Sports - High Schools

POSTED: Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

PREP FOOTBALL: Perry lifts Nooksack Valley to playoff win over Lynden Christian

NOOKSACK - It was most likely his last time playing on Sid Lambert Field this season, so Nooksack Valley junior quarterback Tyler Perry decided to wear some of it home.

After the traditional postgame handshake with Lynden Christian following the Pioneers' 19-0 Class 1A Northwest District playoff victory over the Lyncs, Perry decided to slosh through the midfield mud pit created by the second-half deluge and do a celebratory face-first dive into the muck.

Perry had plenty to celebrate, as he scored all three Nooksack Valley touchdowns - two on the ground and one on a clinching 48-yard interception return in the fourth quarter - and rushed for a game-high 140 yards on 25 carries.

"I guess I started a little bit of a trend," said Perry, after watching three of the senior linemen who opened holes for him - Jon Charroin, Josh Larson and Levi Stuit - make an even bigger splash. "We figured this is our last time here - at least we hope it is. Not that we don't love it here, but that field is a mess right now. Maybe we'll get to practice out here and do it a few more times."

With the win, Nooksack Valley (8-2) receives the Northwest District's No. 2 seed into the tri-district playoffs and will host the West Central District's No. 3 seed in a game on Tuesday, Nov. 10, most likely at Civic Stadium.

Rain and mud were hardly the only things that the Lyncs and Pioneers had to contend with, though.

A strong wind out of the south acted like a 12th man for both defenses during the first half, making the offenses extremely one dimensional.

"The weather really affected both teams," Lynden Christian coach Dan Kaemingk said. "They have some very talented players, and I'm sure there are some things that they wanted to do that they weren't able to. I know we had some things we wanted to try taking advantage of that we couldn't. In the end, it was probably an equalizer."

Neither team was able to pass the ball effectively in the first half in the wind and rain, as they combined for only two completions and 1 yard on nine attempts. Lynden Christian was able to complete a few more passes in the second half rain, but Perry finished with the one completion on eight attempts for minus-1 yard.

With the passing games virtually shut down, both defenses were able to play the run, stacking defenders in the box.

"Both teams knew what was coming," Nooksack Valley coach Robb Myhre said. "And that made it hard to run the ball, too. At one point, I asked Tyler what was going on, and he said, 'This is going on (showing his hands).' Of course, they were covered in mud."

Unable to pass the ball, Perry resorted to running it, leading the Pioneers on a six-play, 41-yard scoring drive that saw Perry carry the ball five times. He scored the capper on a 6-yard run after shaking free from Lynden Christian's Steven Heystek in the backfield.

"I knew it was going to be difficult to pass the ball this morning after first period when it started to blow," Perry said. "Then when we came out here, I was warming up and the wind knocked down a 10-yard pass, so I knew it was going to be tough. But I've been running all season, so I knew it would be OK."

Perry made sure everything would be just fine on the second play from scrimmage after halftime, when he kept the ball around the left end and broke a tackle 5 yards downfield. He then broke another 15 yards further down field and picked up a key block from Trevon Myhre at about the LC 15 that allowed him to splash to a 69-yard touchdown run and make the score 13-0.

That was it for the offensive scoring by either team.

"I thought our defense played really well tonight," Kaemingk said. "They scored 55 on us the first time we played them and 45 the second time, so to only give up 13 tonight - not counting the interception return, which I think the weather had something to do with - I was really happy with that."

Unfortunately for the Lyncs, their offense couldn't take advantage. LC had only 22 yards of total offense in the first half and did not pick up its first first down until 6:46 remained in the third quarter.

"We have some good athletes on defense, and I thought they stepped up and played well tonight," said Robb Myhre, who watched his team intercept three passes on Thursday.

Though the loss ended the Lyncs' season with a 3-7 record, Kaemingk said he was extremely pleased with what he saw from his team this year.

"I just told them, in my 20 years of coaching, we always talk about battling through adversity," Kaemingk said. "Well, I don't know if I've ever had a team that had to overcome more. We've lost players for the season; we've had illness; we've had injuries. But these guys kept fighting and working. Really, that's the only thing you could ask them to do as a coach."

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

Lynden Christian 0 0 0 0- 0

Nooksack Valley 0 7 6 6- 19

Second quarter

NV - Tyler Perry 6 run (Travis Benner kick)

Third quarter

NV - Perry 69 run (kick failed)

Fourth quarter

NV - Perry 48 interception return (kick failed)

LC NV

First downs 6 11

Rushing Att-Yards 30-77 45-233

Comp-Att-Int 5-13-3 1-8-0

Passing yards 54 -1

Penalties-yards 3-26 4-26

Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-2

Individual leaders

RUSHING - Lynden Christian: Chris Johnson 1-1, Derek Feddema 9-16, Jake Harkness 4-1, Daniel Ten Broek 2-(-6), Steven Heystek 10-18, Jon Spoelstra 4-47. Nooksack Valley: Tyler Perry 25-140, Nick deGrasse 13-55, Trevon Myhre 4-18, Anthony Reese 3-20..

PASSING - Lynden Christian: Daniel Ten Broek 5-12-2-54, Jon Spoelstra 0-1-1-0. Nooksack Valley: Tyler Perry 1-8-0-(-1).

RECEIVING - Lynden Christian: Jacob Knibbe 3-27, Chris Johnson 1-17, Ryan De Vries 1-10. Nooksack Valley: Nick deGrasse 1-(-1).