BELLINGHAM – The steady improvement of the Lynden Christian football team since head coach Dan Kaemingk returned in 2016 has been evident. The Lyncs won their 7th game this season (the last time they won seven in a season was 2003) and by defeating Meridian 21-12 at Trojans Stadium on Thursday night, they captured a share of the conference championship for the first time since 2001.
The oddity of the night was the sudden shift of emotions when Meridian P.A. announcer announced over the loud speaker when the game went final. He brought up the fact that Nooksack Valley had beaten Mount Baker, which meant that Meridian and Lynden Christian tied for the conference championship, and due to a prior agreement, it meant that Meridian was the number one seed out of the NWC, and LC would be the number two seed. All of a sudden, 35 players on the Meridian sideline who had just lost a game jumped with joy. Both sidelines were happy.
The big storyline going into the game was if Meridian senior quarterback and defensive back Dawson Logan would be able to play. He did, and he made his presence known early. He intercepted a pass and took it 30 yards in the first quarter, and he also scored on a one-yard sneak in the second quarter.
The Lyncs got on the board first with a 6-yard quick-out pass from Trajan Schouten to Jackson Corkill. Junior running back Levi Korthuis also scored in the first half, and finished the game with 80 hard-fought yards on 25 carries.
With a 14-6 Lynden Christian lead, the third quarter saw multiple punts and turnovers, with neither team getting a real edge. LC linebackers Sam Faber and Davis Gatterman were each able to force Logan to fumble the ball in the third quarter, and they were recovered by Bryce Bouwman and Jalen Apol, respectively. But, both times, the Lyncs were forced to punt. When Lynden Christian did put a drive together, it was Trojan senior defensive back Dante Castaneda that intercepted a pass in the end zone.
Schouten did hook up on a deep 30-yard pass down the left side line to a diving Jalen Apol to end the third quarter, and give the Lyncs the ball at the Meridian 19-yard line. LC began the third quarter with its third touchdown of the game when Apol ran a perfect route, breaking towards the right corner and Schouten found him for a touchdown. Apol finished with seven catches for 117 yards, a touchdown, fumble recovery and multiple deflected passes.
Logan was able to lead the Trojans into the red zone, but a sack by Will Faber pushed Meridian out, and the LC defense forced a turnover on downs. A 58-yard punt by Blake DeRuyter ended up flipping the field on the Trojans, who now had a long distance to go, down 21-6 and with time running out. Bouwman intercepted Logan on the first play of the drive.
The Meridian defense ramped up after the interception, causing LC to move backwards and get into a 4th-and-22. DeRuyter’s punt would go into the end zone, and Logan was ready again to lead his offense.
He found senior Dylan Hickok on passes of 17, 13 and 22 yards, but time was running out. Logan then hit junior Kevin Galiano on a 5-yard touchdown pass, but that would be the last offensive play for the boys in black.
The Lyncs (7-2) will travel to King’s (4-5) to take on the Knights in a district playoff game on Friday night. Meridian (6-3) will face South Whidbey (6-3) at Anacortes High School this Friday night in a district playoff game.
Lynden Christian 21
Meridian 12
LC 7 7 0 7 – 21
MER 6 0 0 6 – 12
LC – Corkill 6 pass from Schouten (DeRuyter kick)
MER – Logan 1 run (kick failed)
LC – Korthuis 1 run (DeRuyter kick)
LC – Apol 19 pass from Schouten (DeRuyter kick)
MER – Galiano 5 pass from Logan (run failed)
LC MER
32-74 Rushing Att-Yards 30-124
13-26-2 Comp-Att-Int 17-42-2
192 Passing yards 165
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – LC: Korthuis 25-80, Corkill 1-1, Schouten 6-(-7). MER: Logan 15-57, Castaneda 7-40, Hickok 7-16, Galiano 1-11
PASSING – LC: Schouten 13-26-2-192. MER: Logan 17-42-2-165.
RECEIVING – LC: Apol 7-117, Faber 3-53, Corkill 2-11, Feenstra 1-11. MER: Hickok 5-66, Galiano 4-21, Webster 3-34, Castaneda 2-20, Neeter 2-9, Stuit 1-15.
