LYNDEN – After not playing football since September 17, the Lyncs were excited to get back on the football field, and it showed as they defeated Onalaska 38-20 on Saturday afternoon.
The Loggers’ running game was powerful early on, and they got out to an early lead after a 1-yard touchdown in the first quarter, but Lynden Christian would answer back quickly, and often.
Senior quarterback Will Colwell found fellow senior Jamison Hintz in the back of the end zone from eight yards out in the beginning of the second quarter, and senior Caleb Ryan followed it up with a 1-yard rushing touchdown. In fact, since transferring from Sehome, that’s the third carry for Ryan, and it was his third rushing touchdown.
Onalaska had another strong drive in the second quarter, resulting in a 13-yard touchdown run, but the Lyncs would score one last time before the end of of the first half. On 4th-and-22, Colwell launched a pass deep down the left sideline and junior wide receiver Tyler Sipma came up with the diving catch in end zone from 34 yard out.
Leading 19-12 at halftime, the momentum was evident in the third quarter as the Lyncs would score three straight touchdowns.
6-foot-4 240-pound junior Kade Eldridge, who lined up at tailback in this game instead of tight end, scored his first varsity rushing touchdown in the third quarter. That was followed up by a 12-yard rushing touchdown by Sipma on a fly sweep, and speedy senior Zac Owen scored a touchdown on the “head’s up” play of the game.
The Loggers were forced to punt late in the third quarter, and a short punt bounced near midfield, and everyone ran away from it. Owen noticed that he could make a play and quickly scooped it up, and raced down the sideline 55 yard for a touchdown.
Eldridge also had another big game on the defensive side of the ball with 7.5 tackles and two tackles for loss. Sophomore outside linebacker Kayden Stuit also had a big game with nine tackles, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble, and senior defensive end Andrew Jewell had three tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.
The Lyncs (2-2) will play their first conference game on Friday when they travel to Nooksack Valley (3-3) to take on the Pioneers.
Onalaska 20 Lynden Christian 38 ONA 6 6 0 8 - 20 LC 0 19 19 0 - 38 ONA - 1 yard touchdown run (run failed) LC - Hintz 8 pass from Colwell (kick failed) LC - Ryan 1 run (VanHofwegen kick) ONA - 13 yard touchdown run (pass failed) LC - Sipma 34 pass from Colwell (pass failed) LC - Eldridge 1 run (VanHofwegen kick) LC - Sipma 12 run (kick failed) LC - Owen 55 punt return (kick failed) ONA - 11 yard touchdown run (2pt run good) ONA LC 48-216 Rush Att-Yards 37-125 0-2-0 Comp-Att-Int 14-22-0 0 Passing Yards 204 Individual Leaders RUSHING - ONA: N/A. LC: Eldridge 14-65, Colwell 8-30, Sipma 2-20, Dick 2-11, Owen 2-9, Paxton 4-3, Ryan 1-1, Meyer 4-(-14). PASSING - ONA: N/A. LC: Colwell 13-21-0-198, Meyer 1-1-0-6. RECEIVING - ONA: N/A. LC: Penner 5-80, Hintz 3-49, Sipma 2-47, Ryan 2-9, Stuit 1-13, J. Bouma 1-6.
