BELLINGHAM – A strong running game, and a big play on special teams helped vault Lynden Christian past Meridian 40-13 on Friday night.
The Trojans got off to a great start after freshman cornerback Kasey Brennan intercepted a pass on LC’s first possession, and brought it into Lync territory. A 44-yard completion down the left sideline from junior Jaeger Fyfe to senior Cohen Fuller followed, which set up a 1-yard touchdown run by junior Landen Downey.
Meridian then regained the football by causing a fumble on Lynden Christian’s next drive, but a Trey Bosman tackle gave the ball back to the Lyncs as the Trojans turned it over on downs.
The Lyncs turned their next drive into seven points after driving 70 yards. The drive ended with a 9-yard touchdown run by junior Hollis Owen around right end out of the wishbone formation. Sophomore Jacob Penner’s kick tied it up and the first quarter ended 7-7.
Lynden Christian scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter. One on a 1-yard run by senior quarterback Jeremiah Wright, and the other came on a thrilling 78-yard punt return by senior Dawson Bouma.
The Lyncs rode the momentum in the third quarter when Wright scored again, this time from three yards out.
At this point, the Trojans were almost exclusively going to the air, as they tried to get down the field quickly. Fyfe finished with a career-high 43 pass attempts, and he completed 21 of them for 200 yards. Downey was the main recipient, as he caught 10 passes for 81 yards.
Two long touchdown runs by Owen and Wright in the fourth quarter put the game away, but Meridian was able to get one more score in the game, a 21-yard touchdown pass from Fyfe to junior James Hedahl.
Wright and senior Brody Bouwman led Lynden Christian defensively from their outside linebacker spots. Wright finished with 6.5 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack and a pass deflected, and Bouwman posted 10.5 tackles, one tackle for loss and a pass deflected.
Meridian was led defensively by junior inside linebacker Kelley Gray who had eight tackles and two tackles for loss. Senior linebacker Joshtyn Elmer also contributed 7.5 tackles and two forced fumbles.
The Lyncs (5-2) will host Blaine (2-5) on Friday, and the Trojans (3-4) will travel to Mount Baker (2-5) to take on the Mountaineers. Both games will start at 7:00.
Lynden Christian 40 Meridian 13 LC 7 14 6 13 - 40 MER 7 0 0 6 - 13 MER - Downey 1 run (Downey kick) LC - H. Owen 9 run (Penner kick) LC - Wright 1 run (Penner kick) LC - Bouma 78 punt return (Penner kick) LC - Wright 3 run (kick failed) LC - H. Owen 49 run (Penner kick) LC - Wright 53 run (kick failed) MER - Hedahl 21 pass from Fyfe (kick blocked) LC MER 28-206 Rush Att-Yards 34-63 12-22-1 Comp-Att-Int 21-43-2 130 Passing Yards 200 Individual Leaders RUSHING - LC: H. Owen 13-104, Wright 5-90, Johnson 4-11, Bouwman 2-3, Maberry 2-3, Stuit 2-(-5). MER: Downey 13-40, Elmer 11-17, Fyfe 8-14, Gray 1-0, Fuller 1-(-8). PASSING - LC: Wright 7-14-1-91, DenHartog 2-5-0-20, Maberry 3-3-0-19. MER: Fyfe 21-43-2-200. RECEIVING - LC: Bajema 4-33, Stuit 3-49, Bouma 2-18, Wright 1-12, H. Owen 1-10, Jax. Huleatt 1-8. MER: Downey 10-81, Hedahl 3-37, Elmer 3-25, Fuller 2-54, Brennan 1-3, T. Alexander 1-0, Marum 1-0.
