LYNDEN – In order for his Lyncs to win, Coach Dan Kaemingk knew that he had to contain Pioneer quarterback Austin O’Bryan. The LC defense held him to seven yards rushing, and intercepted four passes as Lynden Christian defeated Nooksack Valley 38-19 at Lyncs Stadium on Friday night.
An early interception by LC junior linebacker Davis Gatterman put the Lyncs in great field position in the first quarter. A few plays later Lynden Christian ran an end around with Jackson Corkill who scored from 11 yards away.
Both Lyncs running backs, Levi Korthuis and Easton Stremler, scored rushing touchdowns in the second quarter as the Pioneers were in a predicament that they hadn’t seen all season, being down by three scores early in the game. Korthuis led Lynden Christian on the ground with 122 yards on 29 carries. Stremler chipped in with 84 yards on 13 attempts.
An apparent injury to LC quarterback Trajan Schouten forced him out of the game in the second quarter, but the offense rallied behind junior quarterback Bryce Bouwman. On Bouwman’s first pass attempt of the game he threw a perfect strike to Tanner Feenstra on a post pattern for a 22-yard touchdown just before half time.
Even with all of the offensive fireworks by the boys in blue, it was the defense that forced the Pioneers to become one dimensional. Lynden Christian held Nooksack Valley to just 28 yards on 16 carries throughout the game.
The Pioneers came alive in the third quarter when O’Bryan found Neitling on a pair of 30-plus yard touchdown passes. Neitling, who missed last week’s game versus Meridian with an ankle injury, led Nooksack Valley in receiving with eight catches for 112 yards. He also returned a kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Bouwman hooked up with Feenstra again for a touchdown and senior kicker Blake DeRuyter put the finishing touches on the scoring for the night with a 26-yard field goal.
Lynden Christian (5-0) will play host to Meridian (3-2) on Friday night, and Nooksack Valley (3-2) will welcome Mount Baker (3-2) to town on Friday night.
Nooksack Valley 19
Lynden Christian 38
NV 0 0 13 6 – 19
LC 7 21 0 10 – 38
LC – Corkill 11 run (DeRuyter kick)
LC – Stremler 11 run (DeRuyter kick)
LC – Korthuis 1 run (DeRuyter kick)
LC – Feenstra 22 pass from Bouwman (DeRuyter kick)
NV – Neitling 31 pass from O’Bryan (Conner kick)
NV – Neitling 37 pass from O’Bryan (kick blocked)
LC – Feenstra 11 pass from Bouwman (DeRuyter kick)
NV – Neitling 72 kick return (pass failed)
LC – DeRuyter 26 FG
NV LC
16-28 Rushing Att-Yards 51-245
14-29-4 Comp-Att-Int 12-20-0
214 Passing yards 152
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – NV: Eldridge 4-12, Neitling 2-10, O’Bryan 9-7, Whittern 1-(-1). LC: Korthuis 29-122, Stremler 13-84, Schouten 5-23, Corkill 3-14, Bouwman 1-2.
PASSING – NV: O’Bryan 14-29-4-214. LC: Schouten 4-8-0-59, Bouwman 8-12-0-93.
RECEIVING – NV: Neitling 8-112, Rawls 3-58, Boersema 2-32, Eldridge 1-12. LC: Feenstra 5-61, Corkill 3-43, Apol 1-20, Sipma 1-18, Stremler 1-6, Korthuis 1-4.
