Monday, Oct. 06, 2008
MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: Coaching staff inspires Mariners
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closeWhen the Sehome football team didn't emerge from the halftime locker room until less than 50 seconds remained on the clock, it would be easy to assume coach Kevin Johnson had plenty to say to his team.
The topics to chose from were many, after the Mariners allowed Mount Baker 130 yards rushing on 18 carries in the first half and found themselves in a 21-0 hole.
But Johnson didn't address his team immediately.
"We didn't say anything until the final two or three minutes," Johnson said. "We just came in here and let them marinate on it a little bit."
Considering it was Sehome's homecoming game, and halftime was 20 minutes, the Mariners had a little extra time to soak it all in.
When Johnson did talk, he made his words count.
"I wanted to remind them why they're playing football," Johnson said. "It was a little bit of a gut-check for them. I told them that it was time to make a decision whether they wanted to repeat what we had done in the past of if they wanted to get Sehome moving in the right direction. I think we got their attention a little."
They certainly did.
Sehome did not allow Mount Baker another point and limited the Mountaineers to 67 rushes on 19 second-half attempts, allowing the offense to score 22 unanswered points, including Trey Meyer's game-winning 31-yard field goal.
"It wasn't an Xs and Os thing," Johnson said. "It wasn't scheme, and it wasn't personnel. It was a line drawn in the sand, and they answered the challenge."
DAVID RASBACH
SENIORS LEADING PIONEERS' RESURGENCE
There are lots of reasons why the Nooksack Valley High School football team is off to a 4-1 start this season, but the biggest reason is probably its core of senior players.
That group has never known a winning season, though it came close two years ago, and the seniors would like nothing more than to finish their high school football careers with a trip to the Class 1A state playoffs.
"It's just crazy when you think about it," Nooksack Valley senior Dante Aure said. "From our freshman year on none of us seniors have had a winning year. We're just trying to turn this program around."
It's evident on the field what the seniors mean to this team, particularly on defense where sometimes playing with emotion can trump size and speed. In Nooksack Valley's 26-0 win over Lynden Christian on Friday, Oct. 3, Aure and the rest of the seniors were acting as the emotional catalysts for the Pioneers from pregame warm-up to the final seconds. It made a big difference.
"It was a really emotional game for us," Aure said. "It was one we wanted to win."
JOE SUNNEN
BOMBER GETS SOME HELP
Lynden is no one man show.
Blair Bomber turned in quite the performance in Lynden's 25-3 Northwest Conference victory over Blaine on Friday night. He scored all four of the Lions' touchdowns in just about every way possible. Bomber scored on offense, defense and on special teams.
But he did not give himself all the credit for the victory. After the Lions lost to Ferndale 41-6 last week, they were looking to bounce back in a big way.
"We were really determined this week," Bomber said. "Everybody. Just because I scored a couple points doesn't mean it was just me that wanted it. If I scored it was because somebody blocked, somebody threw the ball, somebody did something that made it so I could make something happen."
Bomber's performance was much needed after the Lions were slow to get going against the Borderites. Lynden fumbled and lost the ball three times in the first quarter.
"When you put the ball on the ground three times you make your job that much more difficult," Lynden coach Curt Kramme said. "Also, it makes the other team feel good about themselves as well. It just makes our task very difficult."
But Bomber and the Lions turned things around after the half to score 19 unanswered points. And the formula was simple really.
"It sounds kind of ridiculous but we didn't turn the ball over," Kramme said. "We were able to finish drives."
SOMER BREEZE
WALSER EXPECTED TO BE OK
Ray Walser is fine. That's what Mount Vernon coach Jaxon Schweikert said about his starting quarterback and the Northwest Conference's leading passer entering Friday night. Walser left the Bulldogs' 16-5 loss to Bellingham and did not return after being injured on a rushing play in the second quarter.
Schweikert would not elaborate on the details of Walser's injury, but he did express the utmost confidence in Mount Vernon's backup quarterback, Jake Weber.
Weber struggled a bit against a stout Bellingham defense, completing 13 of 30 passes and throwing two late interceptions after Walser's departure on Friday. But it was clear the junior signal caller, who also rushed the ball 11 times, could be the center of the Bulldogs' offensive scheme - at least for one game.
"Jake's a great player," Schweikert said.
BEN FLETCHER
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