Do nice guys really finish last? This team hopes not as it tries to end a 6-year playoff drought

Though he calls himself “the baby” of the 1A Northwest Conference coaches with 18 years experience, Nooksack Valley football coach Robb Myhre has been around long enough, now, that he’s starting to sound like Meridian coaching legend Bob Ames.

No, Myhre isn’t using the words “small” or “slow” to describe his team, and he hasn’t started getting creative with the heights and weights on his roster, yet. But what Myhre is doing is using the phrase “nice kids” when he talks about the Pioneers in 2017.

Though they both mean what they say, Myhre, unlike Ames, isn’t trying to get out of giving a scouting report on his team by talkings about the Pioneers’ personalities rather than their skills.

“They’re a fun group to work with,” Myhre said when talking about his team for 2017. “The nicest group of kids I’ve ever had. After every practice, 10 guys will walk up to me and thank me for practice. ... That’s our seniors for you. That’s just how they are. I don’t know if being nice is a good thing for football, but they are a group of really nice kids. That makes it really fun to be out here and fun to have fun with those guys.”

Now all Myhre and his nice guys want is to continue the fun into November when the playoffs start.

It’s been a few years since Nooksack made a trip to the postseason – 2011, to be exact, and a year longer since its last trip to state – and that’s a trend the Pioneers are desperate to end this fall.

In fact, they’ve been waiting for this chance, building toward it the past two years. The Pioneers took their lumps when this group of seniors were sophomores, but last year they started to show improvement, finishing the season 5-4 and just missing a trip to the Northwest District playoffs.

“For a lot of us, this is going to be our third year working together as a group of starters,” senior quarterback Casey Bauman said. “We’ve been really looking forward to this year and working together as a team. Our goal is playing through to December, and we’re excited to do it together.”

In addition to their winning personalities and all the experience they’ve gained over the past two years, the Pioneers will rely on team speed this year. As senior lineman Kirk Veldman said, the Pioneers’ “goal is to run teams into the ground this year, so we’ve got to be fast and well conditioned.”

And they better be fast, because they can’t rely on size.

“We can look big in three spots – Luke (Winter), Casey and Kirk are big boys,” Myhre said. “At our skill positions, we are not big at all. We’re smaller than we’ve been. They’re athletic and fairly fast. We’re not going to be 40-time fast as anyone else, but quickness – we’re quick.”

Perhaps the quickest is senior Tre Silva, who will move to running back but will fill a variety of roles for Nooksack this year with his slippery running style.

He’ll be joined in the backfield by Bauman, who’s already committed to call signals for Montana State after he graduates. He’s in his third year starting for the Pioneers, and Myhre said Bauman had a good offseason working with his receivers, though he also can be dangerous running the ball with his size.

Kyle Veldman will likely be one of Bauman’s favorite targets. Up front, Kirk Veldman and Winter are the two returning starters. Both are big, country-strong kids, Myhre said.

On defense, Baylor Galley and Evan Neitling join a talented, experienced Nooksack Valley secondary that includes returners Levi Tenkley and Jordan Veening among others. Kyle Veldman will be a key component in the middle of the Pioneers defense and will be joined at linebacker by Austin O’Bryan, who returns after missing his junior year for injury. Up front, Kirk Veldman and Winter will again lead the way.

“Kyle Veldman has to lead us defensively,” Myhre said. “We have a lot of guys that are playing new roles for us, but he is the guy that flies around out there. Kyle, Kirk and Luke have to lead that defense and be communicators. ... Hopefully we’ll be aggressive defensively and use our speed.”

This story was originally published August 28, 2017 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Do nice guys really finish last? This team hopes not as it tries to end a 6-year playoff drought."