BELLINGHAM – When Lynden Christian and Cascade Christian met in the first round of the state playoffs last season, the Lyncs’ 20-0 victory had an asterisk in come people’s minds. Only because Cougar star quarterback Parker Johnson wasn’t available to play in the game. Johnson had his chance in this one, but the overwhelmingly strong secondary of LC kept the Yale-bound signal caller at bay, and the Lyncs convincingly won 42-12 on Friday night at Civic Stadium.
The Cascade Christian offense had been averaging 52.2 points per game, leading up to the showdown against Lynden Christian. The Lyncs had only been giving up 7.3 points per game. Something had to give.
Junior Jackson Apol set the tone early, both by making the initial stop on the opening kickoff and by scoring the first touchdown on a speedy fly sweep from 10 yards out.
The Cougars countered on a 14-yard touchdown run by senior Toretto Metzger-Magalei, but the extra point was blocked by Cole Moorlag.
The senior connection of Trajan Schouten to Jackson Corkill connected on a 44-yard scoring play, and the school’s all-time leading receiver’s touchdown put LC up 13-6. However, it appeared that Cascade Christian would close the gap again just before half time.
Metzger-Magalei ripped off a 23-yard run around right end with less than a minute remaining in the half, and a touchdown was evident, but the hustle of junior cornerback Shale Whittern was just enough to knock the 227-pound running back out of bounds at the 1-yard line. Defensive linemen Zach Sipma and Grant Vander Velden made huge plays during the goal line stand, and the LC defense was able to hold the Cougars scoreless in that final possession of the first half.
The momentum was evident in the second half, as senior wide receiver Tanner Feenstra caught two touchdown passes in the third quarter. Senior running back Easton Stremler also scored on a tough-running 20-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and Johnson was forced to strictly throw the ball from there.
Corkill caught his second touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter, before the Cougars got one last touchdown before the final whistle.
Lynden Christian (9-1) will be on the road for the next round of the state playoffs, and will face the number two-seed LaSalle (11-0). The time and date are to be determined.
Cascade Christian 12
Lynden Christian 42
CC 6 0 0 6 – 12
LC 7 7 21 7 – 42
LC – Apol 10 run (Den Bleyker kick)
CC – 14 yard touchdown run (kick blocked)
LC – Corkill 44 pass from Schouten (Den Bleyker kick)
LC – Feenstra 30 pass from Dykstra (Den Bleyker kick)
LC – Stremler 20 run (Den Bleyker kick)
LC – Feenstra 14 pass from Schouten (Den Bleyker kick)
LC – Corkill 9 pass from Schouten (Den Bleyker kick)
CC – 15 yard touchdown pass (pass failed)
CC LC
27-83 Rushing Att-Yards 35-177
25-46-1 Comp-Att-Int 8-16-1
278 Passing yards 161
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – CC: N/A. LC: Stremler 9-58, Apol 4-42, Dykstra 6-39, Da. Bootsma 4-15, Korthuis 3-10, Bajema 2-8, Corkill 1-7, Schouten 6-(-2).
PASSING – CC: N/A. LC: Schouten 6-10-0-120, Dykstra 2-6-1-41.
RECEIVING – CC: N/A. LC: Corkill 3-68, Feenstra 2-44, Bouwman 1-39, Stremler 1-6, Moorlag 1-4.
