BELLINGHAM – It was the first ever matchup between these two powerhouse Whatcom County teams, and it was the strong running game of Squalicum that produced six touchdowns en route to the Storm 40-14 victory over Lynden Christian at Civic Stadium on Friday night.
The Lync defense was up for the task early on, forcing the Storm to punt on their first two possessions, but once running back Djouvensky Schlenbaker got rolling, he was hard to stop. The Washington State University-bound senior rumbled for 160 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries, including a 55-yard touchdown run that moved him into the Top 10 career rushing leaders in Whatcom County history.
Joining Schlenbaker in the backfield was senior quarterback Leyton Smithson, who used his dynamic athletic ability in the open field to rack up 56 yards on the ground and three touchdowns of his own, while passing for 150 yards on 10 completions.
The Storm defense put strong pressure on Lynden Christian quarterback Will Colwell throughout the game, but the 6-foot-4 195-pound senior was able to pass for 238 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown to senior Sam Penner. Senior Jamison Hintz and junior Tyler Sipma each had four catches to lead the Lyncs.
However, no catches were registered against Squalicum shutdown corner Kai Posey, who also then turned out on the offensive side of the ball with a game-high seven receptions for 83 yards.
Schlenbaker also led his team with 8.5 tackles, and senior outside linebacker Bryson Lamb finished with two quarterback sacks and a third tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
Hintz led LC with 10 tackles, and a forced fumble, senior Caleb Ryan was right behind him with 8.5 tackles while junior defensive end Kade Eldridge had three tackles for loss.
Squalicum (1-0) will travel to Sequim (0-1) on Friday to take on the Wolves at 6:00, and Lynden Christian (0-1) will host Lakewood (0-1) at 7:00 on Friday.
Lynden Christian 14 Squalicum 40
LC 0 8 0 6 - 14 SQU 7 20 6 7 - 40 SQU – Schlenbaker 1 run (Smith kick) SQU – Schlenbaker 55 run (Smith kick) SQU – Smithson 3 run (Smith kick) LC – Ryan 3 run (Penner pass from Colwell) SQU – Smithson 20 run (bad snap) SQU – Schlenbaker 2 run (run failed) SQU – Smithson 1 run (Smith kick) LC – Penner 51 pass from Colwell (pass failed) LC SQU 27-(-8) Rushing Att-Yards 39-227 13-35-2 Comp-Att-Int 10-19-2 238 Passing yards 150 Individual Leaders RUSHING – LC: Mellema 7-12, Owen 1-4, Ryan 1-3, Colwell 16-2, Sipma 1-(-6), bad snap 1-(-23). SQU: Schlenbaker 21-160, Smithson 10-56, Dunmore 3-20, Riley 3-3, Leonard 2-(-12). PASSING – LC: Colwell 13-35-2-238. SQU: Smithson 10-18-2-150, Leonard 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING – LC: Hintz 4-66, Sipma 4-63, Penner 3-85, Ryan 2-24. SQU: Posey 7-83, Hawkinson 2-28, Brown 1-39.
FWIW. Hintz also had an interception in the first half.
Returned 45 yards from inside the Squalicum end zone.
Turns out it wasn’t worth anything