RECORD: 8-1 – COACH: Jack Irion
LEAGUE: 8-1 (2nd Place in the WCL)
CLASSIFICATION: A – PLAYOFFS: None
Scoring Stats “Per Game”
Points: 20.3 – Allowed: 10.7 – Differential: +9.6
GAME BY GAME:
Week 1: Blaine 27, Nooksack Valley 7
Week 2: Blaine 23, Meridian 6
Week 3: Blaine 21, Lynden Christian 0
Week 4: Blaine 20, Blaine 6
Week 5: Lynden 39, Blaine 18
Week 6: Blaine 14, Nooksack Valley 7
Week 7: Blaine 31, Meridian 10
Week 8: Blaine 16, Lynden Christian 14
Week 9: Blaine 13, Mount Baker 7
The 1979 Borderites entered the season full of confidence. They had just come off of Whatcom County’s first football state championship season, and while they lost a lot of key players from the team due to graduation, they were returning their leading rusher, and another Kramme was taking over the reigns of the offense.
Senior Bert Kramme stepped right in at quarterback where his brother Curt left off. He completed 18 passes for 405 yards and five touchdowns. Despite having a great throwing arm, the Borderites still elected to pound the ball with the running game. The majority of those handoffs were to senior fullback, Tony Bladies. He ran for 823 yards (4.5 average) and 16 touchdowns. He was named All-League 1st Team, and was also the League’s Offensive Player of the Year. Senior Russ Moquin ran for 275 yards (4.4) and two touchdowns while being named All-League 2nd Team. Junior Jeff Peltier added 264 yards on the ground while senior Iain Wingard chipped in with 179 yards. Each player ran for a touchdown as well.
Senior Mike Butler was Blaine’s deep receiving threat. He caught six passes for 215 yards (35.8) and two touchdowns. Bladies caught four passes and Moquin hauled in three.
The offensive line was a big asset for the Borderites. Returning at center was junior Rob McAllister. He joined with another big junior (6-4 200) David Wiederspohn to solidify the line. Both players were named All-League 1st Team. Junior Gregg Waters also played well, and was named All-League 2nd Team. The Borderites ran the ball on 86% of their plays, averaging 4.5 yards per carry, and 21 touchdowns.
The defensive line was stout, and it was led by Bladies and Wiederspohn. Bladies was named All-League 1st Team on the defensive line for an amazing third season in a row. Wiederspohn was also named All-League 1st Team. McAllister led the linebacking corps, and was picked All-League 1st Team. The secondary was headed up by Wingard and Moquin, both of whom were All-League 1st Team performers.
After kicking two long field goals in the Kingdome in last year’s state championship, Kramme kept his momentum going with the toe. He was named All-League 1st Team, booting 16 extra points and one field goal. Moquin handled the punting and was an All-League 2nd Team selection.