BLAINE – Lynden Christian football has always been known for it’s stingy defense, and the Borderites found out first hand how stingy it can be as the Lyncs shut out Blaine 55-0 on Saturday afternoon.
LC held the Borderites to minus-6 yards of total offense, and a few short fields turned into quick point by the Lync offense.
Senior quarterback Logan Dykstra completed 8-of-13 passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns in his first varsity start behind center. He also scored a touchdown on the ground in the first quarter after picking up his own fumble and diving into the end zone.
Junior running back Kayden Mellema got the scoring started when he caught a short pass from Dykstra and galloped into the end zone from 20 yards out, and senior wide receiver Shale Whittern went up and out-muscled the defender for a 10-yard score.
Senior Jackson Apol, who missed more than half of last season with a broken collar bone, had the most exciting play of the game when he took a punt 84 yards for a touchdown to open up the second quarter. It was the first punt return for a touchdown by an LC player since 2003 when both Jeff Hoekstra and Tim Martin did it in the same game… against the Borderites.
Apol also caught a touchdown pass from Dykstra before the end of the first half, and the Lyncs had a 41-0 lead at the midway point.
Lynden Christian also had touchdown runs from seniors Devonta Bootsma and Cody Bajema, as well as sophomore Tyler Sipma.
Blaine senior quarterback Will McKinney was under siege all game, but still completed 7-of-17 passes for 40 yards. He did get tackled behind the line of scrimmage on nine separate occasions.
Junior Jaxon Kortlever led the Borderites in receiving with three catches for 24 yards.
The Lync defense was led by linemen Grant Vander Velden and Roman Meenk and linebackers Caleb Ryan and Bajema.
Lynden Christian (1-0) will travel to Bellingham to take on the Red Raiders on Friday at 7:00, and Blaine (0-1) will host Mount Baker on Friday at 7:00.
Lynden Christian 55
Blaine 0
LC 20 21 7 7 – 55
BLA 0 0 0 0 – 0
LC – Mellema 20 pass from Dykstra (Van Hofwegen kick)
LC – Dykstra 3 run (Van Hofwegen kick)
LC – Whittern 10 pass from Dykstra (kick failed)
LC – Apol 84 punt return (Van Hofwegen kick)
LC – De. Bootsma 2 run (Van Hofwegen kick)
LC – Apol 32 pass from Dykstra (Van Hofwegen kick)
LC – Bajema 10 run (Van Hofwegen kick)
LC – Sipma 32 run (Van Hofwegen kick)
LC BLA
30-175 Rushing Att-Yards 22-(-61)
9-19-0 Comp-Att-Int 9-19-1
203 Passing yards 55
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – LC: Sipma 2-35, Bajema 6-27, Colwell 3-25, Dykstra 3-18, Moorlag 1-18, Apol 1-18, Mellema 5-15, De. Bootsma 7-13, Owen 1-3, Da. Bootsma 1-3. BLA: Dixon 3-3, Cranford 3-2, Blomeen 1-1, Baldwin 1-0, Kortlever 1-(-4), Thomas 2-(-16), McKinney 11-(-47).
PASSING – LC: Dykstra 8-13-0-191, Colwell 1-6-0-12. BLA: McKinney 7-17-1-40, Thomas 2-2-0-15.
RECEIVING – LC: Whittern 2-34, Sterk 2-32, Hintz 1-43, Apol 1-32, Moorlag 1-30, Mellema 1-24, Ryan 1-12. BLA: Kortlever 3-24, Arps 3-20, An. Holley 1-8, Baldwin 1-3, Dixon 1-0.
