4 Washington high school football games you should not have missed from Week 4 (9/22/2023)
The Lynden Lions stronghold atop the Class 2A football ranks wasn’t going fade without a fight.
But the two-time defending state champions and current top-ranked 2A team met their match to the very last second.
It took a last-second score and a gutsy play call for the Lions to stave off fourth-ranked Sedro-Woolley 29-28 in a thriller on Friday night in a 2A Northwest Conference battle of top-tier teams in the state at Green Memorial Stadium.
Lynden’s Brady Elsner hauled in a 2-yard TD pass from Brant Heppner as time expired in regulation as Lynden closed within 28-27.
Then, the Lions converted a two-point conversion pass with Heppner hitting sophomore Dani Bowler to win the game, 29-28.
Heppner engineered the game-winning march, driving the Lions 12 plays and 90 yards after taking over possession with 2 minutes, 15 seconds to go in the game.
"Wherever you stand on it, there were two top-five teams (in 2A) that played tonight - and it came down to the last play,” said Lynden coach Blake VanDalen after his program beat Sedro-Woolley for third year in a row on the final play of the game. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a Week 4 game feel more like a (state) semifinal game in my life. It felt like we were playing to go to the state championship. Every snap mattered. Every mistake you paid for.
"It was just a playoff semifinal atmosphere. I don’t see how the two of us don’t play again."
VanDalen praised Heppner on the game-winning drive.
“Those throws he made on that drive, he has no wiggle room,” VanDalen said. “He was just threading the needle. We have a reporter who kind of follows us around who used to know Tom Brady back in high school. And she goes, 'That last drive looked a lot like Tom Brady.’ He was so calm, so composed with no timeouts.”
Sedro-Woolley knew it would need to bring its very best. The Cubs brought it, but left the field heartbroken. The Cubs called a timeout before Lynden scored the game-winning two-point conversion pass, one the Lions were set on during the final possession.
“We felt like we were blessed to be where we were at that point,” VanDalen said. “Momentum is momentum. You don’t turn around and give momentum to the best player (Carsten Reynolds) on the field, which was No. 12 for them.”
Senior quarterback Carsten Reynolds led Sedro-Woolley with 17 rushes for 174 yards and two touchdowns. He also supplied nine tackles and two interceptions on defense.
“He’s one of the best high-school football players I’ve seen in a long time,” VanDalen said of the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Reynolds.
Lynden’s Elsner’s 24-yard touchdown grab from Heppner with about a minute remaining in the third quarter helped pulled the Lions even at 21-21. Heppner finished with three touchdown passes, all to Elsner. Heppner also bounced back from the first two interceptions of his career.
Elsner then recovered a Sedro-Woolley fumble on the Cubs’ 30-yard line just before the end of the third quarter. The Cubs got the back on an interception before the end of the third to thwart Lynden’s scoring threat.
Kolyn Rochester’s 1-yard touchdown run and the ensuing point-after kick around the 10-minute mark of the fourth quarter pushed the Cubs back in front, 28-21.
The last time Lynden lost twice in its first five games was when it went 3-2 in the early-spring 2021 COVID-delayed football season. They avoided that fate with their late heroics.
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ARLINGTON MAKES 3A WESCO STATEMENT
The eighth-ranked Eagles of Arlington (4-0 overall, 3-0 WesCo 3A North) thrust themselves into relevancy as a Class 3A state title contender with a 46-14 victory over the No. 10 Golden Eagles of Ferndale.
Arlington built a 36-7 halftime lead and extended it to 43-7 in the third quarter to exert its dominance.
“We didn’t know we were pretty good until tonight,” Arlington coach Greg Dailer said. “We just need to stay humble.”
The Eagles limited Ferndale (3-1, 1-1) to 197 yards overall and just 25 passing on defense. Offensively, Arlington was propelled by junior quarterback Leyton Martin, who passed for 316 yards and four touchdowns on 16-of-21 accuracy, and junior Jake Willis’ three catches for 75 yards as all three receptions resulted in scores.
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SKYLINE SHOCKS MOUNT SI
Cameron Weir’s 32-yard touchdown catch from Will Simon late in the third quarter as the Spartans (3-1, 1-1) dug in to claim the upset over the sixth-ranked Wildcats (3-1, 1-1) in a 4A KingCo showdown.
Jaxon Menold’s late fourth-quarter interception helped seal the victory for Skyline for the home triumph.
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LAKESIDE OF NINE MILE FALLS GOES ON RUN
The second-ranked Eagles (4-0, 2-0) overcame an early 14-point to finish the game with 26 unanswered points for a 26-14 victory over Freeman to gain the lead in the 1A Northeast Athletic League standings.
Quarterback Calvin Mikkelson threw for a touchdowns and ran for another score for Lakeside.
Patterson, a senior running back, finished with 136 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground to go with four catches for 111 yards and one touchdown.
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