High School Sports
Freshman QB rescues Ballard

By Sandy Ringer
Seattle Times staff reporter

JIM BATES / THE SEATTLE TIMES Erik Kruse (23) gathers in a long pass over Bothell's Brett Wilcox, setting up Ballard's winning touchdown with five seconds remaining.

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Doug Trainor wanted the ball in his best player's hands.

So the Ballard football coach asked Joey Bolinger to get it there. That might seem like a lot to expect of a 15-year-old freshman, a third-string quarterback who didn't take a snap for the first 3-1/2 quarters against 10th-ranked Bothell.

But Bolinger came off the bench to throw a 12-yard touchdown pass to senior Jerome Williams with five seconds left, giving the Beavers a 21-19 victory in the fourth of five games yesterday in the Emerald City Kickoff Classic at Qwest Field.

Bellevue played De La Salle of Concord, Calif., in the featured game late last night.

Bolinger's effort was just what Trainor had in mind.

"The mindset was to get the football in our best player's hands," he said. "We have a couple of those guys. I just needed to make sure somebody — in this case it was a freshman quarterback — did that."

Collectively, the Beavers did what no other KingCo 4A team has been able to accomplish since November of 2001, when Inglemoor beat Bothell 12-6. Bothell had won 16 consecutive conference games since then and came into this season favored to win a third straight conference title.

Ballard is also the first city team to beat Bothell since 1997, when the Cougars were 0-9. The Beavers are in only their third year in KingCo and had lost both previous meetings between the schools.

Cameron Wells got the start at quarterback for Ballard last night because Jordan Gardner will be out with mononucleosis for another week. Wells, who left late in the game with a hand injury, did some good things, throwing a 19-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Hickenbottom early in the fourth quarter. That, and his two-point conversion toss to Williams, put Ballard ahead 15-12.

Bothell, which had been 4-0 in season openers under coach Tom Bainter, bounced back to take the lead as Nick Jones broke a 34-yard touchdown run with 3:56 left. John Musseau's extra-point kick made it 19-15.
 
Ballard scored its first two touchdowns after key special-team plays — a blocked field goal and short punt — and had a short field to work with both times. But the Beavers' started their final drive at their 36. Wells moved the team to midfield, but Trainor decided to go with Bolinger's strong arm down the stretch.

His debut started tenuously — a 2-yard gain, an interception and a fourth-down sack that could have ended the game with 2:05 to go. But a face-mask penalty on that sack gave the Beavers new life and they made the most of it. Bolinger threw two key passes to Erik Kruse, the second a 10-yard strike on third-and-10 from the 22 that set up the final score. He spiked the ball to stop the clock with 14 seconds left, then calmly threw the game-winner to Williams.

The Cougars dominated statistically, piling up 274 yards rushing. Jones gained 138 yards on eight carries and Brett Wilcox added 126 on nine tries. But Bothell made too many mistakes, failing to capitalize on several scoring opportunities.

"It's just a heartbreaker," Wilcox said.