Take that!
Blackhawks roll past Highland Christian 78-46. Next up: homecoming against Clallam Bay under the lights.

Jeremy Roberts evades a Highland Christian defender Saturday en route to the Blackhawks' first touchdown on a 34-yard pass play.

It's homecoming week at Lummi. Monday is "Fame Day! (Dress up like someone famous)." Tuesday is "Seeing Double (Twin Day)." Wednesday is "Wacky World (Wacky Day: dress weird)." Thursday is "Rival Day (Wear gear from other schools and teams)." And Friday, in addition to being "Blackhawk Pride (School colors & gear)," is Play Under the Lights Night (even if the lights are rented and powered by generators).

Lummi has never played a home game at night, but that is expected to change Friday when the Blackhawks play host to Clallam Bay at 7 p.m. The school has permanent lights on order — conduit already is laid under the track — but a bureaucratic delay prevented them from arriving in time for this season. Last weekend's game against Highland Christian originally was scheduled for Friday night, Oct. 17, but it was moved to the following day. School officials didn't want the same thing to happen for homecoming, and so they have rented portable lights powered by generators. Six stanchions will go up on each side of the field, plus another couple near the grandstand. Coach Jim Sandusky tested them last week and found them to be sufficiently bright. But they are only about 12 feet off the ground, which means receivers might sometimes be looking into them when going for passes; plus, fans will be peering into those set up on the opposite side of the field. Nonetheless, the experiment is expected to go forward.

Dustin Tom awaits the snap Saturday. The senior quarterback has thrown 17 touchdown passes in the past two games.

Dustin Tom was named the WIAA/Seattle Times state athlete of the week in Class 1B after throwing for nine touchdowns against Crescent on Oct. 4. He followed up that performance with eight touchdown tosses Saturday against Highland Christian. According to Dave Rasbach's game story in The Bellingham Herald, the senior quarterback totaled 589 yards through the air. Sandusky praised the offensive line for giving Tom sufficient time to do his thing, and he tried to reward them by involving them in the passing game. He ran plays in which down linemen became tight ends and thus eligible receivers. Sometimes it worked — Garrick Martin and Alex LeClair each hauled in a pass — and sometimes, well... the would-be receivers ran the wrong pattern or dropped the pass. In any case, Sandusky's goal of allowing the linemen to have some fun did succeed.

Offensive lineman Alex LeClair reacts after dropping a pass. He did catch one for an 8-yard gain.

Last week Sandusky stressed the need for the Blackhawks to reassert their hard-hitting, ball-hawking tradition. "I want them to strip the ball, to attack the ball," the coach said. Lummi forced nine fumbles on Saturday, according to Rasbach's statistics, and recovered four of them. The Blackhawks also picked off two passes. "I was pretty proud of them, to come out and do that," Sandusky said.

David James pressures Highland Christian quarterback Vince Kurtzenac.

Sandusky said he doesn't know much about Lummi's homecoming foe, Clallam Bay. The Bruins are 0-2 in Pacific Coast League play and 1-6 overall. They suit up only 14 or 15 players and had to forefeit a game earlier this year when injuries left them with only nine players. Lummi's roster includes about two dozen players, all of whom played against Highland Christian.