BY MAKAYLA SPARKS – For Whatcom Preps
LYNDEN – It’s not often that police are needed to control traffic exiting a week-one high school football game. But, when the Golden Eagles come to town to face Lynden, expecting the unexpected is the name of the game.
The longstanding rivalry has seen the team trade wins each season for last four years, but the Lions defeated the Golden Eagles for the second consecutive season on Friday night with a dominating 38-8 win at Rollie Dekoster Field.
Penalties kept Ferndale behind the chains, and Lynden forced a punt on the opening drive. The Lions took possession and just three plays later, senior running back Max Assink charged through the pack and raced 36 yards down the far sideline and into the endzone. The kick was good, and Lynden took a 7-0 lead just three and a half minutes into the game.
The Golden Eagles found a little more success on their second attempt on offense. That was until Lynden junior Zach Dykstra exploded into the backfield out of his position on the defensive line and tracked down the Ferndale quarterback for a sack deep in the backfield.
With a little over three minutes left in the first quarter, Assink powered into the endzone for a second time, and the Lions climbed out to a 14-0 lead.
The Lions would then make it a three-score game before half as junior quarterback Gordy Bedlington found senior receiver Dani Bowler on a 16-yard pass. A minute and thirty-eight seconds remained in the first half when the Lions took the 21-0 lead. Bowler also had a reception earlier in the drive that put him over 1,000 receiving yards for his career.
It was much the same for the Lions in the third quarter. Just after the seven-minute mark, junior kicker Malachi Koenen sent the ball through the uprights from 29 yards out, which added three more points onto the Lynden total.
A 23-yard pass from Bedlington to Bowler set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Koenen, who took the direct snap, to begin the fourth quarter.
Moments later it was an electrifying 45-yard run by junior running back Dawson VanDalen which set up another touchdown from a yard out, this time coming from VanDalen.
Up 38-0, the Lions allowed the second-stringers to finish out the job, but Ferndale wasn’t backing down yet, as junior running back Elliot Lenssen scored on a 34-yard touchdown run with 5:16 to go in the game. The two-point conversation run by senior Jon Stanek was successful, and the Golden Eagles prevented the shutout by adding eight points to the scoreboard.
Lenssen led Ferndale with 96 yards rushing.
Defensively, Koenen led the Lions with seven tackles, and the Golden Eagles were led on defense by Stanek who finished with 9.5 tackles and two tackles for loss.
“It feels really good,” said Coach Blake VanDalen about the win, while hugging a grandchild in each arm. “We were focused on executing one play at a time, and they did a great job of that. And so (I’m) really proud of our kids.”
“(This game) tells us that we have a lot to work on still,” Bedlington voiced about what he saw from his team during the game. “But it also tells us that we like to work hard.”
Coach VanDalen described it similarly when talking about moving into next week and the rest of the season.
“We got a long way to go,” he said. “We got a lot of work to do, and we’ll watch film just like we would if we didn’t win. But we did.”
Lynden (1-0) will travel to Franklin Pierce (1-0) on Saturday at 2:00, and Ferndale (0-1) will be at Oak Harbor (0-1) at 7:00 on Friday.
Lynden 38 Ferndale 8 FER 0 0 0 8 - 8 LYN 14 7 3 14 - 38 LYN - Assink 36 run (Mal. Koenen kick) LYN - Assink 5 run (Mal. Koenen kick) LYN - Bowler 16 pass from Bedlington (Mal. Koenen kick) LYN - Mal. Koenen 29 FG LYN - Mal. Koenen 1 run (Mal. Koenen kick) LYN - D. VanDalen 1 run (Mar. Koenen kick) FER - Lenssen 34 run (Stanek run) FER LYN 33-162 Rush Att-Yards 35-236 4-7-0 Comp-Att-Int 13-17-0 14 Passing Yards 170 Individual Leaders RUSHING - FER: Lenssen 11-96, Stanek 10-62, Merwin 2-11, Mahaffey 1-6, Broyles 2-4, Hatchett 3-2, Saab 1-(-2), Boleak 3-(15). LYN: Assink 10-80, Bedlington 8-67, D. VanDalen 4-54, Postma 3-21, Lalji 2-12, Mal. Koenen 6-8, Triplett 1-0, LaBrooy 1-(-6). PASSING - FER: Boleak 4-7-0-14. LYN: Lalji 7-10-0-101, Bedlington 6-7-0-69. RECEIVING - FER: Vasak 2-10, Beaven 1-7, Co. Vincent 1-(-3). LYN: Arango 5-57, Bowler 4-58, Assink 1-18, Harris 1-16, Bedlington 1-15, Tigilau 1-6.
