Prep Football Roundup: Lynden rallies to win shootout with Sehome on final play
Lynden coach Blake Van Dalen figured a gamble on a game-winning two-point conversion pass in the final seconds was better than taking a risk on playing overtime against explosive Sehome.
So there was sophomore receiving star Samm Puello Arango, cramping on the ground after a fine game and unable to play in what became a game-winning 87-yard drive in Lynden’s 31-30 win over Sehome at Rollie DeKoster Field.
“I saw how Sehome drove so well against us on their last possession (to take a 30-23 lead with 2.5 minutes left in the battle between two NWC 2A contenders for state playoff berths),” Van Dalen said. “So I told Samm he would be back in there for a two-point conversion pass to win it.”
Sure enough, Heppner scored from the 1 to cap a drive that saw him complete 5 of 7 passes for 78 yards. Then he found — who else? — Arango for a game-winning two-point conversion.
“This was a homecoming game no one will ever forget,” Van Dalen said. “The teams combined for more than 800 total yards.”
“It was truly a classic high school game,” Sehome coach Brian Young said.
With four games left for each team, Lynden (2-1 league, 4-1 overall) stayed in the running for a spot in the new state round of 32 in Week 10, and Sehome (3-2, 3-2) is also very much in the running. The state has announced the super-tough NWC will be allocated four spots in the round of 32.
The stars of both teams were at their best. Heppner completed 17 of 30 passes for 283 yards and no interceptions with two touchdowns, including six passes for 144 yards to Arango, plus a pair of two-point conversions. Heppner also rushed for 66 yards on 10 carries.
Wright completed 29 of 40 passes for 346 yards, two touchdowns and one interception — a theft by Jaydin Oaks to end the game on a Hail Mary pass. Andre Watson caught 11 passes for 170 yards, while Theo Quiggle snagged seven for 80 yards and Cooper McAtee grabbed six for 57 yards.
“I can’t ever remember a better Lynden comeback in a league game,” said Van Dalen, savoring Lynden’s rally from a 23-7 deficit in the third quarter.
Sehome built the bulge on a one-yard score by Solomon McAlister, a two-yard scoring pass from Wright to McAtee, a 12-yard touchdown from Wright to Andre Watson, and a 27-yard field goal by Grady Evans plus two extra points. The field goal extended Evans’ school career record to nine, according to county historian Tyler Anderson.
“It turned out to be such a big play when we blocked Sehome’s second extra-point attempt,” Van Dalen said. “We couldn’t tell on film who blocked it.”
Malachi Koenen’s three-yard run and conversion kick gave the Lions their only seven points of the first half.
“I wish we hadn’t had to pull out all our tricks, but we did,” Van Dalen said.
Heppner fired a 70-yard pass to Arango, but Watson tackled the fleet sophomore on the 3, from where Heppner scored. Heppner threw to Dani Bowler for a two-point conversion, pulling the Lions within 23-15.
With five minutes to play, Heppner found Arango for both a 36-yard score and a two-point conversion, creating a 23-all tie.
Sehome responded with Wright’s 2-yard touchdown and Evans’ extra point for a 30-23 lead.
In the final 2.5 minutes, Heppner followed with vital passes to Brodie Price, Isaiah Oudman and Bowler, who was tackled by Watson on the 1-yard line. Heppner saved the game with his score and two-point pass to Arango.
‘It was a thrill to see our young team win a coming-of-age game,” said Van Dalen, whose Lions will face Squalicum (3-2, 3-2) Friday at Civic Stadium. Then the Lions will finish league play against Archbishop Murphy, Lakewood and Burlington-Edison.
Sehome’s final league games will be against Bellingham, Squalicum and Archbishop Murphy. But first, the Mariners have a Saturday game against Lynden Christian at 1 p.m. at Civic Stadium.
Elsewhere
Lynden Christian 28, Blaine 7: The Lyncs (1-0, 3-2) took a 21-0 lead in the first loss for Blaine (0-1, 4-1) with 2:36 left in the first half on touchdown runs of nine and five yards by Treyson Johnson, and a 47-yard scoring dash by Hollis Owen.
Colin Davis found Blake Koreski with a 36-yard touchdown pass about four minutes into the fourth quarter, but junior quarterback Eli Maberry removed all doubt with a 20-yard scoring shot by Boyce Robertson plus Jacob Penner’s four conversion kicks. Sophomore Chris Kooiman’s 25-yard run helped set up the play.
Owen and Kooiman combined for 126 yards on 17 carries and Johnson led the way in the first half. Maberrry completed 8 of 13 passes for 87 yards.
“Having those three big running backs in the same game was key,” LC coach Greg Terpstra said.
Blaine’s Jaiden Paez ran 21 times for 151 yards and caught six passes for 63. Quarterback Colin Davis ran 12 times for 78 yards and completed 8 of 18 passes for 102 yards. Colby Shipp handled the ball nine times running and receiving and amassed 84 yards.
“Our very tough non-league schedule turned out to be a godsend,” Terpstra said.
Trey Bosman’s interception near the end zone preserved the 21-0 advantage only seconds before halftime.
“Kent Bouma (LC’s defensive coordinator) came up with a great game plan,” Terpstra said. “We had three key red zone stops. I’m really proud of the fight, the toughness our kids had. The kids accepted what we needed to do.”
Blaine coach Andy Olson felt there was much to build on.
“We moved the ball effectively all night but we stalled out numerous times in the red zone,” Olson said. “Our defense struggled with untimely penalties and getting off the field on third down. We’ve got to clean up the mental miscues to win against good opponents like LC.”
Nooksack Valley 34, Mount Baker 20: There are no undefeated teams left in the county after only five rounds, including the two NWC 1A openers.
“Our non-league loss to Tumwater (a 49-12 setback to the unbeaten 2A power) made us all mad,” Nooksack co-captain Colton Lentz said. “We had a great week of practice.”
Lentz gained 254 yards on 17 carries and scored three touchdowns for the Pioneers (1-0, 4-1), offsetting a three-score show by Brady Bruland for the Mountaineers (0-1, 4-1).
“Our defensive line played very well along with our offensive line,” Lentz said, explaining how Nooksack built a 34-13 lead before Bruland ran back Nooksack’s final kickoff 89 yards to score his fourth career touchdown on a kickoff return, a school record according to the Whatcom Preps website.
Lentz scored on runs of 4, 2 and 9 yards, with the latter pair Nooksack’s final touchdowns. Bruland, a running back, tallied on passes of 22 and 30 yards from Luke Smith to keep Baker in the game with a 20-13 halftime deficit.
Junior quarterback Evan Brown completed 14 of 25 passes for 167 yards with no interceptions and provided the other two touchdowns with passes of 37 yards to Cole Bauman and 40 yards to Evan Bravo. Brown also scored on a two-point conversion and Tyler Martin kicked two conversions.
Freshman kicker Enoc Smith converted twice for Baker, which got 108 yards passing from Smith, who completed 7 of 16. Bruland ran 13 times for 73 yards and Dylan Moa had 48 yards on 13 carries for Baker.
“We had three turnovers,” said Baker coach Ron Lepper. “That matched our total for our first four games. We played hard. This game was on me, because I need to do a better job to get our guys ready.”
Lepper confirmed that the NWC 1A will have three playoff allocations for the state round of 24 elimination games in 1A.
“We’re down to 44 teams in 1A, so it was decided we’ll have a round of 24 (instead of 32) and we’ll begin the state tournament with 12 teams,” Lepper said.
The Mounties will play at Meridian (4-1) Friday night.
Meridian 56, South Whidbey 0: In a game moved from Friday to Thursday, Landen Downey scored 20 points with two touchdowns and all eight conversions, giving the versatile senior 76 points for the season.
In their five games, including a 35-34 loss to 4A power Kamiak a week earlier, the Trojans have scored 220 points, with a large majority in the first half. Meridian’s defense was just as potent Friday, holding South Whidbey to minus 38 total yards according to Whatcom Preps.
Quarterback Jaeger Fyfe showed his running ability, with 89 yards on four carries including touchdowns of 28 and 25 yards to help give the Trojans a 42-0 halftime lead. Fyfe completed 8 of 14 passes for 118 yards with no interceptions, including a 29-yard score to Kasey Brennan. Trey Alexander chipped in with 6-for-8 passing for 77 yards.
Downey scored on runs of 5 and 3 yards, and Kelley Gray contributed a pair of 1-yard touchdown bursts.
Xavier Perrin returned the second half kickoff 68 yards to score.
Brennan, Pierce Brzozowski and James Hedahl all caught three passes and combined for more than 130 yards.
Bellingham 17, Granite Falls 14: The Bayhawks (0-3, 1-4) turned in big numbers from three players and several solid defensive efforts to earn their first victory in a non-league thriller that was decided in the final minute at Civic Stadium.
Tyler Frost keyed a long, last-gasp drive along with Joe Harward and sophomore quarterback Ben Leonard and Frost scored from the 2 with less than a minute remaining. Frost finished with 112 yards on 24 carries, according to Whatcom Preps, which provided statistics for the Bayhawks.
In his first start at quarterback, Leonard completed 20 of 32 passes for 222 yards and a 15-yard touchdown to Harward to pull the Bayhawks within 14-10 by halftime.
Harward, who is prospering big time since moving to receiver, caught 11 passes for 155 yards.
Sophomore kicker Cameron Boak kicked his first varsity field goal for Bellingham’s first score.
Bly Henderson saved a touchdown at the 1-yard line in the third quarter and an ensuing goal line stand preserved Bellingham’s chance to win.
Stanwood 14, Ferndale 7: The Golden Eagles (2-2, 2-3) endured a jolt in their bid for a Wesco 3A playoff spot.
Eli Kennerley scored Ferndale’s touchdown on a reverse.
Ferndale plays on the road the next two games, at Snohomish and Lake Stevens, before a home game against Sedro-Woolley in Week Eight and a Wesco crossover contest in Week Nine.
Anacortes 49, Squalicum 7: The unbeaten Seahawks (4-0, 5-0) continued to play like the defending state 2A champions they are. They’ll get their biggest test this week against Archbishop Murphy.
In their four NWC 2A wins over Sehome, Bellingham, Lynden and Squalicum (3-2, 3-2), the Seahawks have scored 168 points.
Squalicum still has a shot at one of the NWC’s four 2A state round of 32 berths in Week 10 if the Storm can perform well against Lynden, Sehome and Bellingham in Squalicum’s last three league games.
Squalicum’s touchdown was a 25-yard pass from Cole Burke to Ansen Asbjornsen, who caught eight passes for 88 yards. Burke completed 15 of 24 passes for 128 yards.
Concrete 42, Lummi Nation 16: Michael Wilson scored both touchdowns for the Blackhawks (0-4) on runs of 9 and 10 yards and Andrew Tageant ran for both two-point conversions at Lummi Nation.
“We’re still developing our young core,” Lummi coach Watiko Leighton said. “We have a lot of great times together, and we have been able to minimize our mistakes” (against a strong eight-man 2B schedule).
“The kids battle all four quarters and have had a lot of improvement. I’m very proud of them.”
This week
Friday, Oct. 11
- Lynden vs. Squalicum at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
- Mount Baker at Meridian, 7 p.m.
- Blaine at Nooksack Valley, 7 p.m.
- Ferndale at Snohomish, 7 p.m.
- Bellingham at Burlington-Edison, 7 p.m.
- Muckleshoot Tribal at Lummi Nation, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 12
- Lynden Christian vs. Sehome at Civic Stadium, 1 p.m.
This story was originally published October 7, 2024 at 10:39 AM with the headline "Prep Football Roundup: Lynden rallies to win shootout with Sehome on final play."
