BLAINE – On a night that celebrated the 40th anniversary of the 1978 Blaine State Championship football team, it was a game that resembled 1978. Defensive minded, big hits and field position. It was Lynden Christian that came out ahead, with a 14-3 win over its formal Whatcom County League rival on Friday night.
Each team intercepted a pair of passes, and even though the Borderites outgained the Lyncs in total yards, 216-160, it was timely fumble recoveries by the boys in blue, and fantastic punting by senior Blake DeRuyter who had three punts over 40 yards that were placed down the sideline.
Blaine got off to a hot start and scored on its first drive with a 27-yard field goal by senior Bryce Kamrath, his third field goal of the season. The drive was highlighted by a 30-yard pass from sophomore William McKinney to senior Hudson Reid as he twisted his body in mid-air to make the grab. However, that was the only scoring play the Borderites were able to secure as the Lyncs defense would then get after it.
Junior running back Levi Korthuis was the workhorse for the Lyncs, as he carried the ball 28 times. He gained 61 yards, and scored the game’s only offensive touchdown on a five-yard run in the second quarter, which gave LC a 7-3 lead at halftime. Both defenses turned it on in the second half as the rain started to pick up.
Late in the third quarter DeRuyter hit a 43-yard punt down the right side of the field and was downed inside the Blaine 5-yard line. On the following play The Borderites attempted to pitch the ball to it’s running back, but it was high. As he mishandled it, the ball went into the end zone where junior linebacker Davis Gatterman dove on top of it for the touchdown. DeRuyter’s extra point made it 14-3.
The Borderites had chances in the fourth quarter as McKinney nearly connected on a long pass with senior Derek Machula, but the referee ruled Machula was out of bounds. LC senior defensive end Simon Anker sacked McKinney on fourth down to seal the win for the Lyncs.
Lynden Christian (3-0) will travel to Deming to take on Mount Baker (2-1), which will be both teams’ first conference game on Friday night. Blaine (2-1) will open up conference play on Friday when the travel to Sehome (1-2) to take on the Mariners at Civic Stadium. You will also be able to hear that game on The Doug Lange Network.
Lynden Christian 14
Blaine 3
LC 0 7 7 0 – 14
Bla 3 0 0 0 – 3
BLA – Kamrath 27 FG
LC – Korthuis 5 run (DeRuyter kick)
LC – Gatterman fumble recovery in the end zone (DeRuyter kick)
LC BLA
40-87 Rushing Att-Yards 33-83
8-19-2 Comp-Att-Int 12-32-2
73 Passing yards 133
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – LC: Korthuis 28-61, Corkill 2-13, Schouten 9-7, Zylstra 1-6. Bla: Westfall 9-71, Caridad 15-35, Machula 1-1, Mercado 2-(-3), Tkachov 2-(-3), McKinney 4-(-18).
PASSING –LC: Schouten 8-19-2-73. Bla: McKinney 12-32-2-133.
RECEIVING – LC: Feenstra 4-50, Faber 2-16, Apol 2-7. Bla: Machula 7-63, Abshere 3-30, Reid 2-40.
