LYNDEN — The 24 seniors on the Lynden football team’s roster gathered one last time under the lights on Friday at Rollie DeKoster Field for a senior picture.
The biggest discussion during that time — whether to smile or not for the photo.
It was about the only time this group of seniors couldn’t agree on what to do on a football field.
For the record, they definitely should have been smiling after they thumped Sultan 47-28 in a 2A District 1/2 playoff game that was nowhere near as close as the score would indicate. Senior Luke Christianson scored five touchdowns and rushed for 151 yards in the first half, and a running clock ran throughout the second half.
“It feels really good,” senior offensive lineman/defensive end Matt Meyer said. “It’s always good to win, especially in a playoff game like this.”
With the win, the Lions (9-1) earned a seventh-straight trip to the 2A state tournament as they try to defend their state title. With Lakewood’s win over Sedro-Woolly, Lynden receives the No. 2 seed out of the district and will host Southwest District No. 2 seed Mark Morris likely on Saturday, Nov. 10, at Civic Stadium.
While Christianson and the Lynden offense were nearly unstoppable, their defense hardly gave an inch.
In the first quarter alone, Lynden had a 226 to 13 advantage in total yardage and a 10-0 edge in first downs over the Turks.
It wasn’t until after Cameron Wainwright’s 1-yard TD sneak that Sultan picked up its initial first down of the game 3 minutes, 3 seconds into the second quarter on Jay Leverett’s 11-yard run.
In fact, the Turks picked up two first downs on the drive, as backup quarterback Deion Bonilla hit Bubba Branham for 41 yards to the Lynden 10.
But even that ended well for the Lions, as the defense held and forced a 27-yard field-goal attempt by Adrian Cayetano, that Zach Vis blocked. Christianson scooped up the ball on the run at the 33 and took it 67 yards for his fifth touchdown of the night, making to 41-0.
Despite the running clock in the second half, Sultan got a pair of third-quarter touchdowns from Leverett on an 8-yard pass from Bonilla and a 54-yard run. Taylor Comfort returned an interception 23 yards for a TD in the fourth, and Bryce MacDicken capped off the night with a 1-yard plunge.
It was enough that Kramme actually had to bring his starters back in for half of a series to stem the tide, and Kraght responded by ripping off a 42-yard run to finish with 65 yards rushing on two carries to go along with his 6-for-6 passing performance for 57 yards.
“Sultan has some pretty talented varsity players, and I think they showed a lot of pride in the second half,” Kramme said. “I give them credit for playing hard until the end. I hated that I had to bring our starters back in, but I like that they came out and stayed crisp for us.”
At Lynden H.S.
Sultan001414— 28
Lynden272000— 47
L—Luke Christianson 1 run (kick failed)
L—Christianson 2 run (Alex Otano-Guenther kick)
L—Christianson 9 run (Otano-Guenther kick)
L—Christianson 58 run (Otano-Guenther kick)
L—Cameron Wainwright 1 run (Otano-Guenther kick)
L—Christianson 67 blocked FG return (Otano-Guenther kick)
L—Trent Postma 3 run (run failed)
S—Jay Leverett 8 pass from Deion Bonilla (Adrian Cayetano kick)
S—Leverett 54 run (Cayetano kick)
S—Taylor Comfort 23 interception return (Cayetano kick)
S—Bryce MacDicken 1 run (Cayetano kick)
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