Class 2A football semifinals: Lynden Christian drops ball with victory in its grasp
TACOMA — Caleb Rose was ready for the worst.
"I thought it was over," Rose said.
The game, the season, the dream of winning a second straight Class 2A state championship. All seemed over for Rose and his Elma teammates.
Except that Lynden Christian quarterback Mark Holleman mistakenly believed the same thing. And after one of the most bizarre finishes to a high-school football game in state history, instead it was all over for the Lyncs as Elma pulled out a miracle, 20-19 victory at the Tacoma Dome.
All because Rose, a heady defensive end, realized that the scoreboard horn didn't signal the end of the game. Only an official's whistle could, and none had blown after Holleman raced 50 yards into his own end zone for what was supposed to be a safety that would seal Lynden Christian's upset.
The Lyncs' senior quarterback, who had been the hero with two touchdown passes, dropped the football in the end zone and raised his arms in victory as teammates and fans began to celebrate. But Rose, who had doggedly chased Holleman, calmly picked up the discarded ball for the game-winning touchdown, earning the Eagles a return trip to Saturday's championship game.
"He just reached out with the ball and dropped it like the game was over, and it's not over until the ball's down," Rose said. "So I just picked it up. I just knew the ball was live. Always go with the whistle."
When the whistle was blown, Lynden Christian (10-2) had suffered a heartbreaking semifinal loss to the Eagles for the second year in a row. Last year, Todd Basler scored with a little over a minute to play to lift Elma to a 23-16 victory. The Eagles went on the beat Othello for the title, 43-33.
This time, Elma will play No. 4 Connell (11-1) in Saturday's 1 p.m. championship game at the Tacoma Dome. In yesterday's other semifinal, Connell routed No. 2 Cashmere 48-13 in Kennewick.
Elma's unlikely victory will go down as one of the wildest finishes in state-playoff history. Players and fans on both sides celebrated in unison, each believing they'd won. When the disappointment sank in, several Lynden Christian players tossed their helmets and fell to the artificial turf.
Later, they were sequestered in their locker room and reporters were told there would be no interviews, not even by Coach Dan Kaemingk, until after the team returned home to Lynden. The mood was obvious.
"We're sick about it," said Melinda Kaemingk, the coach's wife, while waiting outside the door.
Minutes earlier, Elma players and fans experienced similar emotions.
"I was about ready to bust up crying," Elma senior quarterback Danny Hill said.
Elma Coach Jim Hill had a trickle of sweat rolling down his cheek during the post-game interview. It easily could have been a tear of relief. But Hill, Danny's dad, showed compassion for the Lyncs from Whatcom County.
"That's a really tough loss," he said. "My heart goes out to them. But we'll take it."
The Eagles (11-1) took their lumps from a fired-up Lynden Christian defense most of the game. They had a minus-11 yards of total offense in the first half as the Lyncs recorded three sacks while racing to a 19-7 lead.
"Their defense is tremendous," Danny Hill said. "They put a lot of pressure on our line. They always bring one extra guy than our guys can block."
How bad was it? Before Hill picked up a bad snap out of the shotgun and hurled a 26-yard touchdown pass to Justin Zepp with 49 seconds left in the third quarter, the Eagles had barely made it to positive yardage — 1 yard.
Their first touchdown came on a 66-yard interception return by Zepp midway through the second quarter.
Basler, the most prolific scorer in state history with 93 career touchdowns, was kept out of the end zone and finished with a season-low 24 yards on 10 carries.
Danny Hill completed 6 of 16 passes for 70 yards, giving him 2,024 for the season and pushing him past Bethel's Johnny DuRocher to No. 9 on the all-time career list with 6,821 yards.
None of the yards came easily yesterday.
"That's an awfully good football team," Coach Hill said of the Lyncs. "There aren't many 3A or 4A teams that could compete with that team, either. They're flat loaded. We're loaded, too, but they kind of dominated us for a while."
Offensively, Holleman had been everywhere for the Lyncs, moving from quarterback to running back to receiver. He put them up 6-0 less than 11/2 minutes into the game with a 48-yard touchdown pass to Darin Meenderinck (a bad snap foiled the extra-point kick).
On the first play of the second quarter, Holleman pitched to Meenderinck, who tossed a perfect, 24-yard halfback pass to a wide-open Kyle De Boer for a TD.
He didn't let Zepp's interception return faze him, although the lead was now just 12-7. He capped a 12-play, 59-yard drive with a 26-yard TD toss to Zepp, faking the run and then pulling up to find Zepp all along in the end zone.
Elma's final possession ended when Alex Bratt intercepted a Hill pass at the 30 and returned it to midfield with 1:39 left.
It was fourth-and-10 from the 50 with seven seconds left when the Lyncs called time out and decided to go for a safety.
| Lynden Christian 6 13 0 0 — 19 Elma 0 7 7 6 — 20 |
LC — Kyle DeBoer 24 pass from Meenderinck (pass failed)
Elma — Justin Zepp 66 pass interception (Tyson Boling kick)
LC — DeBoer 24 pass from Holleman (Jess Honcoop kick)
Elma — Zepp 26 pass from Danny Hill (Boling kick)
Elma — Caleb Rose fumble recovery in end zone (no extra point attempted)
Rushing — Lynden Christian: Mark Holleman 14-(-17), Darin Meenderinck 14-59, Nathan Bosman 8-10, Jordan Vanderpol 5-4, Travis Kendon 1-10. Elma: Todd Basler 10-24, Danny Hill 9-(-11).
Passing — Lynden Christian: Mark Holleman 3-13-2, 87 yards; Darin Meenderinck 1-1-0, 24 yards. Elma: Danny Hill 6-16-2, 70 yards; Todd Basler 0-1-0.
Receiving — Lynden Christian: Darin Meenderinck 2-61; Kyle DeBoer 2-50. Elma: Tyson Boling 3-10, Justin Zepp 1-26, Mike Ejiawoko 1-25, Mitch Olson 1-9.