BY MAKAYLA SPARKS – For Whatcom Preps
FERNDALE – After taking to the air for much of the season, the Lynden Lions rushing game came alive on Saturday afternoon as they defeated the Fife Trojans 38-6 on the wet turf at Ferndale High School.
The Lions struggled to get things going, giving up two early turnovers, but with just under three minutes to go in the first quarter, they got the first score on a 51-yard pass. Senior quarterback Brant Heppner aired the ball out down the middle of the field for sophomore receiver Sam Arango, who raced with it to the house.
The Lions put the points on the board and didn’t look back. Heppner found Arango again in the second quarter on a 36-yard pass to set up Isaiah Oudman for his first touchdown of the game. The senior tight end took a direct snap around the right side of his line and powered a jersey-number-matching 8 yards into the end zone.
A little over a minute later, junior defensive end Max Assink fell on top of a loose ball for a fumble recovery and punched the ball into the end zone himself on a four-yard carry with two minutes to go in the first half.
Heppner and Oudman both collected their second touchdowns of the game when they connected on a short pass with less than 20 seconds to go in the second quarter. The first half clock expired with the Lions up 28-0.
The Lynden offense began to slow down in the second half as the Lion coaching staff started turning to its reserves but Oudman snuck into the end zone one more time. He rumbled in from a yard out just three minutes into the third quarter.
With nine minutes left in the game, junior defensive back Grady VanDalen grabbed a Fife pass out of the air and 64 seconds later sophomore kicker Malachi Koenen split the uprights on a 30-yard field goal, pushing the Lions out to a 38-0 lead.
A little over five minutes was left on the game clock when Fife scored its lone touchdown on a 4-yard run.
The Lion defense halted any further scoring from the Trojans and cemented their 38-6 victory.
Lynden (10-1) will now face Archbishop Murphy (9-1) at 2:00 on Saturday at Ferndale High School for a chance to get into the final four.
Lynden 38 Fife 6 FIFE 0 0 0 6 - 6 LYN 7 21 7 3 - 38 LYN - Arango 51 pass from Heppner (Mal. Koenen kick) LYN - Oudman 8 run (Mal. Koenen kick) LYN - Assink 4 run (Mal. Koenen kick) LYN - Oudman 5 pass from Heppner (Mal. Koenen kick) LYN - Oudman 1 run (Mal. Koenen kick) LYN - Mal. Koenen 30 FG FIFE - 4 yard touchdown run (kick failed) FIFE LYN 33-69 Rush Att-Yards 38-227 6-11-1 Comp-Att-Int 11-27-1 54 Passing Yards 222 Individual Leaders RUSHING - FIFE: N/A. LYN: Assink 18-105, Lalji 8-64, Mal. Koenen 5-37, Heppner 3-10, Oudman 2-9, D. VanDalen 2-2. PASSING - FIFE: N/A. LYN: Heppner 10-20-1-214, Lalji 1-7-0-8. RECEIVING - FIFE: N/A. LYN: Arango 6-165, Price 2-21, Assink 1-23, Bowman 1-8, Oudman 1-5.
