LYNDEN – It had everything. Ups and downs for both teams, but the game hinged on one play. With a 49-47 lead, Lynden had the ball on the Steilacoom 42-yard line with a little less than a minute in regulation, and it was 4th-and-15. 3rd year head coach Blake Van Dalen had a decision to make.
“Your number one thought is there’s one human being out there that we absolutely can’t let the ball get to,” he said regarding to Emeka Egbuka who is regarded by many as the number one high school football athlete in the nation for his class. ” So punting, unless you kick it out of bounds, is only going to get you 15-20 yards. We were lucky, they thought we were going to punt, they didn’t put Emeka on Brock (Heppner), and as soon as we saw the iso on Brock we told Baylor (Ayres) ‘just throw a catchable ball’.”
And, did he ever. Ayers took the shotgun snap, quickly set his feet and threw a perfectly thrown pass to where only Heppner could make the catch. The standout senior made the catch at the 23-yard line right on the Steilacoom sideline, guaranteeing a first down, but he wanted more than that. Heppner saw that it was only Egbuka between him and the end zone, and Heppner cut up field, and his determination allowed him to score a touchdown on a play that will be remembered forever by everyone that was fortunate to have witnessed it.
“The corner on me was saying, ‘I hope they throw it your way, I hope they throw it your way’,” said Heppner who was physically spent after the game. “I didn’t say anything back, I just ran my route, and the ball was thrown perfectly by Baylor.”
The junior quarterback also said that he will never forget that play, or that night.
“Coach signaled the pass to Brock, and it ended up in the end zone, it was crazy,” Ayres said. “I always have 100% confidence in throwing to Brock. He’s a great receiver, a great quarterback, just a great team-player and a leader.”
Lynden jumped off to a hot start, with senior running back Steven DiLorenzo scoring on the opening drive from three yards out. A perfectly placed pooch kick by Marko Samoukovic on the ensuing kickoff was recovered by junior Caleb Wheeler, and the Lions were back in business. DiLorenzo scored again, this time from 15 yards away.
The Sentinels snapped back quickly with a 45-yard scoring strike from Chance McDonald to Egbuka, and they followed that up with 50-yard interception return for a touchdown by Isaiah Devane.
Wheeler scored on a 10-yard run to cap the first quarter. It was Wheeler’s only carry of the game.
From then on it was the Lynden “ground and pound” game versus the Steilacoom air attack, and mistakes were vital in the high-scoring affair.
“Both teams capitalized when the other team would make a mistake,” Van Dalen said. “That was just two great teams out there tonight.”
The Sentinels completed six passes of 25 or more yards, but their defense had quite a tough time stopping one of the smallest players on the field in DiLorenzo.
“When you got Steven DiLorenzo….. what a little stud,” Van Dalen said. “I mean, that kid set the tone for the whole game.”
Just to be playing football is an amazing story for the 5-foot-8 170-pound senior. After suffering a horrific hamstring injury almost a year ago to the day, he wasn’t even able to until just a few months before this season started.
It was likely that he would never have been able to play football again, but his hard work in rehabbing was able to make it possible. Not only did he set the tone, as his head coach said, but he also set a new school record with 320 yards rushing. He broke the record that was set 23 years ago by Nick “Night Train” Ellis who ran for 311 yards against Anacortes. What makes DiLorenzo’s record stand out even more is that he was the lead blocker on the majority of the 126 yards rushing that was combined by Heppner and Ayres.
DiLorenzo’s third touchdown of the game came on a 65-yard sprint at the end of the third quarter, and it gave the Lions a 49-28 lead heading into the final stanza.
A quick striking drive by the Sentinels ended with a 16-yard touchdown from McDonald to Jayden Colson to make it 49-35. The ensuing kickoff was a surprise onside kick down the Steilacoom sideline that was recovered by Cole Miller of the Sentinels. Moments later it was a 12-yard hookup from McDonald to Colson, but the snap on the extra point went over the holder’s head, and Steilacoom couldn’t convert.
With momentum clearly on Steilacoom’s side, the last thing that Lynden would have wanted to happen did happen. On the following drive, Heppner threw a quick pass to the outside intended for Eric Bode, but Egbuka stepped in front of it and took it back 38 yards for a touchdown. Now, only down by two, a two-point conversion play would be extremely pivotal.
McDonald tried a quick-out pass to Devane in the end zone, but it was broken up by Bode.
“One of the biggest plays was the two-point conversion that Eric defended,” Heppner said. “It could have been tied, and who knows how it would have gone after that.”
Each team would then fail to convert on 4th down plays near midfield, setting up the late game heroics by Ayers and Heppner. However, there was one more play that would seal the deal.
After Heppner’s touchdown, and Samoukovic’s eighth successful extra point attempt, the Lions held a nine-point lead with 46 seconds remaining, but with the way the Sentinels were able to score quick, no lead was safe.
Steilacoom ultimately threw a game-ending interception, and for Lynden it was Evan Potter, a transfer from Blaine, that made a play with his hands, coming from a sport where using your hands are not allowed. The interception finalized the 56-47 win for Lynden.
“We came into the game respecting them heavily,” said Potter who is playing football for the first time after starring for years as a soccer player. “We were in a soft coverage, lots of give. It was situational, we knew they needed some points so I just dropped off, and it just happened in slow motion.”
Even though it wasn’t a playoff game, or even a conference game, it will be a game that will talked about for a long time.
“What people don’t see is how much input from the assistant coaches, through me, and even on the field it’s Brock saying ‘let’s go Baylor’ and it’s Baylor saying ‘let’s go Brock’,” Van Dalen said. “These kids get it. They understand that it doesn’t matter who gets the credit, we’re going to work together.”
The Lions (2-1) will begin conference play on Friday when they travel to Archbishop Murphy (3-0).
Steilacoom 47
Lynden 56
STE 14 7 7 19 – 47
LYN 21 14 14 7 – 56
LYN – DiLorenzo 3 run (Samoukovic kick)
LYN – DiLorenzo 15 run (Samoukovic kick)
STE – Egbuka 45 pass from McDonald (Padgett kick)
STE – Devane 50 interception return (Padgett kick)
LYN – Wheeler 10 run (Samoukovic kick)
LYN – Heppner 11 run (Samoukovic kick)
STE – Devane 42 pass from McDonald (Padgett kick)
LYN – Jandoc 8 pass from Heppner (Samoukovic kick)
LYN – Heppner 1 run (Samoukovic kick)
STE – Brady 2 run (Padgett kick)
LYN – DiLorenzo 65 run (Samoukovic kick)
STE – Coalson 16 pass from McDonald (Padgett kick)
STE – Coalson 12 pass from McDonald (bad snap, pass failed)
STE – Egbuka 38 interception return (pass failed)
LYN – Heppner 42 pass from Ayres (Samoukovic kick)
STE LYN
19-25 Rushing Att-Yards 57-456
14-29-1 Comp-Att-Int 6-15-2
370 Passing yards 93
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – STE: N/A. LYN: DiLorenzo 25-320, Heppner 21-72, Ayres 10-54, Wheeler 1-10.
PASSING – STE: N/A. LYN: Ayres 3-7-0-64, Heppner 3-8-2-29.
RECEIVING – STE: N/A. LYN: Heppner 2-44, Jandoc 2-15, E. Bode 1-20, Jacob 1-14.
