Historic: state semifinals football doubleheader will involve three Whatcom County teams
In a state football quarterfinal Class 2A win with plenty of big plays, the highlight for top-seeded Lynden’s players and coaches may have gone unnoticed by many fans.
Meanwhile, the heroes were spectacular and obvious for rivals Nooksack Valley and Mount Baker as they won quarterfinals to move into the 1A semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 26, against each other. It’s the first semifinals spot for Nooksack in 13 years and the first for Baker in nine years. Both are bidding for their first state title.
Lynden’s 255-pound sophomore Blake Holman fit in so well in his first start on the offensive line, the Lions (11-0) were whistled for only one penalty on offense in their 42-13 victory over No. 8 Highline (10-2) Friday at Civic Field.
“Blake Holman is our unsung hero tonight,” said Lions coach Blake VanDalen. “He was awesome.”
“Blake filled in at center for (ill) Kuyper Assink really well,” said running back and long snapper Campbell Nolte. “We had no missed snaps.”
If the Lions’ ground-game is as effective in the semifinals Saturday at 5 p.m. at Civic Stadium against No. 4 Enumclaw (12-0) — a 20-17 winner over Othello — defending state champion Lynden may well give its multitude of followers their sixth consecutive home victory at state.
Lynden, which extended its state-leading win streak to 22, will be among the few teams ever to play six consecutive home games at state (2A title games are in Puyallup).
Meanwhile, No. 3 Nooksack Valley (9-1) and No. 10 Mount Baker (7-4) will make local history when they meet at Civic Stadium at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Pioneers and Mountaineers richly earned their way into a historic local match-up with Baker’s 35-20 road victory Saturday over previously unbeaten No. 2 Lakeside and with Nooksack’s 34-24 home win over No. 11 Cashmere at Civic.
Not since the two Lynden teams met in the 1991 1A semifinals — when they were both in the same division — have Whatcom County squads faced each other with such stakes on the line.
Imagine that — a historic state semifinals doubleheader at Civic Stadium, two days after Thanksgiving, involving three Whatcom County teams. Now that’s really something to be thankful for!
In 3A, No. 7 Ferndale (9-3) saw an outstanding season end in the quarterfinals with a 35-18 loss to No. 2 seed Eastside Catholic (11-0), the state’s top-ranked team.
The three quarterfinal wins gave Whatcom County’s 11 teams a 50-24 record against out-of-county competition. In eight state games so far in the Round of 16 and the quarterfinals, the county’s team are 7-1 and have scored 301 points.
LYNDEN 42, HIGHLINE 13: The most consistent cheers for Lynden were in support of senior running back/linebacker Lane Heeringa, who played his usual stifling defense. He often carried multiple Pirates on his back while amassing 161 yards on 23 carries, both season highs. Heeringa bulled over for the game’s first two touchdowns on runs of one and seven yards, giving him 16 scores for the season.
Perhaps the loudest cheers on any play were for senior defensive back Kobe Baar, whose 84-yard interception return was his first pick six and gave Lynden a 21-0 halftime advantage.
Highline’s Rico Jerez-Sosa sprinted 47 yards to the 4 on the Pirates’ game-opening series, but Lynden’s defense set the tone for the game by allowing zero net yards on the next four plays, including a pass knockdown by defensive back Troy Petz in the end zone on fourth down. On third down, Isaiah Oudman made a vital tackle for no gain.
“We had to get a feel for the game and after that, everything went well,” said senior linebacker Chris Elenbaas, who made several big tackles in support of Heeringa’s bruising hits.
Nolte scored twice in the third quarter on runs of 15 and four yards. Petz, who went five for five on conversions, made it 35-0. Quarterback Kaedan Hermanutz provided the capper with a career-long 62-yard touchdown run in the final period and defensive standout Trey Smiley kicked the conversion.
On Lynden’s five scoring drives, ranging from 57 to 85 yards, only one pass completion was involved. That came on Brant Heppner’s 32-yard pass-run to Petz, who set up Nolte’s second touchdown with a run to the 4. Petz now has 90 points with six touchdowns, four field goals and 42 conversions in 46 tries.
“I’m very proud of Kuyper Assink,” VanDalen said of the junior, who started the previous 21 consecutive wins at center. “He came to me and told me he didn’t think he would be well enough to play. That gave us the chance to get Holman ready with a full practice.”
Nolte gained 53 yards on eight carries and Hermanutz finished with 100 on seven packs, thanks to his touchdown. In all, the Lions rushed for 361 yards on 48 plays and had 402 yards overall.
What made Nolte happiest about the win?
“The chance to spend more time with our brothers,” the senior said.
Heeringa improved his season rushing total to nearly 800 yards as the Lions did not have a turnover.
“I’m proud of our team,” he said. “Our (first series) goal-line stand set the tone for the game.”
Highline showed how it won 10 games with 306 yards, including 149 on 18 carries by Jerez-Sosa.
Lynden produced the 30th game of 40-plus points this season by one of Whatcom County’s 11 teams. The Lions have outscored their competition 394 to 143.
MOUNT BAKER 35, LAKESIDE NINE MILE FALLS 20: The Mounties had their usual high-powered offense firing well, but it was a crucial play by senior defensive lineman Ethan Larson that had the visiting fans going bananas.
Larson, who missed most of last season with an injury, forced a Lakeside fumble with a strip sack at the Mount Baker 26 with 4:27 to play and the Mounties up 28-20. Junior lineman Vance Lawrence recovered the ball.
Baker drove for the clinching touchdown, an eight-yard run by Wilhelm Maloley with 1:15 to play, soon after a 32-yard dash by quarterback Landon Smith and a key five-yard run by Marcques George. Tanyen Staton’s fifth conversion kick provided the final point.
Baker took the lead for good at 7-6 in the opening quarter on a touchdown pass from Smith to Landen Hanstead and Staton‘s kick.
Hanstead’s catch was the first of four consecutive touchdowns by Baker, including a 21-yard sprint by Maloley, a 34-yard run by Hanstead on an end-around play for a 28-6 advantage late in the third quarter and a 2-yard run by Smith.
Baker’s upset of Lakeside (10-1) — an upset from the standpoint of the seeds — and this week’s match-up with Nooksack Valley guarantees a Whatcom County team in the 1A state title game for the first time since Lynden Christian fell to Royal in the 2019 championship contest.
The title game is scheduled Dec. 3 at Lakewood’s Harry Lang Stadium, with a noon kickoff.
“Hanstead made a really good catch (to give Baker the early lead) and George had well over 100 yards rushing,” said Baker coach Ron Lepper. “The entire defense played an outstanding game. And when Landon Smith had two interceptions against him, he didn’t hang his head but got right back into it. Landon did a lot of good things.”
Alex Maloley and Larson pressured the quarterback on Lakeside’s final play and Staton made the tackle that assured a completion came up a yard short.
NOOKSACK VALLEY 34, CASHMERE 24: The Pioneers rallied from a 17-14 deficit late in the third quarter with three fourth-quarter touchdowns to earn a state semifinal berth for the first time since 2009. They beat Mount Baker 28-20 on Oct. 14 in a Week Seven thriller, but the Mounties won a 6-0 Northwest Conference 1A Kansas Tie-breaker over the Pioneers in Week 10. Nooksack then eliminated Lynden Christian 3-0 in the same event, meaning that a Kansas Tiebreaker ultimately resulted in two state semifinals teams.
After Cashmere took its 17-14 lead, Nooksack quarterback Joey Brown fired a 52-yard pass-run to fellow junior Jackson Bennett on third-and-13 from Nooksack’s own 38-yard line.
Sophomore fullback Colton Lentz, who rushed for 187 yards and three touchdowns on a season-high 34 carries, then bulled for eight yards to set up his 2-yard score for a 20-17 lead.
The Pioneers followed by shutting down Cashmere (9-3) on four plays, including a risky fourth-down pass, to gain possession on the Bulldogs’ 35-yard line. Lentz then gained all the positive yardage with six carries on short drive of 35 yards and scored on a 10-yard burst for 27-17 with 6:20 left..
Cashmere, however, remained a threat when Trenton Mason hit star receiver Jack Croci in stride for a 61-yard touchdown, cutting Nooksack’s lead to 27-24 with 5:29 to play.
But Brown capped a 66-yard drive with a memorable 28-yard touchdown sprint around the right side for his second touchdown of the game and the 22nd score he has produced in his remarkable season either running or passing.
“Joey outran his blockers on the same play earlier in the game and went out of bounds, but this time he learned from that,” said Nooksack coach Craig Bartl of Brown, who ran nine times for 70 yards and completed six of eight passes for 96 yards, all to Jackson.
Senior defensive back Thomas Abell knocked down a fourth-down Cashmere pass in the end zone with 1:18 remaining to clinch the win.
Nooksack’s first two scores were a 17-yard run by Lentz following a 58-yard sprint by Skyler Whittern on the game’s opening series, then a 2-yard run by Brown.
Lentz moved past 1,400 yards rushing for the season and improved his touchdown total to 18. Lentz also had an interception, as did Wayne Silves.
“I had no doubt the guys would fight back,” Bartl said of the 17-14 deficit. “This means so much for the players, the coaches, the school and the community.”
EASTSIDE CATHOLIC 35, FERNDALE 18: The Wesco champion Golden Eagles put up a strong battle in the first half and finished with losses only to three high-caliber teams-- the 3A Crusaders along with 2A Lynden and 4A Glacier Peak.
Isaiah Carlson’s 3-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter was his 28th score of the season and a school record 56th in his four-season career. His 148 yards on 23 carries enabled the fourth-year standout to surpass 1,600 yards for the season.
Senior tight end Jordan Mason caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Bishop Ootsey to cut Ferndale’s halftime deficit to 14-12. But the Golden Eagles saw their eight-game win streak end.
The Crusaders scored their third and fourth touchdowns — all by running back Richie Fotualii-Aliifua up to that point — for a 28-12 lead after three quarters.
Conner Walcker’s 10-yard touchdown run pulled Ferndale within 28-18 with 8:48 to play, but that turned out to be the final score of a memorable season.
“Our motto this season has been ‘respect all, fear none.’ I feel we lived up to that,” said all-league two-way lineman Jake Mason. “It was awesome to see our team grow week after week and a great feeling to beat Stanwood (for the Wesco North title) and Monroe (for the overall conference championship. I’ll always remember our team.”
STATE QUARTERFINALS
(With Whatcom County teams)
3A
O’Dea 42, Stanwood 21
Eastside Catholic 35, Ferndale 18
Bellevue 22, Lincoln Tacoma 20
Yelm 36, Kennewick 27
2A
North Kitsap 10, Anacortes 7
W.F. West 31, Sedro-Woolley 14
Enumclaw 20, Othello 17
Lynden 42, Highline 13
1A
Nooksack Valley 34, Cashmere 24
Mount Baker 35, Lakeside Nine Mile Falls 20
Freeman 23, Eatonville 17
Royal 41, Montesano 9
STATE SEMIFINAL SCHEDULES
All games Saturday, Nov. 26
3A
O’Dea vs. Eastside Catholic at Seattle Memorial Stadium 1 p.m.
Bellevue vs. Yelm at Art Crate Field, 1 p.m.
2A
North Kitsap vs. W.F. West at Tumwater, 4 p.m.
Enumclaw vs. Lynden at Civic Stadium, 5 p.m.
1A
Nooksack Valley vs. Mount Baker at Civic Stadium, 1 p.m.
Freeman at Royal, time to be announced
This story was originally published November 21, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
