WIAA: 3A Bellevue Wolverines Champions!

12/1/2023

Bellevue 14, Yelm 0

(Seattle, WA) The Bellevue Wolverines came into the tournament as the 6 seed due to their early season losses in non-league play to 6A Oregon State Champions Central Catholic and then to 4A defending State Champion Lake Stevens giving up the loss late in that game. Bellevue went on a big roll winning 10 in a row coming into the Championship to face the #1 seed and defending Champs Yelm.

The Tornados came in at 12-0 after surviving Eastside Catholic 7-0 in the semi-finals. But the Tornados came in with one of the best and many believe the best player in all classifications Brayden Platt. Platt is a bulldozer in the running the game and a monster on defense.

However, Platt’s game would come to an abrupt end when his emotions got the better of him and he took a swing at one of the Bellevue players after his helmet had come off. The incident was with a little less than 6-minutes to go in the 1st quarter. The officials met but there is no option for the referees, if you swing on and strike a player you are disqualified.

Yelm is certainly more than 1 player but changed how the Tornados were to attack Bellevue on both sides of the ball. The 2 teams would exchange possessions leading to a scoreless 1st quarter and deep into the 2nd quarter. Bellevue would score with 3:30 left to go on a Max Jones 1 yard plunge, Luke Scoma added the kick for a 7-0 lead. The scoring drive was set up by a big 45-yard run by Carson Rubin.

Bellevue opened the 2nd half with a 75-yard, 15-play drive that burned 7:29 off the clock. The Wolverines Wing-T offense was in full swing picking and choosing for a very deliberate drive. No big plays just consistently moving the ball and picking up 1st downs all the way to the 1-yard line. Carson Rubin would blast in over the right side for the score and Bellevue took a 2-score, 14-0 lead through 3 quarters of play.

Yelm then had to press to try and make something happen on offense and simply were denied as they were unable to get inside the 10 and just once in the red zone. Bellevue wins their 2nd State Championship in the past 3 years and 2nd title under Head Coach Michael Knelp. They finished the season 11-2 and the ESN crew named senior Carson Rubin as the MVP.

Link to watch full replay on the NFHS Network (Subscription required)

Final Stats

Bellevue

Rushing Yards: 339
Passing Yards: 0
Total Yards: 339

Rushing
Carson Rubin 26/155 1TD
Max Jones 13/71 1TD
Ryken Moon 5/48
Hogan Hansen 3/28

Yelm

Rushing Yards: 48
Passing Yards: 158
Total Yards: 206

Passing
Damian Aalona 17-25-1

Receiving
Marius Aalona 6/66
Jameson Patin 3/20
Jacob Tracy 2/27

Rushing
Damian Aalona 10/35
Anthony Kiamco 4/5
Isai Patterson 1/4
Brayden Platt 3/4

ESN talks with Game MVP Bellevue’s Carson Rubin