BLAINE–Montesano’s defense couldn’t solve a potent Lynden Christian offense as the Bulldogs season ended with a 56-35 loss in a 1A State Tournament quarterfinal game on Saturday at Blaine High School.

“We didn’t have any answers,” Monte head coach Terry Jensen said after his defense got torched for 56 points and 549 yards of offense. “They have really good team speed and probably matched us, speed-wise, and they were bigger up front. They controlled the line of scrimmage. … We were able to get in the end zone a few times on them, we just couldn’t get them out of a drive.”

Montesano (10-2 overall) drew first blood when senior running back Zach Timmons capped off the Bulldogs’ first drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.

But the Lyncs (10-1) drove straight down the field and scored in three plays when quarterback Eli Mayberry connected with receiver Boyce Robertson for a 65-yard touchdown just one minute later.

Lynden Christian took a 14-7 lead when Mayberry hit Robinson with a 21-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter, but Monte responded to tie the game when senior receiver Kole Kjesbu hauled in a 16-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Tyson Perry early in the second frame.

But Mayberry continued to carve up Monte’s defense, throwing two more touchdown passes before halftime to put the Lyncs up 28-14 late in the first half.

Monte got to within a touchdown when senior Terek Gunter returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to make it a 28-21 game with just under a minute to play in the first half.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano’s Terek Gunter (17) tip-toes down the sideline en route to a 90-yard kickoff return touchdown during a 56-35 loss to Lynden Christian in a 1A State Tournament quarterfinal game on Saturday at Blaine High School.

A Lynden Christian field-goal attempt as time expired in the second quarter kept the Bulldogs within a touchdown entering halftime.

In the third quarter, the Lyncs seized control of the game.

Another long touchdown pass from Mayberry to Robertson pushed Monte’s deficit to 35-21 with less than a minute elapsed in the frame followed later by a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Treyson Johnson to go up 42-21.

On the ensuing kickoff, a squib kick deflected off on of Montesano’s up-men and recovered by Lynden Christian. Mayberry made good on the extra possession, hitting receiver Jaxon Huleatt with a 29-yard touchdown pass for a commanding 49-21 lead at the end of three quarters of play.

Montesano got back into the game early in the fourth quarter on two touchdown pass by Perry – one to Kjesbu for 22 yards and another to senior receiver Toren Crites for 13 yards – to pull the Bulldogs to within two scores at 49-35 with over nine minutes left to play.

But that was as close as Montesano would get as Mayberry capped off the Lyncs’ eighth touchdown drive of the evening with a 1-yard plunge with 3:08 left in the game.

“Sometimes, you just play teams that are better than you are and I think that might’ve been the case tonight,” Jensen said. “We competed hard for four quarters and didn’t give up … We just couldn’t get them out of drives. That’s the bottom line, they controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”

Mayberry was unstoppable for the Lyncs, completing 18-of-23 passes for 342 yards and six touchdowns while also running for a score.

Robertson caught seven passes for a game-high 182 receiving yards while Lyncs running back Chris Kooiman rushed for 173 yards on 30 carries.

Montesano was led by Perry, who completed 16-of-25 passes for 193 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano quarterback Tyson Perry (7) throws a pass during a 56-35 loss to Lynden Christian in a 1A State Tournament quarterfinal game on Saturday at Blaine High School.

Kjesbu (5 receptions, 73 yards) and Crites (5-43) each caught five passes to lead Montesano while Gunter had three receptions for 62 yards.

Montesano had 279 total yards of offense – 86 on the ground – with Timmons carrying the ball 12 times for 60 rushing yards.

The Bulldogs had 10 first downs and two turnovers – one fumble and one interception – while the Lyncs had 19 first downs and two turnovers on two fumbles.

Crites and Carter Smith earch recovered a fumble for the Bulldogs.

Jensen reflected on his senior-laden team that reached the state semis a season ago and the quarterfinal round this year.

“I just love our guys and our seniors and appreciate everything they’ve done. We always tell them the goal is to leave the program better than when they started in this program and head and shoulders they have done that,” he said. “This was a dream to coach these guys this year. We had very little problems all year long with anything. It was a pleasure to coach them. I’m very proud of them. Their parents should be very proud of them. The community and school should be very proud of them. They just represented Montesano football just as well as any team we’ve ever had.”

Montesano 7 14 0 14 – 35

Lynden Christian 14 14 21 7 – 56

Scoring

First quarter

Montesano – Timmons 5 run (Tobar kick), 8:31

Lynden Christian – Robertson 65 pass from Mayberry (Penner kick), 7:31

LC – Robertson 21 pass from Mayberry (Penner kick), 2:22

Second quarter

M – Kjesbu 16 pass from Perry (Tobar kick), 9:51

LC – Hintz 30 pass from Mayberry (Penner kick), 4:53

LC – Veldman 5 pass from Mayberry (Penner kick), 1:08

M – Gunter 90 kickoff return (Tobar kick), 0:54

Third quarter

LC – Robertson 50 pass from Mayberry (Penner kick), 11:06

LC – Johnson 1 run (Penner kick), 5:31

LC – Huleatt 29 pass from Mayberry (Penner kick), 2:58

Fourth quarter

M – Kjesbu 22 pass from Perry (Tobar kick), 11:53

M – Crites 13 pass from Perry (Tobar kick), 9:14

LC – Mayberry 1 run (Penner kick), 3:08

Passing: M – Perry 16-25-1-193. LC – Mayberry 18-23-0-342.

Rushing: M – Timmons 12-60, Gunter 4-14, Perry 5-6, Crites 2-6. LC – Kooiman 30-173, Johnson 8-32, Mayberry 5-2.

Receiving: M – Kjesbu 5-73, Crites 5-43, Gunter 3-62, Timmons 1-9, Fry 1-6. LC – Robertson 7-182, Veldman 5-50, Kooiman 2-42, Kamphouse 2-9, Huleatt 1-29, Hintz 1-30.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano running back Zach Timmons (4) carries the ball while defended by Lynden Christian’s Gavin VanLoo (33) during a 56-35 loss in a 1A State Tournament quarterfinal game on Saturday at Blaine High School.