Bell squared! Bellevue blasts Lynden in 3A title rerun

TACOMA — This one was for the doubters, the ones who said it wouldn't happen.

And to hear the Bellevue High School football team last night, that was everybody except a few guys on the field and a few thousand folks in the stands.

You know who you are, they said. You picked Skyline or Lakes or some other team to win it all this year.

You said the Wolverines wouldn't do it. They lost too much speed. Had too many gaps to fill.

Well, take this, they seemed to say last night.

We're back.

"We might have been the only ones that thought we could do it," said senior Matt Coombs, who in his last high-school game put on a show that will not soon be forgotten, rushing 16 times for 169 yards and two touchdowns and intercepting a pass. "But we definitely felt it was possible. It has been our goal the whole year and nothing feels greater than working all year for a goal and finally reaching it."

The goal Bellevue obtained last night was a second straight Class 3A state championship, which came by way of a 28-10 victory over Lynden in front of 4,254 fans at the Tacoma Dome.

The Wolverines (12-1) also beat Lynden for the state crown last year, pounding the Lions 42-15.

"Everyone was pretty skeptical except the people inside the (Bellevue) locker room," said senior lineman Jeff Dicks. "The whole year, we knew we could do it. And we always told ourselves, it doesn't matter what other people think. ... All of us just said, 'It's our senior year and we're going to go out on top again.' "

Bellevue became the first 3A team to repeat as state champion since O'Dea accomplished the feat in 1994-95.

The Lions (10-3), meanwhile, became the first 3A team to lose in back-to-back championship games since Cheney in 1988-89.

"I don't think anybody expected us to be back here except for us," said Bellevue Coach Butch Goncharoff, who improved to 8-0 in the state playoffs and won his second state title in just three seasons as Bellevue's coach.

"We built it (the team) around defense," Goncharoff said. "(Defensive coordinator) James Hasty just did an incredible job, and our offense kept getting better and better."

Goncharoff said his team's lone loss this season, a 33-27 double-overtime disappointment to Skyline on Oct. 4, sparked his team to last night's achievement. The coaching staff made some personnel changes after that defeat, Goncharoff said, none bigger than the one that moved Coombs from quarterback to halfback.

Coombs has yet to decide where he'll attend school next year, but Goncharoff made a convincing pitch afterward to recruiters everywhere.

"I said all along he's the best player in the league, he's the best player on our team. In every big game, he makes plays," Goncharoff said. "I can't see a better player in the state. The bigger the game, the bigger he plays. He's been like that for three years."

Bellevue scored 28 unanswered points after falling behind 3-0.

Lynden running back T.J. Busch scored on a 94-yard run with 26 seconds to play and Jonathan Larson added the extra point to account for the final score.

Busch finished with 20 carries for 139 yards and a touchdown.

Bellevue's defense, which has been a strength of the team all season, intercepted Lynden quarterback Dan Lapinsky three times and — excluding Busch's long run which came against the second team — held the Lions to just 79 yards rushing.

"They're tough," said Lynden senior Trevor Ottmer, who suffered a dislocated left shoulder in the second quarter, but returned to play in the second half. "I mean, O'Dea was tough (for us) at the beginning of the year, but we've gotten a lot better since then. Tip your hats to (Bellevue)."

The loss snapped a 10-game Lynden winning streak and kept Coach Curt Kramme, in his 12th season at the school, stuck on 99 career victories.

With the win, the Wolverines made it three in a row in championship games for teams from the KingCo 3A Conference. Skyline won the state title in 2000.

Leading 14-3 at halftime, Bellevue scored two second-half touchdowns, the first on a 15-yard run by Nick Bumgardner and the second on a 10-yard scamper by J.R. Hasty.

Bellevue held the Lynden offense to a three-and-out series to start the game, but for the first time this season (excluding the mini-playoff), the Wolverines were forced to punt on their opening possession.

The Lions, building on that early victory, stuffed Bellevue again on the next possession, then took their only lead of the game, 3-0, on a 33-yard field goal by Larson.

Then things began to unravel. And Bellevue began to roll.

After a 3-yard run by Bumgardner, Coombs broke loose for the game's first big run, cutting and spinning his way 54 yards to the Lynden 16.

Following another Bumgardner gain, this time for 4 yards, quarterback David Cahill kept the ball over the right side for 9 more yards to the Lynden 3.

The play set up Coombs' first touchdown run of the game, but it had far more devastating consequences for the Lions.

Ottmer, Lynden's best receiver and one of their best athletes, suffered a dislocated shoulder trying to make the tackle.

He had to be helped from the field with 8:08 remaining in the second quarter and spent the rest of the half cloaked in a red coat, his pads off, his arm in a sling and an ice pack wrapped tightly around his injured arm.

Coombs intercepted a Lapinsky pass in Bellevue territory and returned the ball 34 yards to the Lynden 38 on the Lions' ensuing series. The interception set the stage for Coombs' second score of the night, a 30-yard run on fourth-and-two. A successful extra point gave the Wolverines a 14-3 lead.

John Coombs, Matt's younger brother, also grabbed a Lapinsky pass in the second quarter, ending the Lions' attempt to answer on the Bellevue 8.