BURLINGTON – It was very even throughout the entire game. Both offenses looked great in the first half, and both defenses stepped it up in the second half. However, it was Lynden that had the ball at the 1-yard line with five seconds to go, and when junior Troy Petz nailed the 18-yard field goal, it was all but over for Burlington-Edison as Lynden beat the Tigers 38-35 at Kirkby Field on Friday night.
A lot of work was put into that final drive, especially by the Lion offensive line and junior running back Lane Heeringa.
The Tigers scored a touchdown to tie the game up at 35 with 3:44 remaining in the contest, and Lynden’s following drive would begin at its own 28-yard line. The first play was a strike from Kaedan Hermanutz to Isaiah Stanley for 17 yards, and Heeringa followed with a 15-yard run. That run put him over 100 yards rushing for first time in his varsity career.
It wouldn’t end there, though. Heeringa went on to carry the ball nine more times for 39 yards on the drive, which put the Lions well within Petz’ field goal range. In fact, Petz was wide left on the previous drive on a 44-yard attempt, so the range was not an issue once Lynden got inside the red zone.
Strong, power runs by Heeringa got the Lions to the 1-yard line, and excellent clock management allowed Petz’ heroics to take place with little time for Burlington-Edison to have a chance.
Heeringa finished with 148 yards on 28 carries, and Hermanutz completed 10-of-16 passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns.
Stanley led Lynden with four receptions for 60 yards, and senior wide receiver Kaleo Jandoc caught three passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns.
Heeringa came into the contest leading Whatcom County in total tackles, and he added another 8.5. Senior cornerback Ryan Kleindel also had a big game, with six tackles, an interception and two passes broken up, including a key break-up on a third-down play late in third quarter which forced Burlington to punt.
In an outstanding performance, and I don’t usually mention players outside of Whatcom County, Tiger senior quarterback Zach Watson rushed for 244 yards on 21 carries and four touchdowns. He also had an 80-yard touchdown run called back, and passed for another 134 yards.
The Lions (3-1) will next play at Cedarcrest (0-4) this Friday.
Lynden 38 Burlington-Edison 35 LYN 14 14 7 3 - 38 BE 14 7 7 7 - 35 BE - 63 yard touchdown run (kick good) LYN - Jandoc 70 pass from Hermanutz (Petz kick) LYN - Nolte 4 run (Petz kick) BE - 10 yard touchdown run (kick good) LYN - Stanley 24 pass from Hermanutz (Petz kick) LYN - Nolte 3 run (Petz kick) BE - 2 yard touchdown run (kick good) BE - 7 yard touchdown run (kick good) LYN - Jandoc 10 pass from Hermanutz (Petz kick) BE - 22 yard touchdown run (kick good) LYN - Petz 18 FG LYN BE 46-214 Rush Att-Yards 37-292 10-16-1 Comp-Att-Int 7-14-1 195 Passing Yards 134 Individual Leaders RUSHING - LYN: Heeringa 28-148, Nolte 10-44, Hermanutz 8-22. BE: N/A. PASSING - LYN: Hermanutz 10-16-1-195. BE: N/A. RECEIVING - LYN: Stanley 4-60, Jandoc 3-87, Anker 2-26, Antypas 1-22. BE: N/A.
