BELLINGHAM – The bye week treated Lynden well as it shut Blaine out 47-0 at Civic Stadium on Friday night.
The offense looked sharp, averaging over nine yards per play and with five different players scoring touchdowns. The defense was on point, holding the Borderites to under 100 yards of total offense, and intercepting four passes. And, the special teams was great, with Marko Samoukovic 5-for-5 on extra points, and 2-of-2 on field goals.
Bottom line, the Lions are at their peak right now.
Coach Blake VanDalen got his crew off to a great start, scoring 38 points in the first half. Quarterback James Marsh scored on a 25-yard touchdown around the left end to begin the first quarter, and Marsh also found fellow-senior wide receiver Kobe Elsner in the back of the end zone from 20 yards out.
Junior Brock Heppner also did damage from the quarterback spot, as he ran in a touchdown from 19 yards away. He also found Marsh on a beautiful 15-yard pass in the corner of the end zone. Perhaps the only thing prettier than the pass was the play that Marsh made on the ball, jumping and spinning while grasping the ball out of mid air with one hand while staying in bounds.
Marsh also found 6-foot-4 senior wide receiver Carson Bode on a 24-yard catch and run that ended up as a touchdown.
The Lion defense did not let up in the second half, forcing a three and out right away. Defensive ends Trevin Melendez and Bode were able to put pressure on Blaine quarterback William McKinney and forced the 6-foot-3 sophomore into some uncomfortable situations in the pocket. Lynden was able to get interceptions from Marsh, Bode, Elsner as well as senior Owen Bode.
The return of senior left guard Cooper Brown was evident as Lynden rushed for a total of 261 yards.
Speedy sophomore Caleb Wheeler scored on a 67-yard sprint down the left side line to complete the scoring for Lynden.
Lynden (9-0) will likely host its opponent at Civic Stadium next weekend, but it is still unknown which team and when. Blaine finishes its season at 5-5.
Blaine 0
Lynden 47
BLA 0 0 0 0 – 0
LYN 17 21 3 6 – 47
LYN – Marsh 25 run (Samoukovich kick)
LYN – Samoukovich 23 FG
LYN – Elsner 20 pass from Marsh (Samoukovich kick)
LYN – Heppner 19 run (Samoukovich kick)
LYN – C. Bode 24 pass from Marsh (Samoukovich kick)
LYN – Marsh 15 pass from Heppner (Samoukovich kick)
LYN – Samoukovich 38 FG
LYN – Wheeler 67 run (kick blocked)
BLA LYN
23-24 Rushing Att-Yards 33-261
7-20-4 Comp-Att-Int 12-15-0
72 Passing yards 192
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – BLA: Mercado 9-22, Tkachov 3-14, Reid 3-9, Caridad 5-0, McKinney 3-(-21). LYN: Wheeler 5-82, Heppner 10-64, Marsh 6-57, Martin-Mann 6-25, Ayres 3-16, Moore 2-15, Melendez 1-2.
PASSING – BLA: McKinney 7-20-4-72. LYN: Marsh 5-6-0-78, Heppner 7-8-0-114, Ayres 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING – BLA: Machula 3-26, Baldwin 2-21, Abshere 1-20, Reid 1-5. LYN: Marsh 4-96, Elsner 3-29, C. Bode 2-37, Martin-Mann 2-4, Baar 1-26.
