BY MAKAYLA SPARKS – For Whatcom Preps
LYNDEN – A little rain wasn’t going to stop the Lynden Lions from picking up a homecoming win at Rollie DeKoster Field on Thursday night. And, they did it in dominating fashion, taking the 57-0 victory over the Bellingham Bayhawks.
The Bayhawks got the ball first but it wasn’t long before the Lions made their presence known. Lynden senior running back Dawson VanDalen found the end zone on a one yard run at the 7:02 mark of the first quarter. A minute and twenty-eight seconds later, it was 21-0.
On the drive following VanDalen’s touchdown, Bellingham was forced to punt deep in its own territory and that’s when disaster struck. The snap got past the punter, who attempted to salvage the play by throwing the ball down field. However, it landed in the hands of Lions’ senior linebacker Landon Tolsma who took the ball to the house.
The ensuing kickoff was mishandled and recovered by the Lions. Quarterback Austin Postma raced 33 yards into the east endzone on the next play to score Lynden’s third touchdown in less than a minute and half.
Bayhawk senior Matthew Steel got some positive momentum for Bellingham by picking off a Lynden pass attempt with three minutes to go in the first quarter. It would be all for not, though, as Lion senior defensive end Cayden Brown returned the favor and more, grabbing his own interception and charging down the home sideline 83 yards for a touchdown.
Ten seconds into the second quarter, Lynden got in the end zone again. Postma connected with senior wide receiver Gordy Bedlington for a 24-yard score and the Lions pushed their lead to 35-0.
Postma then picked off a Bayhawk pass attempt, setting his team up for yet another score. Junior running back Cash Triplett scrambled into the end zone from a yard out with nine and a half minutes left in the second quarter.
Two minutes later, Lynden sophomore linebacker Nick Rentas stripped the ball away from Bellingham and charged 25 yards down the field to put the Lions up 48-0 at the half.
With a running clock and mostly backups on the field, Lynden started to lift its foot of the petal in the second half, but not entirely. With less than three minutes to go in the third quarter, Triplett picked up his second rushing touchdown of the night. He finished with a game-high 87 rushing yards on eight carries.
And to seal the deal on what had already been a wild ride, Lynden junior Noah Struiksma picked up a quarterback sack on the final play of the game for a safety.
Bellingham was without starting quarterback Ben Leonard, and starting in his place was his freshman brother Nick Leonard.
Lynden (3-1) will travel to Sehome (0-3) next on Friday next week to take on the Mariners at 7:00 at Civic Stadium, while the Bayhawks (1-3) will also be on the road next week when they travel to Marysville-Pilchuck (0-3) to take on the Tomahawks at 7:00 on Friday.
Lynden 57 Bellingham 0 BEL 0 0 0 0 - 0 LYN 28 20 7 2 - 57 LYN - VanDalen 1 run (Maggard kick) LYN - Tolsma 7 interception return (Maggard kick) LYN - Postma 33 run (Maggard kick) LYN - Brown 83 interception return (Maggard kick) LYN - Bedlington 24 pass from Postma (Maggard kick) LYN - Triplett 1 run (Maggard kick) LYN - Rentas 25 fumble return (kick failed) LYN - Triplett 6 run (Blaskovich kick) LYN - Safety, Struiksma tackled quarterback in end zone
BEL LYN 19-(-3) Rush Att-Yards 29-258 8-16-3 Comp-Att-Int 3-7-1 40 Passing Yards 49 Individual Leaders RUSHING - BEL: Malone 3-25, Maina 10-6, N. Leonard 2-(-9), Brown 4-(-25). LYN: Triplett 8-87, VanDalen 5-56, Postma 2-48, Lovegren 5-29, Baseden 4-15, Rentas 2-14, Bedlington 1-5, DeBoer 1-4, Lopez 1-0. PASSING - BEL: N. Leonard 6-11-1-29, Brown 2-4-1-11, Pringle 0-1-1-0. LYN: Bedlington 1-4-1-11, Postma 2-3-0-38. RECEIVING - BEL: VanHofwegen 3-15, Schupbach 2-5, Delaney 1-11, Maina 1-6, Steel 1-3. LYN: Bedlington 2-38, Pease 1-11.
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