BOTHELL — The rain couldn’t slow down the Blue Train. In fact, it might have sped it up.
Bothell struck hard, fast and often on the way to a 61-0 win over Stanwood High School in the 4A District 1 playoffs. The victory earned the Cougars, also called the “Blue Train” by fans, a state tournament berth. The loss ended the Spartans’ season.
The Cougars (10-0 overall), coming off a Kingco championship win against Skyline, are the No. 1 4A team in Washington, according to the Associated Press poll. They showed why early in the game.
The rain may have slowed Bothell down more than Stanwood’s defense, which gave up 28 points in the first quarter and allowed the Cougars 229 yards of offense on 12 plays from scrimmage.
“We just play the ‘Blue Way,’” Bothell head coach Tom Bainter said. “We can’t control the weather or who we play, but we can control what we do.”
Luke Proulx led Bothell’s rushing attack, running for 14 yards on the first play and never looking back.
Proulx had a seven-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. In the second quarter, he scampered away on scoring runs of 57 and 53 yards, both coming immediately after Bothell received Stanwood’s punt. He ended the first drive of the second half with a 23-yard touchdown run, and then he was finished for the night.
The junior running back finished with 220 yards on 11 carries and the four touchdowns.
Bothell quarterback Mitchell Muller also had a stellar game, completing all nine of his passes for 191 yards and four touchdowns in a little over two quarters of work.
“I’m real proud of our kids,” Bainter said.
After the victory, the Bothell crowd stood and cheered for its team. Then, the packed stadium turned its attention to its coach, who happened to be celebrating another event Friday night: his birthday.
“I’ve never had that many people sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me before,” Bainter said after the crowd sang to the now 44-year old coach.
Stanwood (4-6) looked overmatched all night, and could never into an offensive rhythm. Dropped passes ended many offensive opportunities. As a result, the Spartans punted eight times and turned the ball over on downs once in the first half.
Stanwood’s defense didn’t fare much better. Bothell scored on its’ first seven drives of the game, and the Spartans didn’t force a third down until 3:14 remained in the second quarter.
The Cougars now will wait and see who they face next week. No matter who their opponent turns out to be, Bainter says Bothell we’ll be ready.
“We’ve set some high goals for ourselves,” Bainter said. “We’ll see who we play and determine a good game plan. We’ll do what we do.”
Bothell celebrated with the fans Friday night in the pouring down rain, something Bainter hopes to see continue.
“Seasons go by so quick,” he said. “You gotta take time to enjoy the week’s hard work.”
While Stanwood’s season came to an end, first-year coach Aaron Cupp still praised his team.
“I’m just really proud of our guys and the way we grew,” Cupp said. “We really keyed off progress as the season went along. You gotta look at the positives. Playing Bothell gave us a good measuring stick. We’d like to be like them someday, and have a dynasty like they have down there.
“I think we’ve come a long way. We’ve got a lot of progress to make. The senior class really did some special things for us in terms of their leadership, and showing the younger players where we need to go.”
At Pop Keeney Stadium
Stanwood0000—0
Bothell2820130—0
Bothell—Sullivan 24 pass from Muller (Davis kick)
Bothell—Knapp 59 pass from Muller (Davis kick)
Bothell—Proulx 7 run (Davis kick)
Bothell—Knapp 43 pass from Muller (Davis kick)
Bothell—Proulx 57 run (Davis kick)
Bothell—Hudson 8 pass from Muller (pass failed)
Bothell—Proulx 53 run (Davis kick)
Bothell—Proulx 23 run (kick blocked)
Bothell—Anthony 54 run (Davis kick)
Records—Stanwood 4-6 overall. Bothell 10-0.
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