Lynx look to pounce on Lincoln

By: 
Cat Clark, Journal sports

Lynx QB Tom Scholten gets the pass off to Cade Terveer just as Washington’s Peyton Nieuwsma arrives on scene during saturday’s Pigskin Classic. The Warriors won 45-6. Jill Meier/BV Journal
Cat Clark
Journal sports
 
The Lynx football team waited 285 days to get their rematch with Washington, who topped them 41-31 in the 2016 11AAA state title tilt. On Saturday, Brandon Valley found out what the rest of the state already assumed, that the Warriors were as advertised and primed to defend their crown by topping the Lynx 45-6.
BV kicked off to open up the 17th annual Pigskin Classic and the Warriors wasted no time. Just five plays in junior quarterback Jayden Johannsen connected with Shiloh Flanagan and the 6-foot-4 senior took it to the house from 59 yards to put the visitors on the board first.
Less than four minutes later SFW would once again find the end zone via the air. This time Johannsen found 6-foot-7 SDSU commit Zach Heinz for an 86-yard TD strike for the 14-0 score. The Warriors capped off the first quarter with a 26-yard field goal to make it 17-0. Lynx head coach Chad Garrow knew his team had an uphill battle from there.
“Obviously we knew they were good,” Garrow stated. “We also knew it would be hard with 80 percent of our guys making their varsity debut, while 90 percent of their team played in the state title game last year. It’s tough when they strike first on a slant pass, we go three-and-out, and then they score on another long pass. We were just too young to dig that big of a hole, but we will learn from it and move on.”
Garrow entered the week evaluating three quarterbacks for the starting job going with sophomore Thomas Scholten. He was never able to connect on a big play, as he went 15-23 for 100 yards and BV’s only touchdown late in the third quarter to senior Cade Terveer. Garrow said that Scholten displayed better accuracy in camp and in the end, gives them the best chance to move the ball through the air. It was only his first career-start at the varsity level, but Garrow was pleased with what he saw.
“We didn’t want to overwhelm him, so we didn’t put a lot on the menu for him. I was really happy with the way the offensive line protected him. Now we just need to get Braiden (Petersen) going out of the backfield,” Garrow said of his offense.
While the Lynx defense had trouble with the Warriors’ passing attack, they did a great job holding SFW’s Tupak Kpeayeh to 57 yards on the ground. Garrow said it wasn’t easy for his own running back, Braiden Petersen, to get going either. SFW kept the senior in check, allowing 75 yards on 24 carries. 
“Washington has dudes all over the field, that’s no secret,” Garrow said. “They stacked the box to shut down Braiden and their secondary was good enough to cover our wide-outs one-on-one. As a staff, we need to figure out a way to get Braiden outside where he is most effective. We played a team nobody can match up with, at least not right now. We will continue to get better both as a staff and as a team.”
The Lynx won’t have long to lick their wounds as they will be tested on Friday when Lincoln travels to Brandon. The Patriots are coming off of a heart-breaking last-minute loss to Rapid City Central. With both the Lynx and the Patriots hungry for their first win, Garrow expects his boys to rise to the challenge. 
“Both teams are coming in with tough losses, although very different losses. The Pats have a good QB in Presten Eisenbraun, but we can’t judge their defense against the very awkward offense the Cobblers threw at them. I expect another good crowd and for our team to be ready for another big test. In the end, hopefully we can take what we learned against Washington and turn it into a win,” Garrow said. 

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