Lynden Christian’s game-winning final drive could be the key to a state playoff berth
Stellar senior receiver/linebacker Kayden Stuit had carried the ball only six times as a running back, all against defending state champions in the previous two games, when he was asked to score a touchdown that may ultimately mean the fulfillment of his dreams at Lynden Christian.
Like a low-flying version of Superboy, Stuit drove the Lyncs fans wild when he burst over the goal line with 25 seconds to play and tumbled into the end zone.
When sophomore kicker Jacob Penner added the all-important extra point, Lynden Christian had a never-to-be-forgotten 21-20 win over Nooksack Valley in a grinding, all-out physical battle before an overflow crowd Friday.
“The experience of playing Nooksack is special in our (North County) community,” said Lyncs coach Greg Terpstra, who explained his team’s defensive excellence by saying, “We were willing tacklers.”
If the Lyncs (4-2 overall, 1-0 Northwest Conference 1A) can beat Meridian, Blaine and Mount Baker in their final three league games, they will claim the league’s only guaranteed spot in state playoffs.
Nooksack (4-2, 1-1), however, is far from finished. If the Pioneers can beat Mount Baker and Blaine, they may find themselves in a Week 10 crossover game with the Cascade Conference runner-up for a state spot.
But the Pioneers also must hope that Mount Baker loses to LC in Week Nine. Otherwise, there could be a three-way mini-playoff among tri-champions — the same type of situation in which the Lyncs were ousted by the Pioneers last season.
“I was just running out of our wishbone formation,” Stuit said of the biggest moment of his football career, which was set up by how comfortable he looked in a loss to Royal and a win over Napavine the previous two weeks. “I felt our team outplayed them (in the second half) on both sides of the ball.”
The Lyncs trailed 20-7 at the end of the third quarter, having given up only Jorgen Vigre’s second field goal of the game, a 26-yarder in the second half, to a team that came in averaging 53 points per game.
Quarterback Jeremiah Wright capped a 67-yard, five-play drive with passes of 26 and 30 yards to Dawson Bouma, the latter for a touchdown followed by the second of Penner’s three conversions.
The next time Wright had the ball, he had to shake off sophomore Cole Coppinger’s interception. Because of three penalties and lost yardage on two plays during Nooksack’s ensuing series, the Pioneers punted in a bizarre fourth-and 48 situation and LC took over on its 40 with 6:15 remaining.
Wright, who completed 20 of 29 passes for 214 yards, went 6-for-6 on a 60-yard, 14-play game-winning drive, including a vital 9-yard pass to Brody Bouwman on fourth-and-3 at the LC 47.
Following a 15-yard pass interference call, Wright found Bouma with a 10-yard pass for a first down at the 12. Wright then lost two yards, but also found Tyson Bajema for another 10-yard gain and third-and-two on the 4-yard line.
The Lyncs went with a wishbone power tactic at that point, with Terpstra crediting offensive assistants Jordan Kreider and Joe VanderPol with invaluable feedback. The wishbone eventually worked, despite a strong stand by Nooksack.
Stuit gained a yard, Wright picked up one yard each on consecutive carries and Stuit then scored the winner. On the ensuing “pooch” kickoff, Bajema recovered the ball with 16 seconds left.
How good was LC’s defense?
“This is right up there with the best of them. These boys have so much heart,” said defensive coordinator Kent Bouma, admiring alongside Terpstra the efforts of the boom-boom likes of Bouwman, Bouma, Stuit, Jayden Huleatt, Malachi VanderMey and the entire defense.
Vigre, who has missed only once while making 37 extra points, boomed 34-yard field goal on Nooksack’s game-opening series. The field goal was set up by a 45-yard burst by Colton Lentz, who made it 10-0 with a 7-yard touchdown burst, made possible by Joey Brown’s 21-yard pass to Jackson Bennett and Skyler Whittern’s 13-yard run.
LC cut Nooksack’s lead to 10-7 on Wright’s 8-yard keeper early in the second quarter, set up by Wright’s 39-yard pass to Stuit, who caught a game-high six passes for 75 yards. But the Pioneers made it 17-7 with 2:43 left in the first half on Brown’s 21-yard scoring pass to Lentz, set up by Brown’s 42-yarder to Bennett.
Lentz leads Whatcom County with 90 points on 15 touchdowns. He ran 14 times for 111 yards to improve his county-leading total to 748 yards and Whittern gained 89 yards on 14 carries to increase his total to 548 yards, according to the Whatcom Preps website. Brown went 6-for-12 for 104 yards.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
LYNDEN 28, ARCHBISHOP MURPHY 21: The Lions (5-1, 4-0 NWC 2A) rallied to win at Archbishop Murphy (3-3, 2-2) to win their fifth in a row and remained tied for the league lead with Anacortes (6-0, 4-0), a 35-9 winner over Sehome.
If the Lions and Seahawks win their next two games each, they’ll be unbeaten in league for their Week Nine matchup at Lynden. That means both would be assured one of the league’s two state spots in the Round of 16 for Week Eleven. In fact, if Lynden beats Burlington and Anacortes tops Squalicum this week, the tiebreakers would clinch state spots early, Lions coach Blake Van Dalen noted.
It was Lynden’s 28th consecutive league win since a 14-7 loss to Sedro-Woolley in 2019.
Junior quarterback Brant Heppner scored twice on short runs and threw touchdown passes of 70 yards to Cooper Moore for Lynden’s first touchdown and 2 yards to Isaiah Oudman. Lynden’s fourth score came on a “Tim Tebow style jump pass from Heppner to Oudman for the game’s final touchdown, late in the third quarter,” Van Dalen said. “The ball stayed 10 feet off the ground all the way.”
Brady Elsner made his third interception of the season to clinch the win with one minute left in the fourth quarter.
Moore’s 35-yard catch set up Heppner’s first score for a 14-14 tie. Dani Bowler’s 40-yard catch set up the winning touchdown.
Heppner completed 8 of 16 passes for 216 yards with only the third interception of his two-season career. He rushed 20 times for 81 yards while improving his season totals to 14 touchdown passes and 8 touchdown runs. He has 1,175 yards passing this season and surpassed 2,100 for his career.
Freshman kicker Malachi Koenen made all four conversions, extending his career-opening streak to 26.
Sophomore Max Assink, starting in place of injured Luke Human, rushed 14 times for 81 yards. Moore caught four passes for 132 yards.
In another league game, Sedro-Woolley defeated Burlington-Edison (48-0). Sedro (4-2, 3-2) has lost to both Lynden and Anacortes.
BLAINE 29, MERIDIAN 28: The Borderites (2-4, 1-1) received a game-winning 27-yard field goal by Matt Hayes with five seconds to play. Hayes kicked a 21-yarder in the second quarter after Colin Davis threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Vezzetti.
Davis scored on runs of three yards in both the third and fourth quarters and threw two-point conversion passes to Tyler Bouma and Conner Dalry.
Sophomore Malaki Murillo blocked Meridian’s first two conversion kicks, ultimately crucial plays.
Davis finished 15 of 23 for 185 yards and one interception and Colby Shipp rushed for 68 yard on 11 carries. Vezzetti caught six passes for 95 yards and Jesse Deming grabbed five for 53.
Blake Koreski led Blaine’s defense with seven solo tackles, five assists, two tackles for loss and one sack. Zi Yu had four solo tackles and three tackles for loss.
For Meridian (3-3, 0-2), junior quarterback Jaeger Fyfe scored on an 18-yard run and went over 1,000 yards passing for the second season. Josh Elmer scored on an 80-yard kickoff return and a 1-yard run plus a two-point conversion run, giving the senior standout 58 points. Elmer rushed for 91 yards on 14 carries, moving past 700 yards rushing and receiving combined.
Landen Downey gave Meridian a 28-26 lead with 1:49 left with a 1-yard run plus a two-point conversion run to increase his point total to 59.
Davis improved his passing totals to 957 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“This was an exciting homecoming win for the Borderites. I’m very proud of our resilience,” said coach Andy Olson. “We’ve talked a lot about mental toughness and how to handle adversity. Our growth in both areas allowed for us to have this opportunity and experience.”
MARYSVILLE-GETCHELL 14, FERNDALE 13: The Golden Eagles (4-2, 2-2 Wesco North 3A) had a late field-goal attempt by Phoenyx Finkbonner blocked at home.
Versatile senior standout Conner Walcker could not play for Ferndale due to an injury. Finkbonner scored on runs of 8 and 5 yards to improve his season total to seven.
“Marysville-Getchell (4-2, 2-2) did a good job of maintaining ball control,” said Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich. “We did a good job of bouncing back after our loss to Arlington, so we have to do that again.”
In other Wesco North games, Arlington (6-0, 5-0) clinched the division title with a 42-14 win over Marysville-Pilchuck (4-2, 3-2) and Oak Harbor beat Mount Vernon 34-28. In a non-league game, Stanwood fell to Union 30-13.
Arlington has only one league game left. Ferndale, Marysville-Pilchuck, Marysville-Getchell and Stanwood all have two league losses. The scramble for the crossover game in Week Nine against the Wesco South runner-up is still in doubt, although the Golden Eagles are very much still in the race for a state spot with games left at home against Mount Vernon and Stanwood.
BELLINGHAM 50, COUPEVILLE 7: The Bayhawks, a Class 2A independent, won their third in a row as quarterback Josh Leonard completed 14 of 20 passes for 383 yards and four touchdowns. Josh Tolle caught nine passes for 237 yards, including touchdown tosses of 58 and 42 yards, while Wyatt Stephan scored on a 49-yard pass and Bly Henderson tallied on a 40-yarder. Stephan had three catches for 98 yards.
Sophomore defensive back Owen Hanstead, the “Bayhawk Ballhawk,” may well have set a county record with an interception in his sixth consecutive game. That’s one of the rarest feats in high school football. Nathan Laas and Elias Togagae also had interceptions as Bellingham held Coupeville to 120 total yards.
Tyler Frost scored on a 38-yard run on his only carry. Holden Bates scored from the 30 and 37 and finished with six carries for 75 yards.
Leonard has a county-leading 19 touchdown passes, with 11 to Tolle, and more than 1,600 yards passing. Leonard’s career totals are 35 touchdown passes and more than 3,100 yards.
Eli Goodbuffalo, a sophomore quarterback prospect, went 3 for 3 for 31 yards.
CONCRETE 68, LUMMI 26: The young Blackhawks (1-3, 0-2) scored in every quarter as Junior Solomon threw to Mathias Johnson for touchdowns of 49, 80 and 42 yards in a Northwest Eight-Man Conference game at Lummi.
Solomon also passed 42 yards for a touchdown to Russell George, a promising eighth-grader.
Lummi will play a makeup game Tuesday, Oct. 10, at Crescent at 2:30 p.m. The Blackhawks also will play a regularly scheduled home game against Quilcene Friday at 6 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
ANACORTES 35, SEHOME 9: The Seahawks (6-0, 4-0) stopped the Mariners (3-3, 1-3) inside the red zone four times at Civic Field in a game that was more competitive than the score indicates, even though Anacortes mounted a 35-0 lead late in the third quarter.
Sehome scored on a safety and on a 1-yard run by Fisher Hall, who led the Mariners with 15 carries for 74 yards. Sophomore quarterback Nolan Wright completed 15 of 30 passes for 253 yards and interceptions by Brock Beaner and Tyler Olson.
Wright threw to seven receivers, including seven passes to junior Andre Watson for 72 yards. Wright surpassed 1,250 yards for the season and Watson has a county-high 42 catches for more than 500 yards.
Sehome’s standout tight end, senior Brad Duckworth, suffered a second-quarter leg injury and is out indefinitely. He had a 71-yard reception.
Brock Beaner had a game-high 100 yards rushing on 11 carries with touchdowns of 18 and 20 yards. Twin brother Brady Beaner had 113 yards combined receiving and rushing, including six catches for 86 yards with a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Rex Larson.
Larson completed 22 of 26 passes for 286 yards and also threw touchdown passes of 8 and 25 yards to Rylin Lang, who had nine receptions for 117 yards. Watson had Sehome’s lone interception against Larson.
Anacortes amassed 476 total yards and Sehome had 343.
“We’re going to compete in every game but we’re a young team (only three senior starters) and we have to take the heartache with the joy,” said coach Brian Young.
LA CENTER 33, MOUNT BAKER 19: State title contender La Center improved to 6-0 and led the entire non-league game, taking a 33-12 lead with two fourth-quarter touchdowns after the Mountaineers pulled within 20-12 in the third quarter.
Toga Tigilau completed 11 of 21 passes for a season-high 237 yards for Mount Baker (2-4, 1-0), including touchdown tosses of 60 and 13 yards to Tanyen Staton, who caught five passes for 119 yards. Hayden Rosse had four catches for 103 yards.
Tigilau scored the game’s final touchdown on a 1-yard run. Dylan Moe led Baker in rushing with 50 yards.
Coach Ron Lepper said Alex Maloley had his usual solid defensive game. Sophomore Jet Ross and junior Dean Allred had the first varsity interceptions.
The Mounties concluded one of the state’s toughest non-league schedules. The Mountaineers, who played in last year’s 1A state title game despite coming into the playoffs with four losses, can still claim their 11th consecutive state playoff spot by beating Nooksack Valley, Meridian and Lynden Christian in their final three games.
If Mount Baker can finish second outright in NWC 1A, the Mounties would also get a shot at a state berth with a crossover game in Week Ten against the runner-up from the Cascade Conference.
“We’ll give it a shot,” said Baker coach Ron Lepper. “We just have to develop quicker.”
THURSDAY’S GAME
LAKEWOOD 46, SQUALICUM 42: Lakewood scored the game’s final touchdown late in the fourth quarter after junior quarterback Marcus Nixon passed and ran for 357 total yards for the visiting Storm (3-3, 1-3), according to Whatcom Preps.
Nixon has passed and run for more than 1,100 yards combined and has produced 14 touchdowns.
Nixon, who also had an interception, scored from the 3 and passed to Chase Nelson from the 12 for the Storm’s first two touchdowns. It was defensive standout Nelson’s first touchdown.
Nixon also scored from the 11 and threw to sophomore Ansen Asbjornsen for touchdowns of 44 and 50 yards, the latter to give the Storm a 42-39 lead.
Asbjornsen caught four passes for 129 yards and Malakai Smith returned a kickoff 87 yards for the Storm’s other touchdown. Avery Haggen went 6 for 6 on conversion kicks.
Smith, Joaquin Ortiz and Deandre Dunmore combined to rush for 170 yards for the Storm, which had 527 total yards to Lakewood’s 465 in the wild game.
WEEK SEVEN
Tuesday
Lummi at Crescent, 2:30 p.m. (makeup game)
Friday
Mount Baker at Nooksack Valley, 7 p.m.
Lynden Christian at Meridian, 7 p.m.
Mount Vernon at Ferndale, 7 p.m.
Bellingham at Blaine, 7 p.m.
Squalicum at Anacortes, 7 p.m.
Archbishop Murphy vs. Sehome at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
Quilcene at Lummi, 6 p.m.
Saturday
Burlington-Edison at Lynden, 7 p.m.
