Prep Football News

Tonight marks the first Friday of high school football this year.

Lynden Christian opened the season at home last night with a commanding 38-14 win over Franklin Pierce.

Bellingham later fell to defending 2A state champs Archbishop Murphy 55-15 at Civic Stadium.

The Zone is live at Civic tonight for Sehome and Squalicum’s cross-town showdown. The Friday Night Lights pregame show will preview that matchup and all the other ones across Whatcom County tonight, taking you up until the 7:00 kickoff between the Mariners and Storm on KPUG.

Elsewhere across the county tonight…

Mount Baker kicks things off by hosting Port Angeles at 6.

Starting at 7, Lynden hosts Sultan.

Ferndale hosts Everett.

And Meridian is at Liberty Bell in Winthrop.

 

Coming up tomorrow…

Lummi Nation plays at Crescent at 1.

Blaine is on the road for Ilwaco at 2.

And Nooksack Valley is at Cascade Christian at 7.

College Football News

The college football season is also coming into full swing this weekend, highlighted by a major rivalry matchup here in the Evergreen State.

Washington is hosting Washington State in their 118th Apple Cup faceoff. It’s the first time in the history of the rivalry that the Apple Cup will open their seasons.

The Huskies enter the matchup as the 17th ranked team in the country, led by junior quarterback Demond Williams Jr.

For the Cougs, it will open their first season under the new-look Pac-12, which now features eight schools in football. They’ll look to get off to a strong start under new head coach Kirby Moore.

Coverage begins at 11 am and kickoff is at 1:00 Sunday on KPUG.

Mariners News

The Mariners are looking to rebound tonight after their playoff hopes took another hit.

They’re facing the Athletics in the second of their four-game series at T-Mobile Park.

The M’s fumbled an early lead and lost 7-4 in last night’s series opener. They scored three runs in the first inning but managed just five hits and a single run for the rest of the game.

The A’s scored the go-ahead run in the fifth inning and their pitchers combined to strike the Mariners out 18 times. Kade Anderson gave up four runs over five innings in his third major-league start.

The Mariners now sit six games out of first place in the AL West with wins by the Astros and Rangers last night.

Logan Gilbert is on the mound tonight as they look to even up the series. Coverage begins at 6:00 and first pitch is at 7:10 on KGMI.

WWU Vikings News

Western’s men’s soccer team pulled off another major upset last night.

The Vikings edged 4th nationally-ranked Point Loma 2-1 at Harrington Field. Senior midfielder Edgar Serrano scored on a penalty kick in the 17th minute and junior forward Rudy Silva added an insurance goal in the 60th minute before Point Loma tacked on a late score.

It was the Viks’ second straight win over a top-five nationally-ranked opponent after taking down No. 5 Stanislaus State last weekend, as they now sit at 3-0 on the season. They’ll look to keep it going tomorrow night when they host Westmont at 7:00.

Coming up tonight, the Viking women are on the road against Cal State Monterey Bay at 7.

Meanwhile, Western’s volleyball team fell to 23rd nationally-ranked Cal State San Bernardino in three sets last night. They’ll look to rebound against Cal Poly Pomona at 5:00 tonight as they continue the Bronco Classic in Pomona.

WNBA News

The WNBA is on the hunt for a new leader.

The league announced today that Cathy Engelbert will retire as commissioner at the end of the calendar year.

Engelbert was tabbed as commissioner in May 2019 and oversaw a major transformation of the league’s business model. The average value of a franchise when she took over was $10 million, which is now up to about $460 million here in 2026.

She also helped navigate two collective bargaining agreements, with the most recent one coming in March. But her leadership has come under harsh criticism from players and media in recent years.

It comes as the United States played their first game of the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Germany this morning, beating China 95-61. Next up, the US plays Italy on Sunday afternoon.