Granite Falls — Regardless of the outcome of the 2A District 1 play-in football game Tuesday night, Granite Falls players and coaches were sure to have tears in their eyes.
Having dedicated the season to offensive coordinator Joe Montooth who passed away at the beginning of the season, either a win would be bittersweet or a loss would be heartbreaking.
In this case, Squalicum (6-4 overall) broke the Tigers hearts quickly in a 31-6 dismantling that propeled it into a district playoff game at Lynden Saturday.
“We battled through a lot of adversity this year,” Granite Falls coach Tracey Bechtholdt said.
He added that he was, “very proud” of boys that battled through injuries and illness, including starting running back Coty Walker who tried to play with a 101.5 temperature. The Tigers were also without two starting offensive linemen and the injuries showed on both lines of scrimmage.
“We knew they were kind of beat up,” Squalicum coach Reed Richardson said. “We wanted to run the ball on them.”
From the beginning that’s exactly what the Storm did, and the Tigers had no answer for running back Brad Miller. The 210-pound junior carried the ball 26 times for 202 yards and two scores. Every time he touched the ball it was as if there were no defensive line and when linebackers missed tackles it led to big gains.
“That’s the kind of back he is,” Richardson said. “He gets better as the game goes on.”
It was a career high for Miller who forgot his No. 26 jersey in Bellingham and had to wear 39, which by the end of the game was covered in mud from the sloppy surface.
“You couldn’t really cut,” Miller said. “So I had to be a north and south back.”
After rushing for minus 6 yards on his first two carries and the Storm punted on its opening possession, its defense held Granite Falls (3-7) to a three-and-out. When Squalicum got the ball again they began running downhill and the onslaught began. Miller scored two touchdowns on the next three possessions in between a 27-yard field goal and the Storm had all the points they would need by the middle of the second quarter.
“We haven’t faced anybody that big that ran that hard,” Bechtholdt said.
“That’s exactly how I thought it would go,” Richardson said. “If they were full speed it would have been a dang good game.”
The Tigers dodged a bullet before half when a Hail Mary pass by Quin Moore was caught by Christian Foster, who had nothing but grass in front of him before he was pulled down inside the 1 by Ryan Teter as the clock ran out.
The Storm defense lived in the Granite backfield all night and the Tigers ended the first half with just 54 yards. JJ Campbell got the passing game going a bit in the second half. He connected with Max Whitt on a 10-yarder for Granite’s only score of the game, which made the score 24-6.
“We didn’t match up size wise and we knew that going in,” Bechtholdt said.
After the game, many emotional Tigers players remained on the field. One group of seniors walked up and down each 5-yard line for the last time in orange and black long after the jubilant Storm loaded up the buses back to Bellingham.
The Storm were full of emotion for a different reason after the game. The victory was just the second playoff win in school history and gives them a chance at revenge with Lynden, which was a 42-17 victor in their meeting earlier in the year in a game that Richardson called, “closer than the score indicated.” The winner of that game advances to the state 2A playoffs.
At Granite Falls H.S.
Squalicum71077—31
Granite Falls0060—6
SQ—Miller 1 run (Starkovich kick)
SQ—FG Starkovich 27
SQ—Miller 8 run (Starkovich kick)
SQ—Moore 2 run (Starkovich kick)
GF—Whitt 10 pass from Campbell (kick failed)
SQ—Fenton 2 run (Starkovich kick)
Records—Squalicum 6-4 overall. Granite Falls 3-7.
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