BY MAKAYLA SPARKS – For Whatcom Preps
NOOKSACK – It’s never a dull night when the Lynden Christian Lyncs and Nooksack Valley Pioneers come face-to-face, and Friday night was no exception. The Lyncs used a strong first half to pick up the conference win, 31-10, at Sid Lambert Field.
The Pioneers struck first, putting together a strong opening drive and finding themselves in the red zone. Nooksack Valley junior Ty Berends split the uprights on a 31-yard field goal and the Pioneers took an early 3-0 lead.
Two minutes later, the Lyncs got on the board when senior running back Chris Kooiman scored from eight yards out, taking the lead and the momentum.
Kooiman would do it again with a minute left in the first quarter, this time on a four yard carry and it was 14-3 heading into the second quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, Lynden Christian found themselves close to adding another touchdown when senior Dane Ackerman ripped the ball out of the receiver’s hands, which gave the Pioneers the ball on their own three yard line. But, on the next play, Kooiman made the tackle in the end zone to collect a safety and two more points for the Lyncs.
Two minutes later, Lynden Christian junior quarterback Kellen Blankers connected with senior tight end Justin Kuik, who raced 41 yards down the visiting sideline and to the house. Kooiman backed it up by pushing his way into the endzone for the two-point conversion and the Lyncs extended their lead to 24-3.
The Pioneers were not going down with a fight. With 22.8 seconds left in the first half, Nooksack sophomore cornerback Evan Leyerly stepped in front of a Lynden Christian pass attempt deep in Nooksack Valley territory to prevent the Lyncs from scoring again before the first half finished.
However, they would do just that three and half minutes into the second half as Kooiman powered in from two yards out to complete his hat trick on the night and put the Lyncs up 31-3. The 6-foot-3 230-pound All-State running back finished with 142 yards on 22 carries.
Nooksack Valley sophomore quarterback, Lucas Woodrich found junior wide receiver Tyler Martin on a 28-yard route and Martin found the north endzone for a Pioneer touchdown late into the third quarter.
Late into the fourth quarter, a couple penalties going in favor of the Pioneers would put them knocking on the goal line but the Lyncs’ defense denied them access, securing the 31-10 conference victory.
Both teams will remain in conference play next week as the Lyncs (5-2) will host Mount Baker (5-2) and the Pioneers (5-2) will travel to Meridian (4-3) to take on the Trojans. Both games will take place at 7:00 on Friday.
Lynden Christian 31 Nooksack Valley 10 LC 14 10 7 0 - 31 NV 3 0 7 0 - 10 NV - Berends 31 FG LC - Kooiman 8 run (Yun kick) LC - Kooiman 4 run (Yun kick) LC - Safety, Kooiman tackled Martin in the end zone LC - Kuik 41 pass from Blankers (Kooiman run) LC - Kooiman 1 run (Yun kick) NV - Martin 28 pass from L. Woodrich (Leyerly kick)
LC NV 33-190 Rush Att-Yards 26-74 17-24-1 Comp-Att-Int 12-20-0 185 Passing Yards 133 Individual Leaders RUSHING - LC: Kooiman 22-142, Blankers 6-26, Berendsen 4-15, Kamphouse 1-7. NV: Scheenstra 15-56, Heutink 5-9, Martin 2-6, Berends 1-4, L. Woodrich 3-(-1). PASSING - LC: Blankers 17-24-1-185. NV: L. Woodrich 11-19-0-94, Berends 1-1-0-39. RECEIVING - LC: Hintz 6-49, Kamphouse 4-34, Veldman 3-32, Kooiman 3-29, Kuik 1-41. NV: Martin 7-105, Jones 3-11, Berends 1-14, Ackerman 1-3.
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