LYNDEN – The Lion defense roared all Friday night at Rollie DeKoster Field as it didn’t allow a single point in the 35-0 victory over Squalicum.
Defensively, Lynden has been superb over the last few years, but the one thing that has managed to trip them up a little bit from time to time was an athletic quarterback. It doesn’t get much more athletic than Marcus Nixon of the Storm, and the Lions were up to the task.
Squalicum came into the game averaging 237 yards rushing per game, and was held to 52 yards on the ground.
Lynden kicked off the scoring in the first quarter when junior quarterback Brant Heppner aired it out 29 yards down the right sideline to senior Brady Elsner for six points.
Running back Luke Human scored the first of his two rushing touchdowns in the second quarter, on a 3-yard run. The 185-pound senior finished with a career-high 107 yards rushing on 12 carries, and did most of it behind senior left tackle Kuyper Assink and senior left guard Bennett Roorda.
Senior running back Charlie Ayres finished the scoring in the first half on a 1-yard plunge to the right, and Malachi Koenen’s extra point made it 21-0 at the half.
Heppner, who scored three rushing touchdowns a week ago, scored on a 4-yard lunge in the third quarter. He finished with 177 yards passing, and 34 yards on the ground.
Squalicum had brief moments on offense, but was never able to do damage in the red zone.
Lynden was led defensively by senior defensive lineman Javier Zavala who finished with six tackles, two tackles for loss and a quarterback sack. Senior safety Weston VanDalen also intercepted a pass.
Storm junior Joaquin Ortiz led his team with four receptions for 61 yards, as well as 10.5 tackles. He also had a pass broken up and 25 yards rushing on a pair of carries.
The Lions (2-1) will play their first road game of the season next week when they face Sedro-Woolley (3-0) on Friday at 7:00. Squalicum (2-1) will try to bounce back next Friday at home against Archbishop Murphy (1-2) at 7:00.
Lynden 35 Squalicum 0 SQU 0 0 0 0 - 0 LYN 7 14 14 0 - 35 LYN - Elsner 29 pass from Heppner (Koenen kick) LYN - Human 3 run (Koenen kick) LYN - Ayres 1 run (Koenen kick) LYN - Heppner 4 run (Koenen kick) LYN - Human 2 run (Koenen kick) SQU LYN 27-52 Rush Att-Yards 36-242 11-20-1 Comp-Att-Int 12-28-0 172 Passing Yards 189 Individual Leaders RUSHING - SQU: Nixon 14-36, Ortiz 2-25, Smith 6-14, Dunmore 4-(-2), bad snap 1-(-21). LYN: Human 12-107, M. Assink 2-40, Heppner 8-34, Ayres 5-28, Marti 5-28, Koenen 4-5. PASSING - SQU: Nixon 9-13-1-115, Lamm 2-7-0-57. LYN: Heppner 11-24-0-177, Marti 1-4-0-12. RECEIVING - SQU: Ortiz 4-61, Asbjornsen 2-48, Smith 2-30, Fagaatau 2-17, Knowlton 1-18. LYN: Elsner 5-85. Moore 5-81, Price 1-12, Bowler 1-11.
