LYNDEN – I doubt that Lynden head coach Blake Van Dalen slept much last night, as his football team battled Burlington-Edison to the very end. A couple of later turnovers, and big-play moments by the Lions were the difference in the game as Lynden defeated the Tigers 17-14 at Rollie DeKoster Field on Friday night.
After a three-and-out by Burlington, the Lions’ opening drive was great. Quarterback James Marsh looked good, running for first downs and hitting wide receiver Grant VanderYacht on a 20-yard pass. However, penalties stalled the drive and Lynden settled for a 38-yard field goal by Marko Samoukovic.
The Tiger offense got things rolling later in the first quarter, and into the second quarter, by pounding the ball up the middle and picking up small chunks of yards at a time. Tate Cavanaugh, Axel Wilhonen and Jakob Fleury, all running backs near 200 pounds, were used to run behind a determined Burlington-Edison offensive line. Wilhonen, who was battling a shoulder injury the entire game, fought through the right side of the Lynden defense to score the first touchdown of the game in the second quarter.
Every time Lynden was able to get something going on offense, a costly mistake would derail its chances. Quarterback Brock Heppner did hook up on a deep 32-yard pass to Carson Bode just before the first half, but the Tiger defense would later turn away the Lions on the drive.
Lynden needed a “shot in the arm” in the third quarter to try and get the momentum back. It happened when senior Luke Caspian recovered a fumble deep into Lynden’s territory. Moments later, running back Eric Martin-Mann shot through a hole that was created by left tackle Marty Karb, who was filling in for Jacob Kettels, and nobody was going to catch him. A 75-yard touchdown run by the senior turned the momentum back into Lynden’s favor.
The Lions carried the 10-7 lead into the fourth quarter, but found Burlington-Edison driving behind a strong running game yet again. And, with 5:31 left in the game, Tigers quarterback Isaac Lindsay found Fleury wide open out of the backfield, as they connected on a 10-yard touchdown pass. The following possession would be the moment that Lynden would need to win the game…. it didn’t exactly turn out that way.
VanderYacht returned the ensuing kickoff to the 50-yard line to help Lynden’s cause for the come-from-behind victory. However, the Burlington defense had different ideas, and it was able to force a 4th-and-2, causing the Lions to call a time out, so they can talk about how to pick up this most important first down and keep their chances of winning alive.
They decided to run with Heppner over the right tackle. It was open for a second, but the Tigers quickly closed it up and Burlington-Edison took possession with just over three minutes left in the contest.
The Lions used their final two time outs after two short runs by the Tigers, hoping they could stop Burlington on the next play and force a punt. Cavanaugh has a different idea, and ran for a hard-fought first down on the next play. At that moment, it appeared that all was lost for the Lions. It was a new set of downs for the Tigers, no time outs left, and the clock ticking with under three minutes left.
But, the game wasn’t finished yet.
The Lions were able to strip the ball on the next play, and senior defensive back Kobe Elsner recovered. Moments later it was Elsner who ran the perfect out-and-up route and got past his defender. Marsh launched it down the right side line to him. Elsner leaped in the air to catch the ball at its highest point, come down cleanly with it before falling out of bounds at the Burlington 10-yard line.
Lynden went with an option run to the left side of the field on the following play, but the pitch from Marsh went behind Martin-Mann who reached back to catch it, evade a few Tiger defenders, and he fought his way near the goal line, ultimately being brought down at the 1-yard line. Marsh scored on a quarterback sneak on the following play to give the Lions a 17-14 lead with 1:32 left.
Wilhonen returned the following kickoff into Lynden territory, and now it appeared that this game was either going to go into overtime after a late Burlington field goal, or perhaps the Tigers could pull it out on a late touchdown. But, it was senior linebacker Preston King who had a different ending in mind. He intercepted a pass to seal the victory for the Lions. Marsh would then run out the clock, and the game was over.
Lynden (6-0) will travel to Sedro Woolley (3-3) to take on the Cubs this Friday night.
Burlington-Edison 14
Lynden 17
B-E 0 7 0 7 – 14
LYN 3 0 7 7 – 17
LYN – Samoukovic 38 FG
B-E – Wilhonen 3 run (kick good)
LYN – Martin-Mann 75 run (Samoukovic kick)
B-E – Fleury 10 pass from Lindsay (kick good)
LYN – Marsh 1 run (Samoukovich kick)
B-E LYN
50-212 Rushing Att-Yards 37-167
7-13-1 Comp-Att-Int 5-11-0
46 Passing yards 122
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – B-E: Cavanaugh 24-94, Wilhonen 15-74, Fleury 11-44. LYN: Martin-Mann 12-136, Heppner 8-37, Marsh 14-25, Melendez 1-2, bad snap 2-(-33).
PASSING – B-E: Lindsay 6-12-1-37, Fleury 1-1-0-9. LYN: Marsh 2-5-0-58, Heppner 3-6-0-64.
RECEIVING – B-E: Fleury 3-20, Wilhonen 3-17, White 1-9. LYN: Elsner 2-54, VanderYacht 2-36, C. Bode 1-32.
