Bellevue Wins Fifth Straight 3A Title: Game Recap

The Bellevue Wolverines are now the only team in state history to win five straight football titles Friday night after defeating Eastside Catholic 35-3.

Head coach Butch Goncharoff has coached to his tenth title since 2001 and to the school's 11th.

“We played them last year; we knew it was going to be tough. They have some real talent on that team. We got it done and am happy. Number 10 -- it never gets old,” Goncharoff said.

The Wolverines scored first on a miscue by Eastside Catholic, which kicked the ball to Budda Baker. Baker returned the ball 71 yards and found the end zone.

“This feels great. I would not have done it without the team who provided the blocks to open the field,” said Baker who was wearing all previous years' champion rings around his neck.

Replay the live coverage of the game on Bellevue Patch: Bellevue Wolverines Defeat Eastside Catholic For 3A Title

Baker scored another touchdown on a 61-yard run and intercepted a late Eastside Catholic attempt to score to secure the Wolverines fifth title.

Baker, a junior, says the team will take some time off, hit the weights and prepare for next season. Baker will also join the teams track team running sprints.

“Next season, we will work twice as hard with 18 starters leaving,” he said.

Eastside Catholic attempted to keep Bellevue’s offense off the field by using up the clock and kept the ball for much of the game. But Bellevue’s 17:41 minutes was all they needed. Leading only 14-3 at half, the Wolverines came out and answered back with touchdowns by Jack Meggs on a 6-yard run (Meggs scored again in the second quarter on a 29-yard run) and Myles Jack’s 95-yard run.

Bellevue’s total offense was 35 plays for 350 yards; compared to Eastside Catholics 69 plays and 228 yards.

“Uncanny things happened to us tonight that hadn’t happened all year,” said Eastside Catholic head coach Jeremy Thielbahr. “We are going to have to take another shot at Bellevue next year.”

After the celebrations on the field, Goncharoff said “the team will next month off and get together with the team to decide on what the kids want to do. Bring another powerhouse out of state team to Washington, travel. It’s up to the kids.”

“This has been our hardest season yet playing nationally ranked Trinity, Bothell and Mount Si twice,” said Goncharoff.

Bellevue will await its final national ranking, winning the state’s only fifth-straight title.

Note - if you missed Friday nights game, you can watch it on RootSports NW on Sunday, December 2 at 8:30 p.m.

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Game Summary

Bellevue............  7  7  7 14  - 35      
Eastside Catholic...  0  3  0  0  -  3      

Scoring Summary

1st - Bellevue - Budda Baker 71 yd punt return (Ryan Bordner kick)

2nd  - Eastside Catholic -  Jacob Gai 33 yd field goal

2nd - Bellevue - Jack Meggs 29 yd run (Ryan Bordner kick)

3rd - Bellevue - Budda Baker 61 yd run (Ryan Bordner kick)

4th - Bellevue - Jack Meggs 6 yd run (Ryan Bordner kick)

4th - Bellevue - Myles Jack 95 yd run (Alexander Kruse kick)

                                             BELLEVUE       EC
FIRST DOWNS...................       10       18
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   28-315    41-95
PASSING YDS (NET).............       35      133
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........    7-4-0  28-13-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   35-350   69-228
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............     1-71      0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........      0-0      0-0
Interception Returns-Yards....      1-0      0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............   2-33.5   4-47.8
Fumbles-Lost..................      1-1      0-0
Penalties-Yards...............     8-73     4-25
Possession Time...............    17:41    30:19
Third-Down Conversions........   3 of 6  6 of 16
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   1 of 1   2 of 5
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      1-1      1-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........      1-1      0-0

RUSHING: Bellevue-Jack Meggs 8-108; Myles Jack 6-105; Budda Baker 5-93;
John Nguyen 7-12; Dakota Jones 1-0; Justus Rogers 1-minus 3. Eastside
Catholic-Trey Reynolds 23-41; Henry Jarvis 9-36; Elisha Pa'Aga 4-17; Brandon
Wellington 5-1.

PASSING: Bellevue-Jack Meggs 4-7-0-35. Eastside Catholic-Trey Reynolds
13-25-0-133; Peter Kimble 0-3-1-0.

RECEIVING: Bellevue-Scott Whiting 2-38; John Nguyen 1-minus 1; Budda
Baker 1-minus 2. Eastside Catholic-Colin Boit 6-34; Henry Jarvis 3-9; Johnny
Michalik 2-59; Hayden Meier 1-23; Justin Musser 1-8.

INTERCEPTIONS: Bellevue-Budda Baker 1-0. Eastside Catholic-None.

FUMBLES: Bellevue-Jack Meggs 1-1. Eastside Catholic-None.

SACKS (UA-A): Bellevue-Shane Bowman 1-0. Eastside Catholic-None.

TACKLES (UA-A): Bellevue-Sean Constantine 6-7; Marcus Griffin 4-6;
Michael Carlson 5-2; Nathan DeRider 2-5; Shane Bowman 4-0; Budda Baker 3-2; Myles Jack 3-1; Mustafa Branch 2-2; Scott Whiting 1-2; Ross Connors 1-1; Dakota Jones 1-1; Rueben Mwehla 0-3; Ryan Gilbert 1-0; Timmy Haehl 1-0; Jahkari Aujla-Singh 1-0; Nick Santa 1-0; Darien Freeman 0-2; Rio Morales 0-1; Marcel Lee 0-1. Eastside Catholic-Evile Kalaniuvalu 3-3; Luke Lattanzio 3-1; Peter Kimble 2-3; Zane Allen 3-0; Elisha Pa'Aga 2-1; Jared Shattenkerk 2-1; Cody Baker 2-0; Matt Kvech 1-1; David Hurdle 1-0; Brian Cox 0-2.

Complete game breakdown is available via the WIAA.