ROYAL CITY – The Lyncs uncharacteristically turned the ball over three times in the first half, and they all eventually resulted in touchdowns for the Knights as top-ranked Royal defeated Lynden Christian 61-35 in the 1A state semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
A Knight interception on the opening drive turned into seven points when Royal scored on an 11-yard touchdown pass.
The Lyncs quickly returned the favor with an 11-yard touchdown pass of their own when senior quarterback Eli Maberry rolled to his right, bought some time, and eventually found senior wide receiver Boyce Robertson.
The Knights marched down and scored again to take a 14-6 lead, but Lynden Christian was able to do the same behind some powerful runs by junior running back Chris Kooiman. The 225-pound bruiser plowed in from 12 yards out to make it a 14-12 game.
Royal was then able to score the next three touchdowns after it intercepted another pass, and also forced a fumble. And just like that, the Lyncs were staring at a 35-12 deficit late in the second quarter.
Undeterred, Lynden Christian put another strong drive together just before the half, and it culminated with a Maberry-to-Robertson touchdown from nine yards out. The touchdown made it a two-score game at the half. However, the Knights wouldn’t slow down in the second half. In fact, Royal only had two possessions all game that didn’t result in a touchdown. The first was right before halftime, and the second was at the end of the game when they took a knee.
The Knight defense held the Lyncs from scoring in the third quarter, but Lynden Christian was able to get into the endzone twice more in the fourth quarter with a six-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Veldman and a nine-yard run by Maberry. Senior Jacob Penner also booted a 35-yard field goal.
Senior Treyson Johnson led the defense with eight tackles, which included 1.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage. Junior cornerback Wyatt Kamphouse also registered eight tackles for Lynden Christian which saw its season come to a close with a record of 10-2.
Royal 61 Lynden Christian 35 LC 12 8 0 15 - 35 ROY 14 20 14 13 - 61 ROY - 11 yard touchdown pass (kick good) LC - Robertson 11 pass from Maberry (kick failed) ROY - 17 yard touchdown run (kick good) LC - Kooiman 12 run (run failed) ROY - 14 yard touchdown run (kick failed) ROY - 1 yard touchdown run (kick good) ROY - 15 yard touchdown run (kick good) LC - Robertson 9 pass from Maberry (Kooiman run) ROY - 25 yard touchdown pass (kick good) ROY - 9 yard touchdown run (kick good) LC - Veldman 6 pass from Maberry (kick failed) ROY - 32 yard touchdown run (pass failed) ROY - 37 yard touchdown run (kick good) LC - Penner 35 FG LC - Maberry 9 run (kick failed)
LC ROY 32-194 Rush Att-Yards 38-293 27-41-2 Comp-Att-Int 16-21-0 255 Passing Yards 209 Individual Leaders RUSHING - LC: Kooiman 20-92, Maberry 9-77, Johnson 3-25. ROY: N/A. PASSING - LC: Maberry 27-41-2-255. ROY: N/A. RECEIVING - LC: Robertson 7-110, Veldman 6-16, Kamphouse 4-57, Kooiman 4-31, Herwerden 3-18, Hintz 2-20, Huleatt 1-3. ROY: N/A.
