BY MAKAYLA SPARKS – For Whatcom Preps
LYNDEN – Squalicum was still biting at the chomp when they rolled into Rollie Dekoster Field after their upset win the week before. However, after a lightning fast start by the Storm, the hometown Lynden Lion defense shut down Squalicum in the second half as the Lions took the 27-17 homecoming win.
Storm senior defensive back Ansen Asbjornsen stepped in front of a Lynden pass attempt less than a minute into the game and raced it back to the 2-yard line. Sophomore running back Asher Asbjornsen punched the ball in from there, and Squalicum held a 7-0 lead early.
Two minutes later, Asher Asbjornsen blocked a punt, grabbed it and raced 36 yards to the house for another Storm touchdown, making 14-0.
However, less than 30 seconds later, Lion junior running back Dawson VanDalen broke through a hole in the line and powered 48 yards down the away sideline, pulling Lynden back within one touchdown.
Things finally slowed down for the rest of the first quarter before Squalicum junior defensive back Alex Ibarra forced a fumble and senior defensive lineman Brendan Garcia recovered it, taking back the momentum and eventually setting up a Storm field goal. Squalicum sophomore kicker Elias Larranaga cleared the uprights from 23 yards out.
Lynden matched the field goal at the end of the first half, when junior kicker Malachi Koenen split the uprights on a 39-yard kick, and the teams headed to the locker room with the score sitting at 17-10 in favor of the Storm.
A slow start to the second half was quickly diminished when VanDalen and Koenen put together back-to-back long runs, setting up Koenen to tie the game on a 4-yard touchdown run.
Koenen then intercepted the Storm with less than two minutes left in the third quarter, and shortly in the fourth, he would kick a second field goal on the night, giving the Lions their first lead of the game, 20-17.
Twenty seconds later, junior linebacker Landon Tolsma grabbed a Squalicum pass attempt, setting up Koenen for his fourth score of the game. Koenen found the endzone on a 17-yard scamper at the 7:11 mark of the fourth quarter, and the Lions expanded their lead to 27-17.
Just as the Storm was threatening to close the gap, Lynden senior defensive back Lofa Tigilau charged into the backfield and wrapped up the Storm’s quarterback, picking up a third-down sack and forcing the Storm to go for a field goal. The kick was no good, and the Lions regained possession of the ball with less than five minutes to go. A few first downs later, they secured the conference win.
Lynden Head Coach Blake VanDalen knew the Storm was going to be looking for something big after last week, and he described his team’s effort against them, saying, “We saw what a great game plan they had, and unfortunately, we played into it ourselves for the first couple of minutes of the game…We understood that our mistakes led to all of their success.”
In describing the change of focus at halftime, he explained that there wasn’t much, “If we clean up our mistakes and just go back to the original game plan and execute better, we think we’re at least one score better than them and we should be able to right the ship.”
In terms of what this win says about the Lions for the rest of the season, Lynden senior Brody Price summed it up this way: “We can come back…we’re never down.”
The Lions (5-1) will travel to Archbishop Murphy on Friday to take on the top-ranked Wildcats at 7:00, and the Storm (3-3) will host Port Angeles (2-4) at 5:00 on Saturday at Civic Stadium.
Lynden 27
Squalicum 17
SQU 14 3 0 0 - 17
LYN 7 3 7 10 - 27
SQU - Ash. Asbjornsen 2 run (Larranaga kick)
SQU - Ash. Asbjornsen 36 blocked punt return (Larranaga kick)
LYN - D. VanDalen 48 run (Mal. Koenen kick)
SQU - Larranaga 23 FG
LYN - Mal. Koenen 39 FG
LYN - Mal. Koenen 4 run (Mal. Koenen kick)
LYN - Mal. Koenen 23 FG
LYN - Mal. Koenen 17 run (Mal. Koenen kick)
SQU LYN
23-47 Rush Att-Yards 49-364
9-17-2 Comp-Att-Int 3-10-1
123 Passing Yards 13
Individual Leaders
RUSHING - SQU: Ash. Asbjornsen 10-37, Weener 4-6, Burke 8-3, Knowlton 1-1. LYN: D. VanDalen 18-162, Lalji 17-107, Mal. Koenen 8-85, Price 1-6, Bedlington 5-4.
PASSING - SQU: Burke 9-17-2-123. LYN: Lalji 3-10-1-13.
RECEIVING - SQU: Ans. Asbjornsen 3-38, Clark 2-46, Binta 2-31, Scammell 1-5, Ash. Asbjornsen 1-3. LYN: Price 2-13, Bedlington 1-0.
