The Class 3A state championship game may have lacked in drama, but it did not lack in destiny.

When the final buzzer sounded, and Bellevue was celebrating its sixth state title in eight years, there was one player who was going to be raising the trophy first, no questions asked.

So when senior Taylor Anderson, whose brother Chase was killed last spring while riding a skateboard at the University of Washington, held the trophy up above his head, high atop his teammates shoulders, there was only one thought going through his head.

“Right when I raised that trophy,” Anderson said, “I knew Chase was looking over me.”

Bellevue dedicated the season to Chase’s honor – even wearing practice jerseys with “CBA” – Chase Barron Anderson – emblazoned on the front in honor of the former Wolverine three-sport athlete. So it was only fitting that Taylor would pick off two passes in the game, helping Bellevue knock off Union, the second-year school from Camas, 35-6, completing the Wolverines perfect 14-0 season.

Along the way, Bellevue had to cope with tragedy, injuries, and even a serious bus crash on Interstate 5 that forced the rescheduling of its semi-final game.

“This team has overcome more than any team I’ve ever coached,” said Bellevue coach Butch Goncharoff, who is now 101-8 as the Wolverines head coach. “Basically, we just competed all year. We took on all comers and honestly, I think we dominated every game we played in.”

Dominating is a good way to describe Bellevue’s first half. The Wolverines took a 28-0 lead into the half, having already totaled 316 yards on the ground and coming within one yard of another touchdown through the air as the half expired.

It took Bellevue only seven plays to find the end zone to begin the game, and the Wolverines added seven more points when Peter Nguyen took Bellevue’s next offensive touch 89 yards for another touchdown. Eric Nelson and Freddie Levine also scored first half touchdowns for Bellevue.

Bellevue’s 448-yard rushing total for the game came only 17 yards shy of a state championship record set by – who else- Bellevue in 2001.

“We came in with confidence,” said senior quarterback Tommy Castle. “We basically decided we’d been through way too much as a team and had worked way too hard for way too long to come up short.”

Union had no answer for the Wolverines offense – even coaches in the press box were fooled by the Bellevue wing-T – but the Titans also struggled when they had the ball, managing only 210 total yards, most of those coming against Bellevue’s backups in the final minutes. Union’s only touchdown came with 2:32 remaining in the game when Nathaniel Peneranda scored on a 6-yard run.

The Wolverines limited Union junior running back Blake Russell to 33 yards and picked off Titans quarterback Brandon Weller four times.

“We knew everything that they were going to do,” said Bellevue senior linebacker Jamal Atofau, a WSU commit who also picked off Weller in the game. “It was actually kind of scary that we knew everything that they were going to do – every play, every tendency.”

Bellevue, on the other hand, had its way with the Union defense, busting off eight runs of 20 yards or more. Brothers Peter (152 yards) and David Nguyen (167) yards) each scored touchdowns in the first half on runs of forty-plus yards.

“We thought that until they stopped us on those runs, why run anything else?,” Goncharoff said. “And that’s just what we did.”

Bellevue wrapped up its scoring in the third quarter when Castle scampered 15 yards for a touchdown. On Union’s next possession, Anderson picked up his second interception of the night.

“That just made my heart stop,” said Peter Nguyen. “Taylor had a great game. Chase was definitely watching out for him.”

The Wolverines have now won six state titles since 2001 and have won 14-straight games since a semi-final loss to O’Dea last season.

“We always talk about going out the right way,” said Castle, who served as a ball boy on some of the past Bellevue state championship teams. “This is the right way. It’s amazing.”

1 2 3 4 F

Union 0 0 0 6 6

Bellevue 14 14 7 0 35

Scoring summary

First quarter

Bellevue – Eric Nelson 4 run (Hubert kick) 6:47

Bellevue – Peter Nguyen 89 run (Hubert kick) 2:37

Second quarter

Bellevue – Freddie Levine 27 run (Hubert kick) 8:11

Bellevue – David Nguyen 41 run (Hubert kick) 3:16

Third quarter

Bellevue – Tommy Castle 15 run (Hubert kick) 1:00

Fourth quarter

Union – Nathaniel Peneranda 6 run (Hubert kick) 2:32

Bellevue Union

First downs 14 12

Rushes-yards 41-448 28-87

Passing yards 38 123

Comp-Att-Int 2-2-0 10-17-4

Return yards 91 165

Punts-Avg. 3-30.3 4-35.3

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0

Penalities-Yards 9-59 3-25

Time of Possesion 23:23 24:37

Rushing – Bellevue, David Nguyen 8-167; Peter Nguyen 16-152; Tommy Castle 3-12; Freddie Levine 5-85; Eric Nelson 1-3; Jamal Atofau 2-21; Sean Coley 2-0; William Bissell 1-3; Will Fields 1-1; Joe Joe Conner 2-4. Union, Blake Russell 10-33; Nathaniel Peneranda 5-37; Brandon Weller 8-(minus 11); Tyler Coad 1-2; Zak Browning 2-5; Mitch Saylor 2-21.

Receiving – Bellevue, Taylor Anderson 1-34; Jamal Atofau 1-4; Union, Saylor 7-106; Peneranda 2-11; Coad 1-6.

Bellevue’s Decade Dominance

The Wolverines have won six state titles since 2001:

Year W-L Result

2001 13-0 Beat Lynden 42-15

2002 12-1 Beat Lynden 28-10

2003 13-1 Beat O’Dea 21-7

2004 13-0 Beat Ferndale 31-28

2006 14-0 Beat Kennedy 21-14 (OT)

2008 14-0 Beat Union 35-6

Joel Willits can be reached at 425-453-5045 or at jwillits@reporternewspapers.com.