The two-time defending 3A state football champion Bellevue Wolverines used a strong offensive attack to wallop the Mount Si Wildcats 48-18 in the Kingco 3A conference opener for both teams last Friday at Bellevue High School.

The Wolverines’ senior running back Tracy Ford ran for 126 yards and scored three touchdowns, including a long kickoff return for a score to open the second half. Mount Si senior quarterback Alex Smart had a big game as well, scoring two touchdowns and throwing for more than 200 yards and one touchdown to help the Wildcats’ effort.

Bellevue, according to Mount Si coach Charlie Kinnune, came “as advertised.”

“They’ve got three really good running backs,” said Kinnune. “We turned the ball over … we can’t do that, [but] that’s what we did. So, you know, we live and learn. We move on. We’ve got a huge ball game Friday night against Liberty and that’s a game that we’ve got to go win and we’ll do that.”

The Wolverines’ defense came up big on the second play of the game when junior safety Ryan Lee took a Mount Si fumble and ran it back for a touchdown. After the extra point was made, Bellevue was up 7-0, and the Wildcats were immediately playing catch-up.

About five minutes into the quarter, Ford scored the first of his three touchdowns, when he ran it 55 yards for the score. The extra point was good and Bellevue was up 14-0. It was turning into a long night for Mount Si.

With 3:15 left in the quarter, the Wolverines’ junior running back E.J. Savannah ran the ball in from nine yards out to complete a drive, which resulted from another Mount Si fumble. The extra point but the Wolverines up 21-0 after the first quarter.

The Wildcats finally got on the board early in the second quarter. Smart and senior wide receiver Conrad Haustveit connected on four passes totaling 53 yards. Those passes aided a long 12-play drive that ended with Smart scoring a touchdown from one yard out on third down and goal by leaping over a pile of players from both teams. Mount Si missed the extra point, but the good news was that they weren’t going to be shut out this time around, unlike last year, when Bellevue won 30-0.

Just 21 seconds after the Wildcats got on the board, Ford, on a second effort after a couple of missed Mount Si tackles, broke away for a 62-yard touchdown run. Bellevue missed the extra point, but had gotten their 21 point lead back at 27-6.

Smart was promptly intercepted by Bellevue on the ensuing Wildcat drive, setting up a Wolverine offensive sequence that ended with a touchdown by junior running back J.R. Hasty from 2 yards out. The extra point was good, and Bellevue went into halftime up 34-6.

For the complete story, pick up a copy of this week’s Valley Record