Playoffs roundup: Lynden rallies in a wild fourth; LC advances, but Mount Baker and Lummi bounced
Lynden found the most fitting player to score the winning touchdown and send the Lions to the semifinals in the Class 2A state playoffs for the second consecutive year.
Steven DiLorenzo was unfazed by a penalty against him that erased his go-ahead touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter. The senior responded on the next drive with his longest run of the game for the winning touchdown with 75 seconds remaining. The Lions eliminated Washougal 29-26 Saturday at Civic Stadium.
A leg injury kept DiLorenzo out of last year’s playoffs, when the Lions finished runner-up.
On his winning score, DiLorenzotook a lateral from quarterback Baylor Ayres, slipped away from a defender, and raced untouched 35 yards down the left sideline. The score capped a 90-yard drive that began with five minutes to play.
“Baylor made just a perfect (behind-the-line) pass,” said DiLorenzo, who finished with 178 yards on 25 carries. He has 549 yards rushing and six touchdowns in three postseason games and more than 1,500 yards in only 10 games overall.
“I had to decide whether to go inside or outside (the defender). I went outside,” DiLorenzo said. “I’m so emotional right now — this is all so amazing.”
The third-seeded Lions (10-1) will face No. 2-seed Steilacoom (10-2), a 48-15 winner over Prosser on Friday. Lynden coach Blake VanDalen said the kickoff will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Renton High School.
Ayres, a junior, enjoyed his best game. He and Brock Heppner gave DiLorenzo his chance for the touchdown when Heppner made a leaping catch of a perfectly placed Ayres pass for 18 yards to the 35 after Ayres scrambled on fourth-and-9.
“That amazing play seemed to last forever,” Lions coach Blake VanDalen said. “But like our whole team, they (Ayres and Heppner) never stopped being positive.”
The same could be said for all-state senior linebacker Bodie Human, the team’s tackling leader and a starter for the 24th consecutive game. He clinched the win with the second interception of his career — the first was last week — with 45 seconds remaining inside Lynden’s 30-yard line.
“I dropped back deeper than usual and saw the quarterback’s eyes,” Human said. “The coaches told me to drop into a zone where I felt comfortable.”
Human was the fifth and final Lynden player to touch the ball. The first three, of course, were iron men DiLorenzo, Heppner and Ayres and the fourth was junior wide receiver Ian Jacob, whose 23-yard catch from Ayres helped set up Ayres’ 12-yard scoring pass to Heppner, slicing Washougal’s lead to 26-21 late in the third quarter.
“That was the longest play I’ve ever been a part of,” Heppner said, adding a moment later, “But then, I wish I could play for Lynden forever.”
After the Panthers (7-5) took a 14-0 advantage on their first two possessions, Heppner out-battled a defender for the ball in the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown catch from Ayres. Heppner, who alternates with Ayres at quarterback, then scored Lynden’s second touchdown on a 1-yard keeper.
Heppner’s three touchdowns gave him 21 for the season, but the play he’ll especially remember is his fumble recovery after the Panthers reached Lynden’s 9-yard line with five minutes left. That set up the game-winning 90-yard drive.
Two minutes into the fourth quarter, DiLorenzo switched to the wing and appeared to have scored on a 20-yard connection with Ayres, but the play was called back because of an illegal formation.
“Our kids were unbelievable,” Van Dalen said. “They just remained so positive all the way. I could not be prouder of this team.”
The Lions held the Panthers to 76 yards rushing, but Washougal quarterback Dalton Payne completed 24 of 33 passes for 321 yards and four touchdowns.
Payne threw to Jakob Davis for scores of 11 and 23 yards in the first quarter. Payne then fired to Julien Jones for 6 yards and a 20-14 halftime lead and finally threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Brevan Bea for a 26-14 advantage in the third quarter. Bea finished with nine catches for 109 yards.
Ayres completed seven of 15 passes for 107 yards, with five to Hepper for 59 yards and two to Jacob for 48.
The Lions, in the playoffs for the 30th time since 1973, will be in the semifinals for the 20th season. Lynden beat Steilacoom,56-47, in a shootout in the season’s third game
“Steilacoom has gotten a lot better and so have we,” said DiLorenzo after being swamped by family and friends.
The same could be said for top-seeded Tumwater, a 48-0 winner over No. 8 Archbishop Murphy. The T-Birds (12-0) next face defending champion and fourth-seeded Hockinson (11-1), a 29-28 winner over fifth-seeded Lakewood.
In other quarterfinals Saturday:
Lynden Christian 31, LaSalle 7: The seventh-seeded Lyncs (10-1) earned a return trip to the Class 1A semifinals with a comeback to upset second-seeded LaSalle (11-1) at Eisenhower High School in Yakima.
LC will face Deer Park (10-0) of Eastern Washington on Saturday at a site and time to be decided by Monday, Nov. 25. The state brackets show LC will be designated as host team but the game probably will be in Snohomish County or King County.
Deer Park earned a 20-17 upset over third-seeded Montesano (11-1), which came in with at least 41 points in all its games.
The Lyncs shut out LaSalle over the last three quarters and allowed 80 total yards in that span after giving up 78 yards in the opening period.
“I’d say resilience describes our effort,” said LC coach Dan Kaemingk. “We got punched in the mouth in the opening quarter and the kids really responded.”
Quarterback Trajan Schouten threw a short pass to Jackson Corkill in the second quarter for the Lyncs’ first score — Schouten’s 21st touchdown pass of the season. Eli DenBleyker kicked a 22-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to put LC ahead for good at 10-7.
Easton Stremler ran for two scores and Levi Korthuis scored on a power run to cap the comeback (full statistics were not yet available). As usual, DenBleyker made good on all four conversions.
“If you had told me at the end of the first quarter that we would be up 31-7 in the fourth quarter … well, I’m just very proud of our kids,” said Kaemingk, whose team will make LC’s ninth appearance in the semifinals.
In the other semifinal, top-seeded Royal (12-0) will face Connell (9-3). Royal overwhelmed No. 8 Omak 62-6 and Connell eliminated Mount Baker 14-9.
Connell 14, Mount Baker 9: The fifth-seeded Mounties (10-2), who earned their eighth consecutive trip to state, fell to 13th-seeded Connell (9-3) in Moses Lake.
Baker had previously lost only to Lynden Christian in the second round of Northwest Conference 1A play after the Mounties beat the Lyncs in the first round.
Scoring details were unavailable by deadline for this story.
Almira/Coulee/Hartline 80, Lummi 30: The third-seeded Warriors (11-1) gained a return trip to the 1B eight-man semifinals with a win at Quincy High School after spoiling the 16th postseason trip for the sixth-seeded Blackhawks (8-4).
Lummi senior Caleb Revey caught a 45-yard scoring pass from Jordan Jackson. Revey also scored on an 11-yard run and threw a 32-yard scoring pass to Duncan Toby. With a pair of two-point conversions, Revey accounted for 22 points and finished with 110 yards on 10 carries and 120 yards on five receptions.
William Elzey scored Lummi’s other touchdown on a 20-yard run and had a two-point conversion. Toby caught six passes for 61 yards.
ACH will face Naselle and top-seeded Odessa will meet fourth-seeded Entiat in the semifinals. Naselle beat Quilcene 50-46; Entiat defeated Lyle/Wishram 48-12 and Odessa beat Selkirk 82-24.
In Lummi’s last win, against Neah Bay, the Blackhawks beat the Red Devils 50-28 a week earlier. Revey ran for four touchdowns and threw scoring passes to Toby and Jaie Leighton. Elzey also scored on a run and defensive line standout Jaylin Lawrence provided a two-point conversion highlight on a pass from Revey.
This story was originally published November 24, 2019 at 3:45 PM.