BELLINGHAM - The most successful postseason stretch in the Nooksack Valley football team's history came to an end on Friday, Nov. 4.

Cedar Park Christian's Michael Holmquist's 34-yard field goal attempt with 7.4 seconds remaining slid over the crossbar, lifting the Eagles to a 24-21 victory at Civic Stadium in the Class 1A Tri-District Playoffs and ending the Pioneers' season.

"Our guys came in here expecting to win tonight," Nooksack Valley coach Robb Myhre said. "We had big plans for the future. Unfortunately, we just couldn't get it done."

Cedar Park Christian's powerful ground game and Nooksack Valley's missed opportunities in the first half proved to be too much for the Pioneers to overcome.

Before Friday's loss, the Pioneers (7-3) had made it to at least the quarterfinals of the 1A State Playoffs three straight years.

"It's been a heck of a run for these guys," Myhre said. "We've had a lot of fun along the way. We've had some tremendous players and some big wins. The last four years, we've probably had just about as much success as any other school."

But hopes of making it to state fourth straight time ended with Holmquist's boot.

With the scored tied at 21, Nooksack Valley pinned the Eagles deep in their own territory midway through the fourth quarter, and Cedar Park seemed content to run out the clock.

But after stringing together a couple of first downs to reach midfield, backup quarterback Connor Johnson weaved his way for 28 yards on a scramble after Nooksack Valley's pressure flushed him from the pocket.

Two plays later at the Nooksack 28, the Pioneers were called for encroachment on a strange formation the Eagles used, where the entire offense came up to the ball, before splitting out wide of the center. It was the second time Nooksack Valley was flagged on a play like that, both times bringing boos from the home side stands.

"We had a hard time with that one," Myhre said. "Our guys were coming hard, and you almost have to wonder if it was a play where their intentions were to get the penalty. ... That last one certainly helped give them the yardage they needed for the field goal."

Johnson then added a 6-yard run to set up Holmquist at the Nooksack Valley 17 after Cedar Park was granted a timeout, though the scoreboard showed they had none remaining. Myhre said the officials had informed the Nooksack bench well before the play that the Eagles still had a timeout remaining.

While it didn't end that way, the bounces were certainly going Nooksack Valley's way early, as Levi Schram recovered a slow-rolling onside kick that Cedar Park Christian players seemingly refused to pounce on.

Nine plays later, Trevon Myhre attempted to cap off the drive with a 4-yard run, but he lost control of the ball as he neared the goal line. The ball took three hops into the end zone and went right into the arms of Tito Nolasco for a Pioneers touchdown 4:03 into the game.

The Eagles answered with a methodical nine-play drive down the field, capped by a 10-yard bruising run by fullback Brent Reidt to tie the game at 7.

"Give Cedar Park credit," Myhre said. "They're a big physical team, and they came here ready to play tonight. They made the plays when they needed to."

It took Nooksack Valley only three plays to grab the lead back, as Trey Handy beat his cover down the left side line, and Myhre found him in stride for a 51-yard scoring play.

After Bret Rediger recovered a Reidt fumble on Cedar Park's next possession, Nooksack Valley looked ready to take control. With the help of an encroachment penalty on fourth-and-3, the Pioneers drove to the Eagles' 4, but Nolsaco lost control of the ball while fighting for the goalline, and Chase Houser recovered.

That was the start of three straight promising Nooksack Valley possessions that came up empty to keep the Eagles in the game.

Myhre was intercepted by Brendan Hicks after the Pioneers reached the Cedar Park 21 on their next possession with 2:03 to play in the half.

B.J. Salmonson got the ball back for Nooksack Valley when he sacked Joshua Ionesi and Tyler Warner recovered the resulting fumble.

Thanks to a 53-yard run by Myhre, the Pioneers got to the Eagles' 1, but Nooksack Valley elected to run a quarterback sneak behind Salmonson with 15.5 seconds left on the clock and no timeouts in their pocket. The Pioneers couldn't get off another snap before the clock expired, and Nooksack Valley was forced to return to the locker room with a 14-7 lead.

"We definitely missed some opportunities in the first half," Myhre said. "Looking back on it, I sure it's possible to second guess some of the decisions that were made. But we got the ball in the hands of the guys that we thought could make the big plays for us, and it just didn't happen for us a few times there."

Cedar Park Christian appeared ready to make the Pioneers pay for their inability to capitalize, as the Eagles took their first possession of the second half and drove as deep as the Nooksack 9, but got pushed back by a holding penalty on first-and-goal. After Cedar Park failed to find the end zone, Tanner Myhre blocked a 30-yard field goal attempt by Holmquist to maintain the Pioneers' seven-point lead.

But the Eagles finally broke through on the first play of the fourth quarter, when Daniel Watts took a toss around the right tackle for a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal, tying the game at 14.

Nooksack Valley's next drive went nowhere, and Johnson's 37-yard punt return set Cedar Park up at the Pioneers' 13. From there, it took only three plays before Andrew Rickman took a toss 2 yards around left end to give the Eagles their first lead of the game with 8:29 to play.

Nooksack Valley's offense finally woke up from its slumber after allowing the first half to run out, when Myhre hooked up with Tyson Perry for a 52-yard pass to the Eagles' 22. Four plays later, Myhre kept it from the 4 and dove into the end zone to tie things up again at 21.

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 360-715-2271.

Cedar Park Chr. 7 0 0 17- 24

Nooksack Valley 14 0 0 7- 21

First quarter

NV - Tito Nolasco fumble recovery in end zone (Ethan Vinup kick)

CPC - Brend Reidt 10 run (Michael Holmquist kick)

NV - Trey Handy 51 pass from Trevon Myhre (Vinup kick)

Fourth quarter

CPC - Danile Watts 1 run (Holmquist kick)

CPC - Andrew Rickman (Holmquist kick)

NV - Myhre 4 run (Vinup kick)

CPC - Holmquist 34 FG

CPC NV

First downs 21 15

Rushing Att-Yards 52-291 23-94

Comp-Att-Int 2-6-0 17-27-1

Passing yards 28 204

Penalties-yards 7-54 6-45

Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-1

Individual leaders

RUSHING - Cedar Park Christian: Daniel Watts 17-108, Andrew Rickman 16-83, Joshua Ionesi 6-34, Stephen Hunsaker 1-4, Brent Reidt 3-10, Connor Johnson 9-52. Nooksack Valley: Tito Nolasco 2-1, Trevon Myhre 17-62, Trey Handy 3-29, Tanny Myhre 1-2.

PASSING - Cedar Park Christian: Joshua Ionesi 1-1-0-20, Connor Johnson 1-5-0-8. Nooksack Valley: Trevon Myhre 17-27-1-204.

RECEIVING - Cedar Park Christian: Stephen Hunsaker 1-20, Daniel Watts 1-8. Nooksack Valley: Trey Handy 6-79, Tyson Perry 5-98, Tito Nolasco 1-5, Bret Rediger 5-22.