SHORELINE – The Lyncs were balanced on offense, aggressive on defense and took care of King’s 42-14 at Woolsey Stadium on Friday night.
The win sends Lynden Christian to the Class 1A state playoffs for the first time in 11 years, and it was in quite the convincing fashion.
The LC defense was stout throughout the game, with defensive tackles Dylan Kaemingk and Zach Sipma providing the force in the middle. They combined for a sack and Sipma also forced a fumble that Kaemingk recovered. Sophomore Logan Dykstra also forced a fumble that was recovered by junior linebacker Davis Gatterman. Those turnovers along with an interception by junior strong safety Bryce Bouwman gave the Lyncs multiple short fields.
Junior running back Levi Korthuis ran hard, gaining 98 yards on 17 carries, which included two short touchdowns. Junior Easton Stremler also scored a touchdown, and proved great relief with 50 yards on the ground. However, it was speedy junior wide receiver Jackson Corkill that had a pair of highlight touchdown runs of 68 and 35 yards on fly sweeps.
Junior quarterback Trajan Schouten was very accurate, completing 16-of-22 passes for 189 yards. He connected with Sipma on a 25-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. He also was able to spread the ball out to seven different receivers. Senior tight end Sam Faber led the way with four receptions for 46 yards.
The Lyncs defense also had big stops behind the line by Gatterman, senior defensive end Simon Anker and junior defensive tackle Kase Lautenbach.
Lynden Christian (8-2) will take on Cascade Christian (7-1) at Civic Stadium on Saturday at 1pm in the first round of the Class 1A state playoffs.
Lynden Christian 42
King’s 14
LC 21 7 14 0 – 42
KI 0 0 0 14 – 14
LC – Stremler 11 run (DeRuyter kick)
LC – Sipma 25 pass from Schouten (DeRuyter kick)
LC – Corkill 68 run (DeRuyter kick)
LC – Korthuis 6 run (DeRuyter kick)
LC – Korthuis 1 run (DeRuyter kick)
LC – Corkill 35 run (DeRuyter kick)
KI – 12 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
KI – 17 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
LC KI
36-242 Rushing Att-Yards 19-59
18-24-1 Comp-Att-Int 14-28-1
205 Passing yards 155
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – LC: Korthuis 17-98, Corkill 6-93, Stremler 6-50, S. Faber 1-5, Schouten 5-(-2), Bouwman 1-(-2). KI: N/A.
PASSING – LC: Schouten 16-22-1-189, Bouwman 2-2-0-16. KI: N/A.
RECEIVING – LC: S. Faber 4-46, Corkill 3-32, Feenstra 3-25, Apol 3-19, Zylstra 2-16, Sipma 1-25, Korthuis 1-22, Stremler 1-20. KI: N/A.
