BLAINE – Lynden Christian was just too big, too strong and too good as the Lyncs captured the 49-0 win over Naches Valley on Saturday afternoon at Blaine High School.
Don’t take my word for it, as a Ranger running back was talking to his family members after the game and said, “We have really athletic players on our team, they’re just more athletic and a lot bigger than us.”
He’s not wrong, but it also didn’t help that Lynden Christian forced five first-half turnovers.
Senior quarterback Eli Maberry found his favorite target in senior wide receiver Boyce Robertson early on when he noticed single coverage on the near sideline. Maberry’s deep pass was hauled in by the school’s all-time leading receiver and he took it 66 yards for the opening touchdown.
Junior running back Chris Kooiman then punched in a touchdown from two yards out, and LC closed out the quarter with a 50-yard touchdown pass from Maberry to junior wide receiver Wyatt Kamphouse.
Maberry then tossed two more touchdowns in the second quarter to two other standout targets. The first was a perfectly thrown 17-yarder to the back corner of the endzone to junior tight end Kaden Veldman, and the second was a strike over the middle to junior wide receiver Dawson Hintz which covered 32 yards.
Kooiman then concluded the scoring on a pair of touchdown runs; an 18-yarder just before halftime, and a 37-yarder on the opening drive of the second half.
He finished the game with 157 yards on 15 carries, which put him over 1,000 yards rushing on the season. He became the seventh player in school history to pass that mark in a season, and the first one since Jordan Riddle did it in 2017.
Veldman led the defensive stampede, which allowed just 96 yards for the entire game, with 5.5 tackles and two tackles for loss. Lynden Christian also got an interception from Hintz, and a fumble recovery from senior Hayden Herwerden, junior Justin Kuik as well as sophomores Gavin VanLoo and Kortian VanderLeest.
The Lyncs (9-1) will likely have a bye in the first round of the state tournament, but will find out later today.
Lynden Christian 49 Naches Valley 0 NCH 0 0 0 0 - 0 LC 21 21 7 0 - 49 LC - Robertson 66 pass from Maberry (Penner kick) LC - Kooiman 2 run (Penner kick) LC - Kamphouse 50 pass from Maberry (Penner kick) LC - Veldman 17 pass from Maberry (Penner kick) LC - Hintz 32 pass from Maberry (Penner kick) LC - Kooiman 18 run (Yun kick) LC - Kooiman 37 run (Yun kick)
NCH LC 28-46 Rush Att-Yards 29-217 3-7-1 Comp-Att-Int 13-19-0 50 Passing Yards 246 Individual Leaders RUSHING - NCH: N/A. LC: Kooiman 15-157, Hintz 2-30, Blankers 2-17, Johnson 2-15, Arnold 3-7, VanLoo 1-0, Maberry 3-(-1), Adams 1-(-8). PASSING - NCH: N/A. LC: Maberry 10-15-0-216, Blankers 2-2-0-21, Hintz 1-1-0-9, Adams 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING - NCH: N/A. LC: Robertson 3-80, Kamphouse 2-65, Hintz 2-48, Veldman 2-20, Moorlag 1-11, Yun 1-10, Johnson 1-8, Huleatt 1-4.
