High school football playoffs: Lynden shakes off early rust to overwhelm Sehome

All-state senior linebacker Bodie Human accomplished every task set before him, as usual, except to single out a standout or two on Lynden’s defensive line.

“I can’t do that,” he said with a grin in the wake of Lynden’s 48-21 win over Sehome in a District I Class 2A elimination game Friday at Civic Stadium.

“We rotate several guys (with solid line depth) and they all did an outstanding job,” Human said of the six guys who played the major role in limiting Sehome‘s ground game to 27 yards.

Lions coach Blake VanDalen, most gratified by the gritty effort, agreed with his defensive leader, who retained what Human wants most: a chance to return to the 2A state title game.

To do so, the Lions (7-2), champions of the Northwest Conference’s Sky Division for the second consecutive season, will have to win three state playoff games.

Sehome (7-3), a Lake Division titlist for the second season, took leads of 7-6 and 14-13 in the first 1½ quarters before the relentless Lions began to dominate.

“I was impressed that our guys didn’t get rattled after falling behind twice early,” said VanDalen, whose team will learn on Sunday its opponent in the state Round of 16, which is seeded by a committee.

“I think we’ve put together a resume worthy of a Top Four seed,” the coach said.

VanDalen said he learned more of what he needs to do to cope with the unusual Week 9 bye that goes to the top three Sky Division teams.

“The rust of a bye is real and I should have done a better job explaining that to our guys,” said the third-year head coach, who got plenty of help from Brock Heppner’s four touchdowns.

VanDalen said defensive linemen Marty Karb, James Sorensen, Christian Bethea, Michael Bareman, Case Zweegman and Carter VanDiest played the caliber of defense that enabled the Lions to prevail.

Meanwhile, senior running back Steven DiLorenzo, in his first game back since missing a game in Week 8 with an injury, gave the Lions an outstanding ground game with 186 yards on 16 carries, including a 41-yard run for their first touchdown and a 4-yard reception from junior quarterback Baylor Ayres. DiLorenzo’s catch put Lynden ahead for good at 20-14 midway through the second quarter.

“I feel great. I just couldn’t wait to come out and hit,” said the 170-pound DiLorenzo, who improved his totals to 11 touchdowns and nearly 1,200 yards rushing.

Quarterback/wide receiver Heppner scored on passes of 9 and 20 yards from Ayres and runs of 5 and 3 yards, all in the first three quarters, giving Heppner 18 touchdowns for his senior season.

Ayres was called on to pass only seven times, but completed five for 103 yards and four touchdowns, including a 37-yard strike to Eric Bode for a 48-14 advantage late in the third quarter. Ayres also had 60 yards rushing on 10 carries.

Both of Sehome’s two-way backfield standouts, senior Melloy Nelson and junior Tim Malo, were sidelined early with injuries. Nelson was hurt while breaking free and scoring on an 80-yard pass from Jacob Kaepernick early in the second quarter for the 14-13 lead. He could not return.

Kaepnernick’s first scoring pass was a 6-yarder to sophomore Luke Evans. The junior quarterback found sophomore Caleb Ryan with seven passes for 102 yards and Evans with five for 50 yards. Ryan scored Sehome’s final touchdown on a 16-yard pass from sophomore Carson Neff.

Kaepernick finshed 18 for 30 for 261 yards, giving him 19 touchdowns and more than 1,750 yards for a strong junior season.

Much to his delight, VanDalen found the biggest fourth-quarter challenge for his staff was getting as many junior varsity and C team players into the game as possible. His playoff roster of 84 displayed how much enthusiasm remains for football at Lynden.

In the other District 1 elimination games, Lakewood beat Liberty 14-10 and Archbishop Murphy took out Sedro-Woolley 23-6.

Other Friday high school football games in the Bellingham area

Squalicum 49, Juanita 7: The Storm (8-2) scored on all seven possessions in the first half at Civic Stadium, thrilling coach Nick Lucey with a one-two punch the likes of which few Whatcom County teams have ever produced while advancing to the Class 3A Round of 16.

Running back Ben Schlenbaker scored five touchdowns and rushed for 200 yards on 18 carries — including 160 as the Storm built a 49-0 halftime advantage — giving him the distinction of becoming the first sophomore in Whatcom County history to surpass 2,000 yards.

Junior quarterback Mason Binning completed 11 of 12 passes for a season-best 310 yards, all in the first half, including four for 95 yards to Dedrick Mitchell.

Binning threw scoring passes of 50 yards to sophomore Reed Richardson, 32 yards to sophomore Kai Posey and 9 yards to Schlenbaker, who also scored on runs of 30, 22 and 64 yards on his last three carries of the second quarter.

All of which led Binning and Schlenbaker to praise an offensive line that enabled the Storm to outgain Juanita of Kirkland (2-8) 474-85 in the first half alone.

“I’m a fan!” Binning said with enthusiasm, while Schlenbaker was already thinking of “all the donuts” he owed his linemen this week. Binning, who was not sacked, confirmed the line gave him more time to throw.

“This means a lot for our line. My goal had been 1,500 yards (coming into the season),” said Schlenbaker, who increased his touchdown total to 27. His team goal is to go deeper into the state tournament, now that the Storm has earned a return ticket after losing in Week 11 last season.

Binning improved his totals to 17 scoring passes and nearly 1,800 yards.

Addison Shrock went 7 for 7 on conversion kicks, giving the stellar senior 55 points for the season.

“We challenged our kids to come out strong right away and they did just that,” said Lucey.

The second half was played with a running clock as per the 40-point rule.

Mount Baker 54, South Whidbey 7: Running back Jason Lee scored four touchdowns for the Mountaineers (9-1) and Mark Tikonov made two interceptions, with one for a touchdown, in a 1A District 1 elimination game at Sedro-Woolley.

“Davin Beason set the defensive tone early for us with an outstanding effort,” said Baker coach Ron Lepper of his sophomore inside linebacker.

Lee caught junior quarterback Mason Jacoby’s 12th touchdown pass of the season and added three touchdowns on runs, giving Lee 13 total scores this season. Toby Jefferson also scored on a run to help build a 35-0 halftime advantage and sophomore Jesse Sande and freshman Wilhelm Maloley added scores on the ground. Sophomore Tyler Kentner scored on a two-point run and senior two-way standout Waylon Kentner had several big receptions in the first half (full statistics were not available).

The Mounties had at least five takeaways against South Whidbey (6-4) including an interception by Jacoby.

Mount Baker, which has consistently remained in the top three or four in state polls, hopes to get a home game for the state Round of 16 when the pairings are seeded. The top eight teams will have home games.

If the Mounties do get a home game, Lepper said it would be on a turf field. Baker’s grass field is too beat up for a home game, which is why the Mounties played at Sedro-Woolley.

Lynden Christian 56, Cedar Park Christian 7: Seven different players scored for the Lyncs (8-1) against Cedar Park (7-3) as they improved their shot at earning a home game in the state 1A Round of 16.

Trajan Schouten threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Bouwman for LC’s first score and David Bootsma and Easton Stremler soon followed with touchdown runs of 6 and 3 yards.

Cole Moorlag caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from junior Logan Dykstra and Bootsma enjoyed his biggest moment with a 47-yard scoring catch from Schouten, giving the Lyncs a 35-0 halftime advantage.

Jackson Corkill made it 41-0 in the third quarter as Schouten fired a 41-yarder, giving him 17 scoring passes and Corkill 10 touchdowns on the season. Schouten passed for more than 150 yards (exact statistics were not yet available).

LC’s last two scores were by junior Jackson Apol, a 4-yard sweep in his first game of the year following an injury, and by junior Cody Bajema with a 2-yard run.

First-year senior kicker Eli DenBleyker made all eight conversions.

“Eli (who came out from the soccer team) has just been consistent all year,” Lyncs coach Dan Kaemingk said. “I’m really happy with our how defense read their keys and played well.”

Kaemingk said he is “optimistic” that the Lyncs will get a top eight seed and a home game for at least the first round of the state playoffs.

O’Dea 42, Ferndale 7: The Irish (9-0), the state’s top-ranked 3A team, ended the season of the young Golden Eagles (5-5) at Seattle’s Memorial Stadium.

Most of Ferndale’s standouts are eligible to return, including three of the four backfield starters.

Meridian 44, Granite Falls 8: The Trojans took a 3-7 record — with all the losses to teams ranked in the Top Ten — into a late Saturday night 1A district elimination game at King’s (4-5).

Quarterback Cam Webster threw for 175 yards against Granite Falls (3-7) and tossed touchdown passes to Wesley Kurz, Ethan Brooks and Ethan Silves, with Kurtz’s 39-yarder the game’s longest score. Webster also surpassed 100 yards rushing and scored on a keeper.

Webster, a first-year senior quarterback and formerly a tight end, leads Whatcom County’s quarterbacks in combined passing and rushing yardage, with more than 2,000.

Silves and Trent Martin also scored on short runs and junior Zack Loya kicked a field goal. Martin had nearly 100 yards rushing and Ryan Johnson caught for passes for nearly 100 yards.

Nooksack Valley 41, Oak Harbor 13: The Pioneers (3-7) earned their third non-league win to finish the season and showed just how tough the four-team NWC 1A league is as first-year senior running back Dane Winter, a converted lineman, surpassed 1,000 yards rushing.

Winter ran 71 yards to score on Nooksack’s first offensive play and added a 25-yarder to finish with more than 150 yards on the ground.

Cole Eldridge produced two scoring highlights, including a touchdown pass to Keldon Weidkamp along with Weidkamp’s two-point conversion catch. Braden Leyba returned an interception to score on the last play of the first half for a 35-0 lead.

This story was originally published November 9, 2019 at 4:37 PM with the headline "High school football playoffs: Lynden shakes off early rust to overwhelm Sehome."