2A football: Hockinson season ends, but much to look forward to

BELLINGHAM — The first trip to the Class 2A state playoffs.

The first victory in the state playoffs.

And the team’s first loss? It came in late November.

That means a lot of good things happened for the Hockinson Hawks this football season.

Not much went Hockinson’s way Saturday against the three-time defending state champions. The Lynden Lions scored 42 points in a row to force a running clock and ended up beating the Hawks 52-28 in the Class 2A quarterfinals at Civic Stadium.

The Hawks, while upset over the season-ending loss, were able to celebrate all that they did accomplish in 2014.

“We have a great program we are building,” said sophomore quarterback Mitch Lines, who threw three touchdown passes — two to junior Kedrick Johnson and one to junior Cameron Loos — on Saturday. “I think it’s going to continue to get better and better through the years.”

If so, then these Hawks will know this is the team that got it started. Lines said to credit the senior leaders for setting the tone.

“All of our seniors have been great role models, going out and playing hard,” Lines said. “It paid off.”

It added up to an 11-win season.

“Obviously it’s a disappointing end. But we did a fantastic job of getting our kids here to see what Elite Eight football is about,” Hockinson coach Rick Steele said. “Just getting here is big for our program. We’re sad we lost this football game but happy the kids got to see a real good football team and they got to experience this.”

If all goes to Hockinson’s plan, this will lead to more playoff appearances, more playoff victories. The Hawks also had got the opportunity to learn from the best. The Lions have won five of the past six state titles.

“I think we played hard, but they’re a great team and they outplayed us,” Lines said of the Lions. “We made a couple mistakes, and that was that.”

The Lions scored on their first play from scrimmage, just after their defense intercepted a Hockinson pass. Sterling Somers found Jordan Wittenberg on a 33-yard touchdown, made easier when Hockinson’s defensive back fell down.

Two miscues, and a quick Lynden lead.

“If we were going to win this game against them, we had to make no mistakes,” Steele said. “They’re too good. We made too many mistakes, and we paid for them. They’re just a damn good football team.”

Still, the Hawks were not intimidated. They responded with an eight-play, 69-yard drive, capped when Lines found Johnson on a 13-yard pass to tie the game.

The rest of the half was all Lynden.

Trent Postma had two touchdown runs, Scooter Hastings caught a touchdown pass, and then Wittenberg crushed Hockinson’s hope with a touchdown catch on a Hail Mary on the final play of the first half.

“We practice that every Thursday,” Wittenberg said. “We focus on the last seven points we could get in a half. It fell right in my arms.”

That put Lynden up 35-7.

“We were all fired up in the locker room,” Wittenberg said. “But we knew we needed to come out in the second half with the same intensity.”

The Lions did just that, with Postma returning the second-half kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown and a 42-7 lead.

A few minutes later, Hastings made it a running clock when he returned an interception 26 yards for a Lynden touchdown and a 42-point advantage.

It was over, but it wasn’t for the Hawks. Loos made a nice catch from Lines, then broke free for a 54-yard scoring play. Later, Lines hit Kedrick Johnson for another touchdown pass.

The Hawks still weren’t done. Back-up quarterback Gage Seekins escaped a pass rush, flipped the ball to Austen Johnson, who then ran around and away from the Lions on the way to a 56-yard scoring play, giving Hockinson 28 points.

“Our coach tells us to play until the last play no matter what the score is,” Loos said. “I tried to play my heart out.”

That is the story of Hockinson’s season, too.

“It was a great run, man,” Loos said.

LYNDEN 52, HOCKINSON 28

Hockinson 7 0 7 14—28

Lynden 14 21 14 3—52

First quarter

Lyn — Jordan Wittenberg 33 pass from Sterling Somers (Per Wolfisberg kick)

Hoc — Kedrick Johnson 13 pass from Mitch Lines (Quentin Bodenhamer kick)

Lyn — Trent Postma 9 run (Wolfisberg kick)

Second quarter

Lyn — Scooter Hastings 12 pass from Somers (Wolfisberg kick)

Lyn — Postma 9 run (Wolfisberg kick)

Lyn — Wittenberg 33 pass from Somers (Wolfisberg kick)

Third quarter

Lyn — Postma 92 kickoff return (Wolfisberg kick)

Lyn — Hastings 26 interception return (Wolfisberg kick)

Hoc — Cameron Loos 54 pass from Lines (Bodenhamer kick)

Fourth quarter

Hoc — K. Johnson 14 pass from Lines (Bodenhamer kick)

Lyn — Ezra Arneson 25 FG

Hoc — Austen Johnson 56 pass from Gage Seekins (Bodenhamer kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Hockinson: A. Johnson 8-42, Tommy Harshaw 7-33, Steven Carlisle 1-(minus 1), Lines 2-(minus 7), Joe Davis 4-16. Lynden: Postma 9-52, Somers 6-52, Dalton Ohligschlager 4-17, Clark Hazlett 3-9, Travis Vanzanten 2-2, Jacob Hommes 2-3,

PASSING — Hockinson: Lines 6-20-2-101, A. Johnson 1-1-0-22, Seekins 1-1-0-56. Lynden: Somers 13-18-1-211, Hazlett 2-8-1-33.

RECEIVING — Hockinson: K. Johnson 5-66, A. Johnson 2-59, Loos 1-54. Lynden: Wittenberg 7-134, Jonathan Whetnall 2-6, Hastings 3-53, Ben Colwell 2-40, Ben Haase 1-11.