Clash of the titans: Lynden Christian smash-mouths Nooksack Valley in battle of unbeatens
Three individual firsts, while hardly shocking considering the talent of the players, could not have come at a better time in the same vital game for Lynden Christian’s football team.
Kade Eldridge’s first kickoff return for a touchdown, Kayden Stuit’s first varsity interception and Dawson Bouma’s first varsity touchdown — along with junior quarterback Jeremiah Wright’s all-around excellence — provided the spice in LC’s 30-7 homecoming win over Nooksack Valley in the Lyncs’ Class 1A Northwest Conference opener Friday.
Considering both teams came in 5-0 overall, the bruising, grinding battle, which spotlighted the defenses for both teams in a much more competitive game than the score indicates, for the most part lacked drama but featured one hard-hitting play after another.
“I’m extremely happy,” first-year head coach Greg Terpstra said. “My heart is full. Our kids gave us more than I could ask.”
Terpstra agreed that junior linebacker Stuit’s stunning interception at LC’s 4-yard line with 15 seconds left in the first half with the Lyncs up 14-7 seemed like the play of the game.
“The game turned on that play,” Terpstra said. “Kayden is the heart and soul of our defense.”
Stuit didn’t take full credit by any means, although he smiled when he said he “felt like a tiger in the bushes” while waiting to strike.
“Our team set me up to be in position for that play,” the hard-hitting linebacker said. “It just happened to me. I was just getting in my drop (his drop-back position).”
When asked if LC (6-0, 1-0) played even better defense than the Lyncs did two weeks earlier in their 21-14 shocker at top-ranked defending state champion Royal, Stuit readily agreed that they displayed the determination they used to end the Knights’ state-leading 36-game win streak.
“We definitely played better defense than against Royal,” he said. “We made few mistakes tonight and our special teams played well.”
The Pioneers (5-1, 1-1) opened with a 13-play, 39-yard drive, taking advantage of sophomore Colton Lentz’s power running and two first-down penalties against the Lyncs. Senior Braden Kuik ended the drive at the Lyncs’ 19 with outstanding pass defense on what could have been a first down for Nooksack.
Nooksack held the Lyncs on their first possession. The Pioneers then amassed 47 yards on five plays, plus a 15-yard LC penalty, to score on Joey Brown’s 1-yard dash on the opening play of the second quarter, shortly after Brown’s 26-yard pass to sophomore Cory Olney.
It was the 14th score the junior quarterback has produced this season. But it would be the only score for Nooksack as Brown gamely played the second half with ankle pain caused by a late first-half sack by Tyler Myhre and Jacob Tolsma.
In fact, after Nooksack’s 86 net yards on its first two possessions, the Lyncs limited the Pioneers to 124 yards on 43 plays the remainder of the battle.
LC star Kade Eldridge responded to Nooksack’s touchdown drive with a tackle-busting 87-yard kickoff return. Kuik’s conversion kicked tied it at 7-7.
The Lyncs soon got a break with a short Nooksack punt. The Lyncs scored on a 44-yard, seven-play drive, with Wright scoring from the 8 and Kuik kicking his 30th conversion of the season for a 14-7 advantage.
LC made it 20-7 with Wright’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Sipma in the right corner of the end zone, capping the Lyncs’ longest drive: 54 yards on eight plays. It was Sipma’s ninth touchdown of the year.
Wright finished with 50 yards on 10 carries and completed 8 of 13 passes for 117 yards, including a game-clinching 63-yard pass-run play to Bouma, whose fine catch made possible Wright‘s 10th touchdown pass of the year. Wright surpassed 800 yards passing for the season.
Eldridge’s 2-point conversion run made it 28-7 with 9:16 to play, followed five minutes later by a safety when a Nooksack punt snap went out of the end zone.
“We shot ourselves in the foot,” said Nooksack coach Craig Bartl, referring to his team’s key mistakes. “But LC played defense well.”
Lentz finished with a game-high 81 yards rushing on 20 carries and Skyler Whittern had 44 yards on nine. Brown completed 10 of 23 passes for 79 yards, including an interception by Griffin Dykstra on Nooksack’s final play.
“Our front seven played really well,” said Wright, also a defensive standout at linebacker, referring to fellow front seven defenders Eldridge, Carter Seigman, Treven Blair, Brody Bouwman, Stuit and Kuik
SATURDAY’S GAMES
LA CENTER 26, MOUNT BAKER 25: In a non-league battle of state playoff contenders, Ben Rembisz kicked a 23-yard field goal with nine seconds left, capping a remarkable comeback for La Center (5-1) from a 25-0 deficit five minutes into the third quarter.
Mount Baker (3-3, 1-0) built its lead on an 18-yard touchdown run by Marcques George, his ninth score of the season; passes from Landen Smith to Landon Hanstead of 53 and 15 yards; and a 15-yard score from Wilhelm Maloley. But Baker managed only one conversion point.
The Mountaineers could not handle an onside kick after Jalen Ward’s 65-yard touchdown and Rembisz’s first field goal, a 21-yarder. Tru Feldman’s 6-yard score early in the fourth quarter sliced the deficit to 25-16 and Adam White stripped the ball and scored on a 75-yard return with 54 seconds to play. La Center again recovered an onside kick to set up the winning field goal.
Baker now faces a tough home game against Nooksack Valley on Friday.
QUILCENE 68, LUMMI 22: Facing one of the state’s best eight-man teams on the road, Lummi (1-4) had touchdowns from Richard Wilson on a 25-yard pass from Tony Abrams, a 70-yard kickoff return by Mathias Johnson, and a 30-yard run by Desmond Bailey.
Junior Solomon had 12 tackles and a sack.
“Quilcene is one of the biggest and most physical teams we have faced,” said first-year coach Watiko Leighton. “And our kids came to play. Quilcene capitalized on small mistakes but I’m proud of our kids for never giving up.”
FRIDAY’S GAMES
FERNDALE 49, MARYSVILLE-GETCHELL 7: Isaiah Carlson scored four touchdowns on runs of 2, 3, 44 and 3 yards, giving the senior standout 13 scores as he rushed for more than 130 yards and surpassed 700 for the season.
A 35-yard pass from Bishop Ootsey to Jordan Mason set up the third score and helped the Golden Eagles (4-2, 4-0 3A Wesco North) remain in title contention.
If Ferndale wins at Mount Vernon on Friday, Oct. 14, the Eagles will play Stanwood (6-0, 4-0) in Week 8 for the North title and the top seed in the Week 9 seeding games, which match No 1 North vs. No. 1 South and the No. 2 teams for seeding in the State Round of 32 in Week 10.
Stanwood claimed a 69-47 non-league win over Union.
Sophomore prospect Talan Bungard, back after a recent injury, scored on a 66-yard run and fellow sophomore Zach Nielsen had scores of 35 and 7 yards to make it 41-0. There was no scoring in the second half.
“Our defense played well (including an interception by defensive end Landen Hatchett) to take away the option they like to run,” Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich said.
LYNDEN 49, ARCHBISHOP MURPHY 24: Defending state 2A champion Lynden (6-0, 4-0) scored all 49 points in the first half to claim its 17th consecutive win. The streak began in the Lions’ third game last season and the Lions finished 12-1 plus a Week 10 bye.
The only negative for the Lions was losing lineman Dane Gatterman with a broken collarbone. He started all 17 wins.
Kicker/receiver Troy Petz scored 19 points, including touchdown passes of 59 and 40 yards from sophomore quarterback Brant Heppner and all seven conversions, to give Petz 60 points this season.
Senior quarterback Kaedan Hermanutz, who received praise from coach Blake VanDalen for how well he is helping Heppner, scored on a 1-yard run for Lynden’s first score. Six Lions scored in all as Lane Heeringa tallied on a 3-yard run, Heppner scored on a 12-yarder, Campbell Nolte tallied on a 2-yarder and Chris Elenbaas had a 52-yard punt return.
Heeringa had 70 yards on six carries and Heppner went 4 for 6 passing for 132 yards with two tosses to Petz for 99 yards. Isaiah Stanley caught a pair for 43 and junior Charlie Ayres went 5 for 8 for 43 yards.
Heppner has produced 10 touchdowns in his first varsity season.
Van Dalen praised Lynden’s starters for outstanding defense as Heeringa had seven tackles and eight assists, Elenbaas recorded eight tackles and seven assists and Nolte had six tackles and five assists, all in the first half.
“Archbishop showed class and thanked us for playing our starters only in the first half,” VanDalen said.
SQUALICUM 35,LAKEWOOD 12: The Storm (4-2, 3-1) remained in state playoff contention as coach Nick Lucey said he was thrilled with the second half production, which included three touchdown passes by junior quarterback Josh Leonard — all in the third quarter after two first-half interceptions — of 34 yards to Joaquin Ortiz, 25 to Marcus Nixon and 11 to Chase Nelson. Leonard completed 11 of 22 passes for 217 yards, surpassing 1,000 in six games and improving his touchdown pass total to 13.
Lucey said Nixon, one of the state’s most productive sophomores, produced a 7-6 halftime lead with a 7-yard touchdown run along with a conversion by Kai Sonnon, who made all five kicks. Lucey noted that Nixon finished with 28 carries for 137 yards and surpassed the 600-yard mark with 10 touchdowns.
Jacob Sorenson caught four passes for 124 yards.
“Defensively, Jake Donnelly had two interceptions in the second and third quarters and we played our best second half,” said Lucey, who also praised Sorenson, who had a pick-six nullified by a penalty; strong safety Nick Watt; and defensive linemen Colby Lewis and Hayden Hollingsworth.
“We got back (two-way lineman) Blaze Robles, who had been out with an injury since our fourth practice,” said Lucey, “and (lineman) Riley Rambo returned after being out since the Lynden game.”
The Storm can clinch no worse than the second of three NWC 2A playoff spots if they win out against Anacortes on Thursday, Oct. 13, at Civic Stadium, Sehome and Sedro-Woolley.
ANACORTES 34, SEHOME 28: The Mariners (3-3, 1-3) went up 14-0 on 2-yard touchdowns by freshman Nolan Wright and senior Carson Neff, and senior Tommy Funk scored his sixth touchdown on a 1-yard burst for a 21-14 advantage. Sophomore Andre Watson scored his seventh touchdown of the season on Wright’s 34-yard pass and Grady Evans kicked his fourth extra point.
But the Seahawks responded with four touchdowns by Brock and Brady Beaner combined, including a game-winning 4-yarder by Brady with four minutes to go. Rex Larson found Carson Portz for a 13-yard touchdown as Anacortes continued to play like the league’s most improved team.
Sedro-Woolley (4-2, 2-2) remained in playoff contention with a 26-21 win over Burlington-Edison (2-4, 1-3).
MERIDIAN 36, BLAINE 18: The young Trojans (4-2, 1-1) used big plays on homecoming night to take an NWC 1A win over Blaine (0-6, 0-2).
Sophomore quarterback Jaeger Fyfe scored on a 56-yard run to get Meridian moving. Sophomore Landen Downey then tallied from the 5 and senior Marcus Castaneda scored from the 22.
Fyfe displayed his potential with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Amrit Nagra, one of only five Trojan seniors. Hunter Jones, the star senior receiver, found a different way to score his seventh touchdown when he returned a fumble. Eli Jensen, another valuable senior, contributed four conversion kicks and a 2-point run.
Blaine scored on Kael Evinger’s passes of 10 yards to Riley Ihde, 15 yards to Hunter Vezzetti and 33 yards to Conner Dalry, giving Evinger nearly 200 yards in the senior’s most productive game.
THURSDAY’S GAME
COUPEVILLE 48, BELLINGHAM 6: Freshman quarterback/defensive back Owen Hanstead was thrown into full-time action and performed well, but Coupeville (5-1) proved too tough for the independent Bayhawks (2-4).
Hanstead, replacing injured sophomore Gabriel Hofwegan early in the first quarter, completed four passes including two for 50 yards to Lucas Cousens. Hanstead also had 43 yards on three kick returns and contributed much in the defensive backfield.
Terry Frost scored on a 6-yard run and finished with nearly 100 yards, while Logan Steeves had 67 yards on 13 carries.
WEEK 7
Thursday, Oct. 13
Squalicum vs. Anacortes at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 14
Crescent at Lummi, 6 p.m.
Nooksack Valley at Mount Baker, 7 p.m.
Meridian at Lynden Christian, 7 p.m.
Lynden at Burlington-Edison, 7 p.m.
Sehome at Archbishop Murphy, 7 p.m.
Ferndale at Mount Vernon, 7 p.m.
Blaine vs. Bellingham at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
This story was originally published October 10, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
