The Doug Lange Network 

September 28, 2018 

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The Lynden football squad survived an early scare at Lakewood Friday night. After falling behind in the first quarter the Lions rallied behind the arm and legs of Brock Heppner to score 24 unanswered points and beat the Cougars 31-14.  With the win Lynden improved to 5-and-0 on the season.

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Machai Harris opened the game with a kick-off return deep into Lynden territory. The Lakewood senior WR then ran three yards into the end zone for the first score of the game. Less than 2 minutes into the contest Lakewood led Lynden 7-0.  

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"What was awesome was the look in our kids eyes, they just didn't flinch, they didn't panic, they didn't freak out," said Lynden head coach Blake Van Dalen. "They were not expecting this, even though as coaches we know this is how it can go especially when you go on the road and you get a fired up team. Our kids, I thought, handled it well."

 

Heppner and the Lions answered back in the second quarter.  The junior rushed for a 3 yard touchdown at the 10:32 mark and threw a 50 yard scoring strike to Grant VanderYacht as time expired before halftime. Add in a 22 yard Marco Samoukovic field goal and the Lions took a 17-7 lead into the halftime locker room. 

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Heppner, who got the start against Lakewood after senior James Marsh was knocked out of the victory over Archbishop Murphy last week with a hit to the head, added two more touchdowns in the second half. One on a 19-yard scamper into the end zone and the other on a 5 yard pass to Kobe Elsner.  the signal-caller ended the night going 10-of 23 for 186 yards through the air. He also had 21 carries for 142 yards on the ground. 

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"First off, I love James, can't replace James, he's a big part of our team... captain and senior leader," said Heppner. "I just tried to do my job. Coaches had a great game calling plays, I was just trying to do my job and the team really picked us up." 

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Eric Martin-Mann added 115 yards rushing on 15 carries for the Lions. 

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Lakewood's lone second-half score came on a 9 yard pass from Jared Taylor to Sean Phillips late in the 3rd quarter. With the loss the Cougars fall to 3-and-2 overall.  

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Both teams return to action October 5th. The Lions host Burlington in a game you can hear on The Doug Lange Network. Lakewood hits the road for a game against Archbishop Murphy.  

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- Doug Lange 

Lynden QB Brock Heppner throws to Kobe Elsner in the end zone. 

PHOTO: Doug Lange