the state by the Seattle Times.

The Beavers are just one of 32 teams in the 4A state tournament. If they manage to win six straight games, Ballard will end up in the 4A championship game.

"We executed pretty well tonight. I was very happy. Our play action worked. They (Franklin) did a good job adjusting to our run, but it opened up our passing game. If you send everyone up to stop the run, we should be able to throw it," said head coach Alex Barashkoff.

Quarterback Joey Bolinger threw two touchdown passes to Zac Barta. Julian Montante, Colin Mathiesen, Max Girgis and Carlos Stanley each scored on running plays.

Kicker Mitch Wall has emerged as a key weapon for Ballard. He kicked six extra points and two field goals. One kick was a 41 yarder.

"That was his third one in the 40s this season," said Barashkoff.

The Bellevue game will serve as a good warm-up to the playoffs in two weeks.

"We are going to try to play them with all our starters. We will not hold back," said Barashkoff.

After the game ended, players doused Barashkoff with a cooler full of Gatorade. He was already wet from the heavy rainfall during the game. One young fan asked Stanley for his autograph.

Ballard is 5 and 3 for the regular season.