Latest / Whatcom Preps Podcast / Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 435 - 2026 Lynden Lions Football Preview

Transcript

Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 435 - 2026 Lynden Lions Football Preview · Whatcom Preps Podcast

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Greetings and welcome into the Whatcom Preps podcast. This is
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: episode 435.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: It's the 2026 Linden football preview and I am Tyler
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Anderson of Whatcom Preps. You know, anytime we get to
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: talk about Linden football, it always seems like to be
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: a lot of topics to be had. And of course,
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: it's been an interesting offseason for the Lions and we'll
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: get into all that. But first off, we got to
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: start off with the head.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Coach, Blake Van Dalen, who's in his 10th season now.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: As the head coach for the Linden Lions. Probably about
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: 30 seasons overall, close to that, with Linden.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: As a head coach, his.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: Record is 82-21. Incredible record. One of the best winning
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: percentages in Whatcom County history. Of course, the home field
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: is Rolly DeCoster Field. Last season, they went 9-3 as
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: they bowed out in the quarterfinal round of the 2A
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: state playoffs. some big-time players that they are losing. From graduation,
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Max Ossink, Danny Bowler, Zay Harris, Brody Price, Lofa Tigalow,
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Logan Ostry, Carter Vreeling, Jax Barr. I mean, there's lots
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: of guys. But then a lot of top players that
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: were on the top 100 list from last year that
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: were underclassmen have now since moved away. Of course, Lucas Lalje,
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: the starting quarterback, and Malachi Kanan along with his brother,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: Marcus Kanan. So a lot of, uh, new faces to
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: fill there. Um, especially guys that played multiple positions. So
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: you're talking, you know, lots of openings and, you know,
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: if it's going to happen to any school, the school
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: that could probably handle it the best is probably Linden.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: They just always seem to have a new wave of
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: athletes coming that, uh, that you could rely upon and
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: can take that to take, take that role. And, you know,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: every year, it seems like there's a sophomore that I've
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: never heard of. Mostly because, you know, they, Lyndon just
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: plays freshmen on the C team. You know, they don't
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: play up on JV. They rarely, rarely, rarely ever touch
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: the field on varsity unless it's the playoffs. But, So
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: a lot of times they'll show up. I remember seeing
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Sam Arango for the first time as a sophomore going,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: I've never even heard of this guy. He's already one
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: of the best players on the field. It's kind of
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: the same way with Isaiah Stanley. There's multiple kids like
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: that every year for Linden. And I think there's a
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: multiple amount of players that could be that special sophomore
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: coming back or going to come out this season and
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: play extremely well.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: And so we'll talk about.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Some of those guys. But let's get to last season's
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: results first. They started off the season with a big
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: 38-8 win.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Over their rival Ferndale. Then they went on the road.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: And edged out Franklin Pierce 21-20. Then they took care
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: of business against Marysville Pilchuck, beating them 49-0. So undefeated,
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: going to play Anacortes. And that was a tough one.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: A lot of injuries in that game. and Anacortes beat
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Linden 26-23. Came back against two city schools, played them
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: pretty tough, beat Seaholm 38-33, then beat Squalicum 27-17. And
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: then the heartbreaking loss down south at Archbishop Murphy, 56-0.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: It's the biggest point margin loss in Linden school history in.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: A football game.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: They turn around and kind of even the score, kind
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: of turn around for them anyways to beat Lakewood 55-0.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: and then finished off the regular season with a 21-7
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: win over Burlington Edison. In their state play-in game, they
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: played Bremerton, beat them 41-14. To get them into the
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: 2A state playoffs, where they met West Valley of Spokane
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: in the first round, they won 28-14.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: And then in the quarterfinal round.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: The next week, they lost to East Valley of Yakima, 27-24.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: So nine and three on the season last year, this
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: year's schedule, um.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Not a ton different teams are in different spots or
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: I should say like opponents are in different spots, but.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: There are a few changes.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Sultan being added to the Northwest conference plus Bellingham playing
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: a full conference schedule now means that Linden only has
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: one non-conference game and they were able to match it
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: up with Ferndale. So, um, So yeah, a lot of
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: familiar opponents, but some opponents they haven't seen for a while.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: They haven't played Sultan since, boy, it's been a long
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: time since they played Sultan.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: I think there was.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Like a first round or like a play-in state game
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: out at Civic, you know, back.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: In the early 2010s.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: I think it was probably the 2011 or 2012 season,
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: maybe a little later than that. Might've been the 2012 season,
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: that really, really, really talented team. They played Sultan that year.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: I remember, They haven't played Bellingham, I think, since 2016, 2015.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Somewhere in there.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: So it's been a while, but they'll both be back
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: on the schedule this year. They're going to open up
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: the season at home against Sultan on that Friday night,
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: the 4th. Next week, they will be at Lakewood for
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: Week 2. Then they'll be on the road against Ferndale
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: in Week 3.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: Of course, that's always a big matchup. Then they turn
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: around and play a Thursday night game as they host Bellingham. Uh,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: so that'll be a lot of fun there.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: Then there'll be on the road at civic stadium and
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: week five to take on see home host Anna Cordes, uh,
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: in week six and then host Burlington Edison week seven
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: at squalicum week eight and at Archbishop Murphy in week nine. So, um,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: eight league games right there. The one non-league game is
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: the Ferndale game.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: So no weeks off. And, uh, that's kind of how
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: Lyndon likes it.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Um, Yeah, when you take a look at the team,
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: not a lot of name recognition that is returning, but
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: there is a lot of talent on this team. It
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: just might be some guys that we haven't seen a
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: ton of yet. So let's start off at the quarterback position. Obviously,
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: Lucas Lalje transfers.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: So what does Lennon do?
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: They play a lot of quarterbacks during the season. So
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: you have two other guys that have varsity experience. Gordie
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: Bedlington is now a senior. Last year, he completed 16
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: of 26 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns. He
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: also ran for 143 yards and a touchdown. So kind
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: of that dual threat, you know, just signed on to
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: Central Washington or didn't technically sign yet, but is agreed
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: to play baseball at Central Washington. So that's kind of
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: passed him. He doesn't need to worry about that. So
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: he can just he can just ball out and play.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: I'm expecting pretty big things from him, pretty excited about that.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: And Austin Postma, who's a really good athlete, he's pushing him.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: He ran for 131 yards and three touchdowns last year.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: He also completed six of seven passes for 111 yards
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: and a touchdown. So he's the number two. They both
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: can run. They both can throw. They're both winning quarterbacks.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: That's what you expect. Now, the interesting about both of
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: them is that they're both– you know, kind of backup
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: running backs as well. So, you know, you, you might
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: see them both in the backfield at the same.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Time and you just, you don't know which one's going
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: to receive the snap.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: So that could be interesting, but the main bell cow
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: at running back will be Dawson Van Dalen, a hundred
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: carries last year for 739 yards and eight touchdowns.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: Also caught three passes.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: So he's a guy that, you know, is going to
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: be extremely important to that offense.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: I think that the, you know, the.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: Experience that he got last year, although it was under
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: crummy circumstances with the injury to Max Ausink, it's super
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: beneficial for this season.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: And so, and that's, you know, that's what Linden does.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: They, they look at something that was a negative and
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: they say good and they find.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: The positive in it.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: And that's, you know, I am so envious of them
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: to be able to do that. and spin things the
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: positive way and, you know, just attack it that way.
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: It's really, really cool to see. So those are kind
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: of the main running backs that you could look for.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: There's also sophomore Nick Rentis, who's, you know, can really
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: lower the shoulder and lay the lumber much like Malachi
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: Kanan did. So you can kind of look for him
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: probably in spots where you might see him in the
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: backfield as a lead blocker a lot of the time.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: especially when they go heavy, you know, the, you know,
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: they like to go when they get inside the five,
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: they can go double tight shotgun with two backs. And
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: you just see a lead, you know, to the left
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: side and say, try and stop it. You might see
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: him be the lead blocker in a play like that.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: But you, he might get some carries as well, especially like,
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: especially when they are at the goal line, but you
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: got lots of options.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: And so he's a kid that can fit that role,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: which is really exciting to see.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: At wide receiver.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Sam Arango returns.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: I think he's got more catches and for more yards
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: and more receiving touchdowns than anybody in Whatcom County that's
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: currently active right now. So what he's done the last
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: two years has just been incredible. And um, you know,
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: what he does in the off season with getting kids
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: together to go out and, and run past patterns and catch,
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: catch footballs from the quarterbacks. And, you know, he's the
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: one getting that all together. He doesn't have to do that,
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: but he does. And he's, he's, you know, he's being
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: a tremendous guide to these younger receivers. There's a really
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: talented younger group that, um, you know, that he's, he's
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: showing them the way, you know, he's doing it the
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: right way. And so that's really, really cool to see
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: how he's paying it forward. Last year, Sam Arango had
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: 29 catches for 475 yards and five touchdowns. Gordy Bedlington,
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: when he was split out wide last year, he had
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: 18 catches for 263 yards and two touchdowns. So he's
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: a kid that you could see at multiple positions, whether
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: it's quarterback, running back or wide receiver, but you can
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: bet he'll be on the field.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: That's for sure. After that, you got a lot of.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: New names that you might see split out wide. Lawson DeBoer,
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: Phoenix LeBroy, Zane Shoddy, Jax Maggard, Austin Pease. There's a
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: lot of these guys that have shown a lot over camp.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: They all kind of can do different things. You can
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: see a lot of them be really great in the slot.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: And then tight ends, guys like Lincoln Van Rye and
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: Caden Browne, although they're more tight end builds, they have
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: the ability to be split out as well. And so
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: you don't have to change personnel based on your package
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: and stuff like that. So that's what Linden always presents.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: They present lots of bodies, lots of athletes, good size,
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: guys that hit the weight room hard. And that's why
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: they're successful year in and year out. I never count
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: Linden out. I mean, I just, you know, I did
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: it once.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: And I learned my lesson.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: I said they were going to go five and four,
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: and they lost in the semifinals to the eventual state champions,
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: which was Archbishop Murphy that year. And that Archbishop team
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: was probably better than last year's Archbishop team. And so
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: I learned my lesson, and I know that that's just Linden.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: Linden's always going to be very good. They check all
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: the boxes, the coaching, the dedication, the knowing what it
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: takes to be great, the commitment to the weight room. Um,
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: just the way the practices are, they are, they get
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: up so many reps and you hear, I go to
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: all the practices and I hear a lot of coaches say,
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: you know, less talking, more reps. We're wasting time when
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: we could be doing more, more reps. They don't really
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: have to say that at Linden.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: It's go, go, go. It's understood.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: Um, and so when you're a young player and you're
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: watching that being done, then when it's your turn to
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: wear the black shirt out of practice, then, you know, it's,
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: this is how we do things and this is why
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: we win and go forward. And when you look on
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: the back of the stadium and it shows all the
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: state championship teams, which I couldn't even tell you how many, nine, 10,
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: something like that.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: I mean, that's, that's success. That's what it takes. So,
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: so that's always awesome to see as well.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: The offensive line, which is of course always a stalwart
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: as well for the Linden lions at left tackle Zach Dykstra,
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: who is fantastic.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: You know, all state up and down.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: He can do so many things. He is the, you know,
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: the captain of that line. He is a guy that
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: is a weight room warrior. He's an awesome person. And
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: he could be, he's up there with, you know, the
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: Elliot Lenson's and the Kel Reardon's and the Caden Feldman's as,
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: you know, who's the best player in Whatcom County, overall
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: football player in Whatcom County. He's right up there with them.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: And so we'll see what kind of year he has.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: I'm sure it'll be fantastic. Left guard is Jordan Dodge.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: Center is Levi Tolsma. Right guard, Savjot Kunga. And right tackle,
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: Court Andrews. So again, you're talking pretty good beef, pretty
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: good size up front. So looking pretty good there. On
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: the defensive line, Zach Dykstra has earned that right to
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: be able to play as much defense as he can
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: as long as he doesn't miss an offensive snap. He
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: was really good on the defensive line last year in
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: limited snaps. He had 25.5 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks,
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: so he will be a weapon up front. Then it'll
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: be a lot of guys that haven't played a ton
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: of varsity football, but I think that they will definitely
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: be able to make a difference. Guys like Ben Dykstra
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: and Drayden Jarmusch and Slade Stite and Jack Williams. These
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: are guys that will, they'll be fresh because those guys
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: are not playing on the offensive line. So they'll be
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: able to come in there, make a difference right away.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: That's going to be huge.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: For Linden.
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: And that's what they can rely on. They can rotate guys.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Zach Dykstra will be the one that's kind of playing
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: both ways. You might see a core Andrew come in
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: there in certain circumstances, short yardage situations.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: Last year he had 17 tackles, two and a half sacks,
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: a fumble recovery.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: But if he's starting at right tackle and holding that down,
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: they're probably not going to want to put him too
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: much on the defensive line. I know last year he
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: played center and he was kind of going both ways,
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: but if they don't.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: Have to, they won't.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: And so that's going to be big for that defense.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: At the linebacker spot, you know, losing the two way
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: defensive player of the year is tough, but what's, what's
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: crazy is for all these years, since they were sophomores,
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: you know, they kind of had three linebackers for two spots.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: And they were all in the same class together.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Malachi Keenan was one of them, but the other two,
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: Adam Holman and Landon Tolsma were, you know, we're able
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: to go back and forth, both get some playing time.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: And now those are the two inside linebackers starting. So,
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: you know, Coach Van Dalen's got, you know, it's turning
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: into a good thing where these two seniors are getting
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: their chance to shine and play a lot more snaps
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: than they would have.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: And they will be just fine.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Adam Holben, 39 and a half tackles last year, three
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: and a half tackles for loss, a sack, a fumble recovery.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: Landon Tolsma, 27 tackles, one tackle for loss, an interception
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: and a fumble recovery. So they both bring a lot
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: of varsity experience on the inside spot. Miguel Lopez backs
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: them up. He's another senior four and a half tackles
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: last year. Nick Rentis, who I spoke about earlier as
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: a backup running back, kind of that bruiser.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: He's a hard hitter.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: That could also play that inside linebacker spot. And then
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: on the outside, you know, look for those.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: Tight ends, the Lincoln Van Rys, Caden Browns to get most.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: Of the snaps there. Lincoln Van Rys last year, eight
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: and a half tackles, one tackle for loss and an interception.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: Caden Brown last year got a.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: Little bit of time, but he looks the part. He's
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: about 6'4, 6'5.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: Looks like that traditional, you know, D end from Linden.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's a sight to see.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: So in the.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: Secondary, Sam Arango has most of the experience at corner.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: So he's kind of your main corner there.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: And you got a lot of other guys that are
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: vying on the other side for corners. A lot of
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: these younger guys, like I was talking about earlier, Austin Pease,
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Lawson DeBoer, Phoenix LeBroy. One that I'm really, that's really
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: intriguing that I'm excited about is Jack Lovren.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: Talk about him a lot during track and field.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: Just a tremendous athlete is learning what football is and how,
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: what it means and what all the terminology and stuff
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: like that. But you get it, you get an athletic
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: kid like that and teach him some, just one specific thing.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: And if they can, you know, teach him corner or
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: teach him running back or something like that, he could
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: be a weapon. So, He's a kid that might get
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: some run out there as well. And then at safety,
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: Gordie Bedlington returns. He had 20 tackles last year, a
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: tackle for loss, four passes broken up, an interception. And
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: you could pair him up with Dawson Van Dalen, who
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: had 13 and.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: A half tackles last year.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: He was part of the linebacking core, but now moved
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: back out to safety. You might see him in the box,
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: you know, as a strong safety coming up, helping in
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: the run game. But maybe cover if they see a
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: really good receiver in the slot, you can put him
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: on him. and not worry about it, which is really
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: nice to see. Other safeties you could see back there,
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: look for Austin Postma or Jax Maggard. This Jax Maggard thing,
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: I've heard a lot about him, and so I'm really
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: excited about what he can do, including kicking. He was
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: a great kicker in junior high, and it's him and
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: Austin Postma kind of competing for that spot. You know,
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: you might see Jack Smeggard kick. You may see Austin
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: Postma punt, you know, Austin Postma, the goalie on the
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: soccer team. So very used to holding a ball and
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: drop kicking it. Right. I mean, that's what punting is. And,
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: and what a great athlete to have back there. And
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: he's a quarterback. So you got to respect that.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: You might have to, you know, play a zone defense
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: against the punt. You never know. So it's nice that,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: you know, Lyndon has those weapons and, And Maggard and
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: Postma can both run, too.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: So you've got to be ready for that. They might
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: not have Troy Pett's speed, but who does? But they're
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: still going to be extremely effective in that game. And
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: kick returns, they don't return a lot of guys that
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: have done the kickoff returning. So it's kind of hard
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: to say who will be back there. With punt returning,
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: you know, Gordie Bedlington had that punt return for a touchdown.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: I believe it was against Bremerton in the play-in game.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: But how often do you have your starting quarterback return punts?
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: So you might see a handful of different guys return punts.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: It could depend on who was playing free safety at
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: that time. It could depend on who's going to be
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: the starting quarterback on the following drive. There's no shortage
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: of return guys. You know, you might see Jax Maggard
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: back there. We'll just have to wait and see. So very,
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: very exciting. You know, there's, like I said earlier, there's
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: so much talk about the kids that transferred out and,
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: but what it does is it really opens the door
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: and gives confidence to more kids and it helps for
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: the future. And, you know, when you, when I look
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: at the conference, I think that as a whole, I
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: don't know if it's going to be as strong as
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: it was last year. I'm talking top to bottom. I
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: think Archbishop Murphy is still the class of the league,
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: but I don't think they're as good as they were
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: last year. I think Anacortes is very, very good. I
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: don't know if they're as good as they were last year.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: You know, see him return some, some good players. I
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: don't think they can go on the run they did
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: last year. So you start to see that and you,
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: You know, Linden, a lot of people are going to say, well,
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: they lost so many guys. I don't see their drop-off
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: being very significant, if at all. So I think that's
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: a good thing for them. I do think Squalicum has improved.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: I think Lakewood will improve. I think Burlington Edison is
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: always kind of scary. And Bellingham, this will be their
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: first time playing Linden for a while, so we'll have
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: to see what they can do too. But, you know,
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: like I said, as a whole, I don't know if
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: it's– as strong or the teams are individually as strong
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: up and down. So this could be a really interesting
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: year in the Northwest conference at the two way classification.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: And we'll just kind of have to wait and see
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: how it goes. But again, very, very excited.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: I think that, you know, Linden football is always, there's
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: something magical about going to that stadium. And, you know,
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: with the band playing and it's, it's very old school,
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: you know, kind of, you know, not, it doesn't fit
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: a lot of people. So it looks packed.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: It's always super packed.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: And, and you got a lot of people standing around
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: the track and, you know, you can, there's like pockets,
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: there's areas where you go, yeah, that's where so-and-so always stands.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: And that's where so-and-so always stands. And it's just kind of,
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: you know, this is, this is football. You know, you, you,
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: the certain smells, the certain sites, the certain sounds, you know,
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: hearing the cheerleaders, hearing the band, hearing the, the hum
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: of the crowd.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: It's a, it's one of.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: Those places where if you've never been to a game
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: at Linden high school, it's, it's worth just going to
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: just to experience it because it is different than a
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: lot of other places. There's something really, really fun about it.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: You know, I know Lawrence Honkoop doesn't call the games anymore,
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: but that was, that used to be part of it.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: That was part of the ambiance, like hearing that voice,
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: you know, it was just, you know, a Brock Heppner
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: on the pass. Like it's just, you know, you heard
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: that you, you, and it would bring you back. I mean,
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: I've watched old game film from the, eighties and it's the,
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: it was the same, right. Um, and those same sounds
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: and everything, and even though so much has changed. So, um,
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: so it's really cool.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: You know, one of the few schools left that has
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: natural grass and, and, um, they were only down to
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: a few, you know, Linden, Linden.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: Christian, Baker and Meridian. I think that's it now to
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: actually have natural grass at their home stadium. So, so
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: seven that have turf, four that have grass. I, I, I, I,
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: I guess I knew in my lifetime I would be
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: saying that, but it still seems kind of odd. But, yeah,
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: really excited about Linden this year. Here's another thing about Linden.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: They have more linemen on their roster than they do receivers.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: I don't– you know, there's not.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: A lot of teams that can say that, and that's
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: just kind of– and especially for Linden, who's a spread
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: offense– they just have a big wave of linemen coming. And,
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: you know, you got Ed Ballmer, who's one of the
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: best offensive line coaches. And you got Jay Dodd, who
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: is a tremendous offensive lineman himself, helping out. And I know,
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: I think he's coaching the receivers, but, you know, that
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: eye for linemen, you know, it's just a really cool thing.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: So Linden football, be ready. It's going to be fantastic.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: And I'm excited to be part of the ride, as
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: small as that may be. Well, you've been listening to
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Episode 435, the 2026 Linden Football Preview. I am Tyler
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: Anderson of Wacom Prefs, and be sure to catch us
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: tomorrow morning when we talk about Blaine football.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: So be ready for that.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: And until then, we'll talk to you at that time.