Things couldn’t have started better for Bellevue Christian on Friday in La Conner.
Senior Austin Razor took the opening kickoff 78 yards between the Braves’ coverage team for a quick 7-0 lead and it looked as though the Vikings were again going to roll to a big win as they did in the first two weeks of the season.
But La Conner quarterback Skylar Krueger went 66 yards on his team’s second play from scrimmage to even things up and two possessions later, Dahlton Zavala returned a punt 62 yards for a go-ahead touchdown as the duo lifted the Braves to a 39-24 win, their first of the year.
Razor kept the Vikings within reach by returning the ensuing kick for a score until Zavala went in again, this time from 30 yards out, to give La Conner the lead for good.
“We came out flat,” BCS head coach Greg Schneider said. “They were ready to play and we weren’t.”
Raj Hanstad caught a touchdown pass and two point conversion from Kemper McQuaid to cut the lead to eight, and then pulled down an interception on the next Braves’ possession before McQuaid was intercepted on the next drive and on the next play, Krueger went in for another score to slam the door on the Vikings’ first loss.
“It’s a building process,” Schneider said. “We’re going to learn from it.”
Bellevue Christian will face Orcas Island at Lake Washington High School on Oct. 1.
Other games
Bellevue led Lake Washington 48-0 at the half and cruised to a 54-0 victory to push its record to 4-0. The Wolverines face 3-1 Mercer Island next week.
Interlake fell 41-7 to the Islanders on Friday night behind a career-best performance from Mercer Island junior quarterback Brian Higgins, who threw for 207 yards and a score in relief of senior Jeff Lindquist, who was resting a sore shoulder according to reports.The Saints travel to Snoqualmie to meet 3-1 Mount Si, which defeated Liberty 16-13 in overtime.
Sammamish was also defeated, 35-13 despite racking up 300 yards of offense against Juanita. Sammamish will meet 1-3 Lake Washington, which has been shutout in consecutive weeks and like the Totems, has a lone win against a 4A KingCo foe that came by way of forfeit.
Cascade was no match for Newport (3-1), which rolled 49-6 in Everett. The Knights host undefeated Eastlake in a crucial 4A KingCo showdown next Friday.