Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Monday, Nov. 23, 2009

PREP FOOTBALL: Lummi, Lynden, Nooksack ready for state semifinals

Mapquest.com lists the distance between Nooksack Valley High School and the Tacoma Dome as 141.34 miles, but you don't have to tell coach Robb Myhre or his football team that.

"It's definitely been a goal of ours for a long time to play indoors there at the Dome," Myhre said in a phone interview. "We've talked about it for a couple years now - and we've talked about how many miles that trip is."

It seems even longer when considering that the Pioneers have not played in a state semifinal since 1975 - a game they lost to Raymond 24-0 at Renton.

But by coming back to beat King's 54-47 on Friday, Nov. 20, in the Class 1A state quarterfinals, Nooksack Valley earned the second trip to state football semifinals in school history. It also earned the right to play its first state playoff game indoors at the Tacoma Dome.

"It's definitely been a goal and a mission for our kids," Myhre said. "At small schools, you see groups of athletes come in that are really strong and others that are a little more like a rollercoaster. We've been watching this group since they were in seventh or eighth grade and the group ahead of them with the four strong kids. We knew the mixture this year would be really good, and if we ever had a group of seniors capable of getting to Tacoma, it would be this year's seniors. It's been a lot of fun to watch them grow and get to this point."

Now the goal is for that group of seniors to get Nooksack Valley (11-2) into its first state championship game.

To do that, they'll have to beat Cascade Christian (12-0), which knocked off Montesano 13-12 in a 1A state quarterfinal on Saturday, Nov. 21. The Pioneers and Cougars will play at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 28, in Tacoma.

That will be the third and final semifinal of the weekend involving a school from Whatcom County. Lynden and Lummi also hope to advance to their respective state championship games, as this weekend marks the first time since 2006 that the county has sent three schools to the football semifinals.

Lynden will be making its fourth straight trip in the Class 2A semifinals and its seventh semifinal appearance in the past nine years.

The Lions (11-1) advanced with an impressive 31-0 victory over Sequim in the rain on Saturday at Silverdale Stadium.

The defending 2A state champions face Archbishop Murphy in the semifinals for the second straight year. Lynden won last year's battle at Tacoma 21-13, but lost a season-opening rematch at Qwest Field in Seattle 34-20.

The Lions and Wildcats (11-1) are scheduled to kickoff at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Tacoma Dome.

Lummi will get the weekend started for Whatcom County on Friday, Nov. 27, with its 4 p.m. Class 1B state semifinal against Neah Bay.

The Blackhawks (9-3) advanced to the semifinals for the fourth time in five years with a 66-16 first-round victory over Wishkah Valley on Friday, while Neah Bay (11-0) held off Lake Quinault 20-14 to advance.

The Red Devils have given Lummi two of its three losses this season, beating the visiting Blackhawks 28-22 on Sept. 26 before earning the regular-season sweep with a 50-30 win at Lummi on Oct. 31.

SEMIFINAL SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, NOV. 27

CLASS 1B STATE SEMIFINAL

Lummi vs. Neah Bay (at Tacoma Dome), 4 p.m.

SATURDAY, NOV. 28

CLASS 2A STATE SEMIFINAL

Lynden vs. Archbishop Murphy (at Tacoma Dome), 10 a.m.

CLASS 1A STATE SEMIFINAL

Cascade Christian vs. Nooksack Valley (at Tacoma Dome), 1 p.m.