The Bothell High football team overcame a rocky start for a dramatic 21-19 conference victory over Eastlake on Friday, Sept. 30 at Eastlake High School in Sammamish.
The Cougars (1-1 KingCo, 4-1) trailed in the fourth quarter, but rode three touchdowns from Jalen Ford to erase a forgettable first half.
“We were down in the red zone four times, we turned the ball over twice and missed a field goal,” Bothell coach Tom Bainter said. “It was 0-0 at halftime. We were frustrated we weren’t up at least by a score if not two, then we came out a botched a punt. They took it down to the 2-yard line and scored. Then [junior quarterback] Jacob Sirmon gets hurt and has to leave the game.”
Time for the reset button.
The Cougars eventually trailed 12-7, but rallied around Sirmon’s return to take a 15-12 lead on Ford’s second touchdown of the evening. Eastlake scored and connected on the extra point to take a 19-15 lead with less than three minutes to play.
“We run a trick play, and it’s a deep ball to Daniel Johnson,” Bainter said. “He catches it and goes down to the 4-yard line.”
Ford punched in the touchdown and Bothell missed the extra point, and Bothell’s Peter Davis intercepted Eastlake Quarterback Ben Howard with five seconds remaining to seal the win.
Bainter gave credit to the last two defenses the Cougars have faced, Eastlake and Woodinville, but said the slow starts in games needed to be fixed.
“We’re not executing well offensively yet,” he said. “And it’s not any one position. We have guys jump offside, we drop balls, we don’t throw to guys who are open and we miss blocks. You can’t help the defense out if they’re already good enough.”
Sirmon threw his first interception of the season when a ball was tipped and picked off in the red zone.
Ford saw his first playing time of the year, and scored three times despite not having the majority of the carries. Bainter called senior Alex Indelicato a “workhorse,” especially on the second scoring drive.
Next, Bothell is scheduled to continue conference play with a home game against Skyline on Thursday, Oct. 6 at Pop Keeney Stadium. The Spartains beat Eastlake 17-14 on Sept. 16, and are 5-1 on the season.
This story will be updated.
