Bellingham tops Ashland for 1st win after string of tight losses

ASHLAND - The Ashland defense focused on Bellingham quarterback Dasha Domercant on the goal line.

He gave them plenty to look at in the previous 45 minutes of football. That attention meant they didn't notice Blackhawks tight end Wyatt Callery sneaking over to the middle of the formation. Bellingham made him look like a blocker then snapped it to him directly under center for a sneak.

Callery plunged into the end zone before the Clockers settled into their defensive stands. Domercant raised both arms in celebration and jumped straight upward into the rainy night.

"We practice that. I was pretty prepared. I was confident in that situation," Callery said. "It was electric. I was happy for our team."

The 1-yard touchdown put Bellingham ahead 27-21 with 2:40 to go after a blocked extra point. It gave the Clockers enough time. But the Blackhawks are used to tight situations after losing their first three games by a combined five points.

"We were one play away in the other three games," Bellingham coach Dan Haddad said. "When you're that close, you're just hoping the light switch will turn on."

Sophomore defensive back Sam Sullivan saw the light. He picked off an Ashland pass on third down to secure Bellingham's first victory of the season and send Ashland (2-2) back to .500.

"He's a warrior, never complains, just plays football," Haddad said. "Just plays the game and plays it hard."

Bellingham (1-3) needed those two plays after its 14-point halftime lead disappeared over the course of the third quarter. Domercant built it with his legs initially and his arm later. The senior captain ran for 138 yards on 16 carries.

Football is their bond: Domercant brothers star on the gridiron

He opened the scoring with a 15-yard run three minutes in, shaking a defender on the outside after keeping the ball on a read option then out running the rest of the Clockers defense to the pylon.

"With the weather, I knew passing wasn't going to be our strong suit. We had to win on the ground," Domercant said.

The Blackhawks defense forced a three and out, but Ashland dropped its punt to the 1-yard line. Ashland's Devin O'Brien pounced on a fumbled exchange to score the Clockers' first touchdown and tie the game at 7 with 6:08 left int he first quarter.

Then Domercant went back to work. He added a 12-yard run with 3:49 left in the first to return the lead to Bellingham. Domercant ran the ball three straight times for 34 yards to finish the drive.

"That's him reading what's going on. Most of this is on him, great reads," Haddad said. "He did it all last year and he was phenomenal at it."

Domercant's day

Domercant flexed both his legs and arm on Bellingham's next drive, evading the pass rush and finding Max gamble for a 24-yard touchdown and a 21-7 halftime lead.

Ashland found its offensive footing in the second half. The Clockers turned the ball over on downs during their first possession in the second half but then recovered a fumble on the Bellingham 21.

After a false start, Clockers quarterback Cam Antoniuk spun out of a sack in the backfield, broke away from three tacklers at the line of scrimmage then trucked another tackle at the goal line to score a 26-yard touchdown run and narrow the lead to a score with 6:14 left. Bellingham blocked the extra point to leave the score 21-13.

'We love you, Berk'

The Blackhawks then turned the ball over on downs, and Ashland drove into the red zone to open the fourth quarter. Antoniuk rolled to his right then threw all the way back across his body on a designed play to an open Mark Mermelstein for the six-yard score on the first play of the fourth to make it 21-19 Bellingham.

Ashland lined up for an extra point but ran a fake. Bellingham stopped the Clockers short but was whistled for roughing the snapper. Blackhawks junior Zach Berkeley stayed on the turf prone. Bellingham's coaches attended to him with the athletic trainer. They eventually flipped him from his chest to his back before bringing over a stabilizing board and loading him onto a cart so it could take him to the ambulance.

"At least everything was moving," Haddad said. "We train for this moment, and I pray I never have to use it."

The entire Bellingham team gathered around Berkeley before the cart drove away.

"We love you, Berk," they all said.

"It was straight up emotional. It was really hard," Domercant said. "I knew that we had to win this game for Berk because I knew Berk was gonna want this win as much as we did."

The roughing the snapper penalty gave Ashland another shot at the two-point conversion. An unsportsmanlike conduct moved the ball even closer to the goal line. Antoniuk plowed in to tie the game at 21.

The teams traded punts, then Bellingham ripped off a 10-play, 78-yard drive that Callery capped with the game-winning run.

"We always said don't let us get the next one," Haddad said. "This one came. I think they all pulled together. They were all pulling for one cause."

Contact Kyle Grabowski at kgrabowski@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk. 

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Dasha Domercant collects 3 TDs in Bellingham football win over Ashland