LYNDEN – When two top-five teams collide, a slugfest is expected.
Lynden Christian’s 30-7 win over Nooksack Valley on Friday night fit that bill, at least in both teams’ physicality. The lopsided score told a different story.
After the Pioneers took an early lead, the Lyncs strung together 30 unanswered points to secure a dominant win. If the Lyncs hadn’t proved enough two weeks ago by snapping Royal’s 36-game win streak, they certainly silenced any final doubters.
“[It was] kind of a statement game, I guess, for the rest of the season,” LC junior quarterback Jeremiah Wright said.
Wright finished with three total touchdowns — two through the air and one on the ground — completing 8-of-14 passes for 114 yards and rushing for 50 more on 10 carries.
“Man, it just felt great,” LC senior running back Kade Eldridge said. “I feel like our team performed really well tonight. We had our [offensive] line doing everything they could. We just did great.”
Eldridge posted 49 yards rushing on 11 carries, but he was also a solo act on one of the game’s most pivotal plays.
After NV junior quarterback Joey Brown punched in a 1-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter, Eldridge returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for a score to even things up. Wright gave the Lyncs a seven-point advantage with just under eight minutes in the first half on an 8-yard touchdown run.
Brown suffered a left-knee injury in the second quarter, limiting him for the remainder of the game. That effectively took away his ability to run the football, which is a dimension of the Pioneers’ offense they couldn’t afford to lose.
“Give [Joey] credit, he wouldn’t come out of the game. He’s a warrior, he stuck it out,” NV coach Craig Bartl said. “It takes an element out of the game, but we have to respond to that and we didn’t. That’s the bottom line.”
The Pioneers had a stout drive going near the end of the opening half with a chance to tie it up before LC junior linebacker Kayden Stuit picked off a pass heading toward the end zone, and the Lyncs kneeled it out on their own 4-yard line with a one-score lead.
“We have a lot of good athletes and one ball,” LC coach Greg Terpstra said. “We haven’t had to rely on just running Kade [Eldridge] ragged. We’ve got a lot of kids that contribute.”
LC caught a big break midway through the third quarter when a fourth-down incompletion became a fresh set of downs on a roughing the passer penalty. The Pioneers’ faithful made it clear they disagreed.
A few plays later, Wright connected with senior wide receiver Tyler Sipma for a 13-yard touchdown catch. NV blocked the point-after try, and it was 20-7 Lynden Christian with 5:27 remaining in the period.
“I was disappointed in our lack of discipline tonight,” Bartl said. “That penalty showed it.”
The Lyncs asserted their will to win as Wright threw a 63-yard touchdown strike to junior wide receiver Dawson Bouma before a successful two-point conversion attempt made it 28-7.
NV’s struggles primarily came in the red zone, and on avoidable miscues. Four trips inside LC’s 20-yard line resulted in seven points for the Pioneers. Those setbacks were made worse when NV gave up a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, which was recovered by the Lyncs.
The Pioneers were able to get a stop. However, on their next drive, the Lyncs picked up a safety when a snap went over the NV punter’s head and out of the back of the end zone. That would be the last score of the game.
LC held the Pioneers’ frequently potent rushing attack to 163 yards on just over four yards per carry. Too many dropped passes cost NV as Brown was regularly on-target but unable to connect with his receivers. In the meantime, the Lyncs’ defense proved as stifling as ever.
“We have great athletes on the back-end [of the defense], we’ve got athletic guys up front,” Terpstra said. “We have been, I think, the most physical team in each game that we’ve played, and the attrition throughout the game ends up in our favor because of that.”
Bouma finished with two catches for 66 yards and a score for LC. Sipma caught three balls for 34 yards and a score. For NV, sophomore running back Colton Lentz totaled 86 yards rushing on 22 carries. Junior running back Skyler Whittern tallied 52 yards on the ground via nine carries.
The Lyncs advanced to 6-0 overall on the season and 1-0 in Northwest Conference games. LC will host Meridian (4-2 overall, 1-1 NWC) at 7 p.m. on Oct. 14.
NV suffered their first loss of the season and now sits at 5-1 overall (1-1 NWC). The Pioneers will travel to Mount Baker on Oct. 14 for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
