After the tragic loss of Coach Curt Kramme, the Lynden football program has decided to stay within the program. After serving the past 20 seasons as an assistant under Kramme, including the last eight as the defensive coordinator, Blake VanDalen has been chosen as the new head coach of the Lions.

“The last 20 years has been an amazing gift,” VanDalen said during a phone interview. “Bittersweet would be the only way to describe how I’m feeling. I just want to represent all that Coach Kramme has done in the last 26 years.”

VanDalen is currently teaching physical education and weight training at Lynden High School.

“I was fortunate enough to be there when we went up to to 3A, and then back down to 2A,” he said. “I was there when we went down to Texas to learn the spread offense, and when we won six state championships in eight years. I learned from the best”

As a 1990 graduate of Lynden, VanDalen played for both Rollie DeKoster and Ross Boice. As a senior he was named All-League 2nd Team at defensive back.