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WHATCOM COUNTY RAIDERS
(2007 - 2008)

BELLINGHAM BLITZ
(2009 - 2011)

Mount Vernon, Washington
Mt Vernon High, Civic Stadium


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Coming off of a chaotic start to the Skagit Valley Lighting in 2006, former coach Brian Young joined Tom Abbott in building the Whatcom County Raiders in the newly formed Cascade Football League.  The four-team league, formed by Dick Suess in Northwest Washington, featured three new teams and second-year Olympic Peninsula Eagles.  Following an opening loss to the Thunder to start the season, Whatcom went 6-1 over the next seven games to set up a third rubber match game with the Eagles for the first-ever Cascade League crown.  The Raiders were able to flip the score from the last meeting, winning 24-14.  Seuss' MLFN publication named Whatcom the best new team in the west and Coach Young was named CFL coach of the year as twelve Raiders were named All-CFL.  Kicker Sean Foster and Lineman Kelly Fee, all-conference with the Northwest Avalanche the prior year, joined the Raiders repeating as all-league performers.  Winning the Cascade League title placed the team in the Minor League Football News West Region playoffs against the Blue Mountain Stars in Walla Walla, Washington undefeated champions of the Evergeen Football League and Greater Northwest Region Champions.  After multiple scheduling issues, the Raiders, citing players being unavailable due to family vacations and other conflicts, forfeited to the Stars just prior to the August 11, 2007 game.

The Raiders opened the 2008 season by crushing the Eagles 63-6, setting the tone of how little trouble the Raiders would have with the CFL which had added a fifth team in the Pirates, however they would not finish the season following a 66-0 decimation in May.  Back-to-back wins over the Invaders to repeat as Cascade champions set up Whatcom for another regional playoff opportunity.  They would face Tacoma-area Puget Sound Titans, a one-year venture of the Northwest Football League.  The undefeated Titans dealt the Raiders their first loss of the season.  As a consolation, the team was invited to take on a Las Vegas area team in the Far West Bowl, coming away with a slim 20-19 victory when Ryan Lucas swatted down a 2-pt conversion try by the Trojans.  Whatcom County dominated the CFL all-league with 18 selections.  Toby Seim set a regional record with six receiving scores in a game.

Having amassed a 17-3 record in two seasons and back-to-back Cascade League championships, owner Tom Abbott decided the Raiders needed to move up and try a "professional" venture with his football team and began the process of building a "pro" league.  Originally slated to be the Next Level Football League, the financial support wasn't in place and few team owners would throw their money into such a risky venture.  By teaming with the owners of the Tacoma Cobras and Oregon Thunderbolts, they were able to establish the Professional Developmental Football League as a semi-pro precursor to a league that would "pay" players and coaches with hopes of attracting the best athletes away from other area semi-pro teams.
 
The Blitz, mainly former Raiders and some Western Washington University football players who found themselves without a team after the school dropped it's program, opened up it's inaugural season on June 20 destroying the Pierce County Bengals.  The league, as a four-team venture saw the Blitz defeat Oregon twice and the Vikings twice but dropped both meetings with the Cobras.  Bellingham had two teams operating in 2009 with the Bulldogs enjoying a resurrgence in the North American Football League as some Raiders came aboard like kicker Sean Foster.  The Blitz finished 5-3 with all of the losses coming at the hands of the Cobras including a 36-31 loss in the PDFL Championship which they had a shot at hosting before losing three fumbles and four interceptions to the Cobras in the regular season finale loss 38-23.
 
Brain Young took over ownership of the team following the '09 season.  The 2010 season was virtually a mirror of 2009 with the Cobras running through the PDFL unchallenged.  Vann Vetch defeated the Tacoma Invaders nearly single-handed as he rushed for 224 yards and 5 TDs in a 36-6 win.  The Boise Buccaneers had been added to the league in an effort to expand the PDFL footprint to a larger territory.  The Blitz gave up over 44 points all in all three meetings with Tacoma.  Nearly all of the Blitz starters earned All-League in what was virtually only three teams worth of choices as the Vikings had returned to the "non-professional" ranks after defeating the Blitz.  Toby Seim continued to be a weapon regardless of league as he was named offensive MVP after being a 2008 offensive player of the year in the CFL.
 
2011 saw the Blitz leave the PDFL as it continued to crumble and Bellingham looked for more stable ground.  That gound would be in the Western Washington Football Alliance, a rebranding of the former Cascade Football League the original Raiders were a part of and won back-to-back championships in.
 
Following an April 30 "upset" at the hands of the Umatilla Panthers out of northeast Oregon, Bellingham reeled off 11 consecutive victories with only the Shine putting up much of a fight along the way.  The newly crowned WWFA champions would be invited to the Far West Football Alliance "National Championship" in Vegas, but it was announced that a shortage of coaches, players and funding, would make a return trip to Vegas impossible after the team had just traveled to Vegas in October for a match up with the Wild West League All-Stars, easily blanking the opponent 38-0. Former Bellingham Bulldog Vann Vetch joined the Blitz for 2011 and cruised to over 1,200 yards and 17 rushing TDs during the regular season.
 
The Blitz organization would not return for 2012, while across-town the Bellingham Bulldogs rounded up players and coach Brian Young in what in essence became a merger of the Blitz and Bulldog operations.  The merger was a success as Bellingham won the Pacific League North Crown the next two seasons including the Greater Northwest crown in 2013 as the best team in the region.  Vann Vetch and Toby Seim would lend more offensive firepower to the Bulldogs along with their offensive line mates.

 

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DE Joey Joshua 2008 Raider
 


QB Cody Oaks 2009 Blitz



WR Toby Seim 5x All-League 2011





2007
Cascade Football League
Record: 7-2
Owner Tom Abbott
GM Katie Boyd
Coach Brian Young
* Cascade Football League Champions *

2007 Awards
Brian Young Cascade League Coach of the Year
Dan DeLong - Cascade League Offensive Player of the Year
MLFN Best New Team in the West
Dan DeLong (QB) MLFN All America 1st Team
Sean Foster (PK) MLFN All America 1st Team
Justin Kardash (DL) MLFN All America 1st Team
Matt Costa (OL) MLFN All America 2nd Team
Kevin Davis (LB) MLFN All America 2nd Team
Sean Carlson (LB) MLFN All America 2nd Team
Tygar Cain (DB) MLFN All America 3rd Team
Kelly Fee (OL) MLFN All America 3rd Team
Toby Seim (WR) MLFN All America 3rd Team
Chris Mungin (DL) MLFN All America 3rd Team
Dan DeLong (QB) All-League 1st Team
Matt Costa (OL) All-League 1st Team
Chuck Ellison (DB) All-League 1st Team
Tyler Cain (DB) All-League 1st Team
Kevin Davis (LB) All-League 1st Team
Sean Carlson (LB) All-League 1st Team
Justin Kardash (DL) All-League 1st Team
Chris Mungin (DL) All-League 1st Team
Toby Seim (WR) All-League 1st Team
Kelly Fee (OL) All-League 1st Team
Sean Foster (PK) All-League 1st Team
B.J. Hickok (WR) All-League 2nd Team

2008
Cascade Football League
Record: 10-1
Owner Tom Abbott
GM Katie Boyd
Coach Brian Young
* Cascade Football League Champions *
* FWFA Far West Bowl Champions *

2008 Awards
Tom Abbott - Cascade League Owner of the Year
Brian Young - Cascade League Coach of the Year
Toby Seim - Cascade League Offensive Player of the Year
Toby Seim (WR) MLFN All America 1st Team
David Wells (OL) MLFN All America 1st Team
Reggie Powell (DB) MLFN All America 1st Team
Rob Knight (RB) MLFN All America 2nd Team
Jake Youngren (LB) MLFN All America 2nd Team
Donald Buchannon (QB) MLFN All America 3rd Team
Jordan Carey (RB) MLFN All America 3rd Team
Azubo Bearden (WR) MLFN All America 3rd Team
Kelly Fee (OL) MLFN All America 3rd Team
Matt Overton (LB) MLFN All America 3rd Team
Addison Perrin (DL) MLFN All America 3rd Team
Justin Kardash (DL) MLFN All America 3rd Team
Donald Buchannon (QB) All-League 1st Team
Rob Knight (RB) All-League 1st Team
Jordan Carey (RB) All-League 1st Team
Toby Seim (WR) All-League 1st Team
David Wells (OL) All-League 1st Team
Kelly Fee (OL) All-League 1st Team
James Lourden (DB) All-League 1st Team
Reggie Powell (DB) All-League 1st Team
Jake Youngren (LB) All-League 1st Team
Addison Perein (DL) All-League 1st Team
Azubo Bearden (WR) All-League 2nd Team
Danny Sequeira (OL) All-League 2nd Team
Justin Bronn (OL) All-League 2nd Team
Sean Foster (PK) All-League 2nd Team
Matt Overton (LB) All-League 2nd Team
Kevin Davis (LB) All-League 2nd Team
Matt Faatili (DL) All-League 2nd Team
Joey Joshua (DL) All-League 2nd Team
Mike Daly (DL) All-League 2nd Team

2009
Professional Developmental Football League
Record: 5-3
Owner: Tom & Claudia Abbott
GM Mike Kulcheski
Coach Brian Young
Assts Jim Darling (ST), Orlando McCarty, Terry Toland, Bruce Knight


2010
Professional Developmental Football League
Record: 5-4
Owner: Brian Young
Coach: Brian Young

2010 Awards
Brian Young PDFL Owner of the Year
David Wells PDFL Community Player of the Year
Calvin Williams PDFL Co-Rookie of the Year
Cody Oaks PDFL Quarterback of the Year
Toby Seim PDFL Offensive MVP
Justin Bronn (G) All-League
David Sinex (T) All-League
Kyle Amaya (LB) All-League
Brandon O'Dore (TE) All-League
Toby Seim (WR) All-League
Cody Oakes (QB) All-League
D.J. Butler (S) All-League
Van Vetch (RB) All-League
David Wells (C) All-League
Kelly Fee (DT) All-League
Joey Joshua (DE) All-League
Chris Awumbu (T) All-League
Fay Bursell (LB) All-League
Az Beardon (DB) All-League
Calvin Williams (RB) All-League
Troy Stevenson All-League Hon Mention
Jason Cunningham All-League Hon Mention
Joel Shiolet All-League Hon Mention


2011
Western Washington Football Alliance
Record: 12-1
Owner Brian Young
Coach Brian Young
* Western Washington Football Alliance Champions *
Schedules and Results
Date Opponent Score
2007 Apr 28 Snohomish Thunder 14-20
2007 May 12 Renton Ravens 15-6
2007 May 26 @ Puget Sound Invaders 43-36
2007 June 2 @ Snohomish Thunder 42-6
2007 June 16 Olympic Peninsula Eagles 27-8
2007 June 23 @ Olympic Peninsula Eagles 12-24
2007 June 30 Puget Sound Invaders 32-0
2007 July 7 Snohomish Thunder (Playoff) 56-0
2007 July 14 Olympic Peninsula Eagles  * 24-14
  * Cascade Football League Championship   
2007 Aug 11 Blue Mountain Stars ^ L FFT
  ^ MLFN West Region Playoff   
     
     
2008 Apr 26 @ Olympic Peninsula Eagles 63-6
2008 May 3 Renton Ravens 50-26
2008 May 10 @ Snohomish Thunder 37-12
2008 May 17 @ Puget Sound Pirates 66-0
2008 May 24 Tacoma Invaders 50-3
2008 June 7 Olympic Peninsula Eagles 55-0
2008 June 21 Snohomish Thunder 72-0
2008 June 28 Puget Sound Pirates W FFT
2008 July 12 @ Tacoma Invaders 26-20
2008 Aug 2 Tacoma Invaders * 22-12
  * Cascade Football League Championship    
2008 Sep 13 @ Puget Sound Titans # 3-27
  # FWFA Northwest Region Championship   
2008 Dec 6 @ West Coast Trojans + 20-19
  + FWFA Far West Bowl Game (Las Vegas)   
     
     
2009 June 20 Pierce County Bengals 58-6
2009 July 11 @ Tacoma Cobras 28-35
2009 July 18 @ Oregon Thunderbolts 34-26
2009 July 25 @ Snohomish County Vikings 21-0
2009 Aug 8 Oregon Thunderbolts 35-13
2009 Aug 15 Snohomish County Vikings 45-20
2009 Aug 22 Tacoma Cobras 23-38
2009 Aug 29 Tacoma Cobras * 31-36
  * PDFL Championship   
     
     
2010 May 15 Snohomish County Vikings 15-24
2010 May 22 Tacoma Invaders 36-6
2010 June 12 Boise Buccaneers 49-0
2010 June 19 @ Tacoma Cobras 10-55
2010 June 26 @ Portland Thunderbolts 42-14
2010 July 10 Portland Thunderbolts W FFT
2010 July 17 @ Boise Buccaneers 26-20
2010 July 24 Tacoma Cobras 24-44
2010 July 31 Boise Buccaneers (Playoff)  
2010 Aug 14 @ Tacoma Cobras * 20-44
  * PDFL Championship    
     
     
2011 Apr 30 @ Umatilla County Panthers 22-27
2011 May 7 @ Washington Wolfpack 19-12
2011 May 14 Umatilla County Panthers 49-15
2011 May 21 Snohomish Thunder 46-6
2011 June 4 Cascade Extreme 69-0
2011 June 11 Renton Ravens 70-0
2011 June 18 @ Olympic Peninsula Eagles 52-0
2011 June 25 @ Inner City Shine 32-26 OT
2011 July 9 Puget Sound Outlaws 59-0
2011 July 16 Tacoma Invaders 61-12
2011 July 30 Renton Ravens (Playoff) 47-12
2011 Aug 6 Washington Wolfpack * 55-16
  * Western Washington Alliance Championship   
2011 Oct 8 @ Wild West All-Stars 38-0
2011 Nov 12 @ Vegas Trojans ^ Cancel
 ^ FWFA National Championship   
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
   
     
 
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