No. 4 Lynden Christian rocks No. 3 Nooksack Valley, sends more shockwaves throughout Class 1A ranks

If upsetting Royal on the road two weeks ago wasn't enough of a message from Lynden Christian to the rest of the state, then upending county rival and third-ranked Nooksack Valley should be.

After a 30-7 victory, the Lyncs are for real. Again.

Nooksack Valley got on the board first in the second quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run from junior quarterback Joey Brown.

That's as pretty as it would get for the Pioneers. The remaining 30 points of the game belonged to Lynden Christian.

"We have a lot of good athletes and one ball," Lynden Christian coach Greg Terpstra said. "We haven't had to rely on just running Kade (Eldridge) ragged. We've got a lot of kids that can contribute."

Following Brown's touchdown, Eldridge ran the ensuing kickoff back 80 yards for a touchdown.

Then, it was quarterback Jeremiah Wright from 8 yards out for the 14-7 lead.

With Nooksack Valley driving late in the first half, Brown threw his first interception of the game to Lynden Christian's Kayden Stuit. That shut the door on the first half with Lyncs leading 14-7.

The Lyncs scored on a safety and touchdown receptions by Tyler Sipma and Dawson Bouma in the second half to blow the game open.

Terpstra gave credit to his defensive coaching staff in preparing the team for the Pioneers throughout the practice week.

"Coach (Kent) Bouma has a really good defense going," Terpstra said. "We have great athletes on the back end. We've got athletic guys up front that are good at reading and getting to running backs before they get too far."

Nooksack Valley coach Craig Bartl said the offense just couldn't find its footing after the early goings of the game.

"Linebackers played good – they were aggressive and we were on our heels for a bit," Bartl said. "Our offense stalled out after we moved the ball on that second drive."

The win gives Lynden Christian its second win over a top-10 opponent this season. This one holds a little more significance with not only Whatcom County bragging rights on the line, but it also gives the Lyncs the inside track to the 1A Northwest Conference title.