‘We had a group of kids who were real fighters,’ but LC loses 1A title game to Royal
Lynden Christian did not win the Class 1A state football championship, but the Lyncs unleashed an effort worthy of a title.
When the team picture was taken with the second-place trophy, the players held heads high with obvious pride and many eyes filled with tears.
The Lyncs (11-2) were three minutes away from one of the biggest upsets of the State Playoffs when Royal scored on a 74-yard pass from quarterback Caleb Christensen to quick junior Aldo Farias for his only catch and the winning points of an unforgettable 26-22 game Saturday, Dec. 7, at Harry Lang Stadium.
Top-seeded Royal (14-0), which turned in its fourth unbeaten season in five years, came in with 728 points — a 56-point average. Yet the halftime score was 7-7 in Lynden Christian‘s first appearance in a state title game in 22 years.
“We had a group of kids who were real fighters,” Lyncs coach Dan Kaemingk said. “Even when Royal led 19-7 (early in the fourth quarter), our kids felt they could still do it. That (Royal) is a heck of a team. ... I’m just so proud of our kids.”
Defensive back Jude Veltkamp, one of a dozen senior starters, expressed the same sentiments.
“Royal had to battle for it,” he said. “It wasn’t like they marched down the field. We made them earn it, and they did earn it. That’s a phenomenal program.”
Royal, in its record 20th consecutive 1A state tournament, won its ninth title since 1996.
The Lynden Christian fans — more than 2,000 of them who packed their half of a stadium nearly 150 miles from Lynden — received some of the biggest thrills they could imagine in the final quarter.
Jackson Corkill, the school’s career receiving leader, beat his man far downfield and caught Trajan Schouten’s pass for a 79-yard touchdown — the 91st and last catch of his career, in which he gained 844 yards this season and 1,418 overall. Schouten and Corkill connected on an almost equally thrilling 60-yarder in the second quarter for LC’s first touchdown.
Senior kicker Eli DenBleyken, who finished 53 for 53 on conversions in his only high school football season, converted the extra point to cut Royal’s lead to 19-14 with 7:14 to play.
On the Knights’ ensuing series, LC junior Cole Moorlag — who received LC’s Sportsmanship medal from state officials — made one of his team-high eight unassisted tackles to create a fourth-and-5 punting situation from Royal’s 44.
The snap went over the punter’s head and edge rusher Easton Stremler recovered for the Lyncs at the 18. Schouten immediately fired an on-target pass, and Moorlag caught it in the right corner of the end zone, staying inbounds with fancy footwork on Schouten‘s 25th and final touchdown pass of a memorable season.
Schouten and Andrew Hommes clicked on a perfectly executed fade pass into the end zone for a 2-point conversion and a 22-19 LC lead with 3:14 left. The Lyncs figured Royal would not know what the talented sophomore athletes could do because they had no video of them.
Royal, however, quickly followed with the crusher when Christensen, who finished 22 for 37 for 318 yards, only 14 yards shy of the 1A title game record, found Farias open.
“Royal ran a real smart combination route we had not seen before,” Kaemingk said. “It was a very smart play on their part.”
With 2:55 left, LC took possession twice more on the Lyncs’ 18 and 17, but Cooper Christensen twice intercepted passes. Schouten, who was under intense pressure on those two plays, finished 11 for 24 for 207 yards
Cooper Christensen also was brilliant with nine catches for 139 yards.
“We played a heck of a game,” said senior co-captain Bryce Bouwman, who caught three passes for 35 yards. “I love these guys.”
“They’re great, all of them,” lineman Kase Lautenbach said. “They’re not my teammates; they’re family. They gave it everything they had.”
Senior linebacker Will Faber had seven assisted tackles for the Lyncs and junior defensive backs Shale Whittern and Jackson Apol had six apiece.
Lynden Christian’s seniors reached the state semifinals in consecutive years and finished with a 21-5 record in those two seasons.
Both teams entered with imposing rushing attacks, but both defenses met the challenge, as the Royals finished with a season-low 62 yards on the ground and the Lyncs wound up with 46.
“What can I say? We worked our butts off and we left it all on the field,” senior linebacker Levi Korthuis. “There’s no one I’d rather have played football with than these guys.”
State championship scores
Class 1A: Royal 26, Lynden Christian 22
Class 2A: Tumwater 48, Steilacoom 34
Class 3A: Eastside Catholic 20, O’Dea 12
Class 4A: Camas 35, Bothell 14
Class 1B: Odessa 80, Naselle 26
Class 2B: Onalaska 48, Kalama 30
NOTE: Scoring on Lynden Christian’s final conversion attempt corrected Dec. 19, 2019.
This story was originally published December 8, 2019 at 10:49 AM with the headline "‘We had a group of kids who were real fighters,’ but LC loses 1A title game to Royal."