Nooksack Valley’s scoring machine pacing one of the best teams in school history
Few, if any, Whatcom County high school football teams have ever come into Week Five with 200 points.
Do you think Nooksack Valley might have become a tad complacent?
Hardly. The Pioneers now have 265 points after five games! This, with starters playing longer than the opening series of the third quarter in only two games.
Nooksack’s 65-14 win over Meridian in a Northwest Conference Class 1A opener Friday, along with Lynden Christian’s 47-6 non-league victory over previously unbeaten Napavine Saturday, set up what could become the most important league game of the season.
Before a crowd expected to overflow the premises, Lynden Christian (3-2, 0-0) will play at Nooksack (4-1, 1-0) Friday night.
The last thing Nooksack cares about is statistics of any kind, coach Craig Bartl said.
“We don’t talk about anyone but we talk about how we can get better each week. Our guys only care about the Ws,” he said. “Overall, this was probably our best game.”
If nothing else, Nooksack fans are buzzing about the possibility of having the best team in their history.
The Pioneers surely may be the most explosive. How many other Nooksack teams have amassed 404 yards in the first half against an opponent from possibly the state’s toughest 1A league, top to bottom?
That’s how many yards the Pioneers had on their first seven possessions against the Trojans (3-2, 0-1), resulting in a 51-7 halftime bulge and a running clock for the second half.
“I don’t like to set standards, but I’d say we played like we should play,” quarterback Joey Brown said.
Less than two minutes into the game, junior power back Colton Lentz scored on a 12-yard burst for the first of four touchdowns, improving his season total to a county-leading 13. He went over 600 yards for the season with 162 on 14 carries.
But it was far from all Lentz. The Pioneers averaged 15 yards per play in the opening half.
But first, there was a surprise from Meridian on its first possession. The Trojans, eschewing a punt on fourth-and-six from their own 46, unloaded a perfectly executed 54-yard touchdown pass from Jaeger Fyfe to Landen Downey, who also booted the extra point for 7-7.
From that point on, Nooksack was overwhelming. Lentz scored on a 44-yard run, and Skyler Whittern broke several tackles to score on a 68-yard gallop, followed by the third of senior kicker Jorgen Vigre’s nine conversions.
On the next series, Brown connected with Jackson Bennett for 33 yards on the way to a 7-for-8 night for 135 yards (the only incompletion was dropped). Lentz soon followed with a 1-yard touchdown. Brown then found Evan Bravo for a 21-yard score.
Dalton Hickey tackled Fyfe in the end zone for a safety and Brown soon scrambled seven yards to score for a 44-7 lead. On Lentz’s last carry of the night, he scored from the 2 for 51-7.
On the only series of the second half for the starters, Brown found Bennett for a 14-yard score. The running clock allowed each team only two possessions in the second half, but junior Cameron O’Bryan scored on a 32-yard run, giving the Pioneers touchdowns on all nine possessions.
Fyfe was sacked six times in the first half, but he maintained his focus and connected with freshman Kasey Brennan for a perfectly executed 15-yard touchdown in the final seconds for Fyfe‘s tenth scoring pass..
When told he could be proud of the sportsmanship and effort Meridian showed against such an overwhelmingly talented opponent, Fyfe responded, “I am proud.” The talented junior went 15 for 22 for 165 yards, surpassing 900 for the season. Downey has 51 points receiving, running and kicking.
Nooksack’s overpowering line of Brady Ackerman, John Stremler, Cian Coppinger-Carter, Hickey and Duke Halaapiapi cleared the way for Whittern to finish with 113 yards on six carries. Their defensive efforts helped limit the Trojans to minus yardage on the ground.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
LYNDEN CHRISTIAN 47, NAPAVINE 6: Lyncs linebacker Trey Bosman, a junior, scored LC’s first touchdown on a 65-yard interception return and applied the dagger with a 45-yard pick six for a 34-6 lead less than three minutes into the second half against the defending state 2B champion Tigers (4-1). They were Bosman’s first scores and pass thefts this season.
Quarterback Jeremiah Wright capped a 73-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown in the second period and Kayden Stuit also ran 10 yards to end an 80-yard drive for 21-6.
LC made it 27-6 at the half when reserve quarterback Thomas DenHartog completed three of four passes for 59 yards, including a 34-yard scoring pass to Dawson Bouma.
“I had a couple of TD passes against Bellevue Christian (in a 64-6 win) but this was the first one that mattered,” DenHartog said.
Wright scored from the 2 for 40-6 and Sam Penner kicked one of his five conversions. Wright completed 7 of 14 passes for 118 yards and ran eight times for 41 yards and two scores.
Sophomore quarterback Eli Maberry found junior Mick Owen with a short pass and Owen turned the play into a 56-yard score with elusive moves.
“I give (defensive coach) Kent Bouma credit for his adjustments at halftime and we shut them out in the second half,” coach Greg Terpstra said. “The kids refocused offensively (after a 28-7 loss to defending state 1A champion Royal) and the kids built on an already strong defense.
“In a way, this was our best game,” Terpstra said. “Our most important game was our (31-7) win over Archbishop Murphy for bringing our offense up.”
CHARLES WRIGHT 48, LUMMI 6: The visiting Blackhawks (1-2, 0-1) scored on a 35-yard pass from Desmond Bailey to Mathias Johnson in the third quarter in Tacoma.
“We played hard against a tough team in Charles Wright, but we made a handful of small mistakes that led to big plays for them,” Lummi coach Watiko Leighton said. “From now on, all our games are league games (in the Northwest Eight-Man Conference).”
FRIDAY’S GAMES
LYNDEN 44, SEHOME 24: The Lions (4-1, 3-0 NWC 2A) extended their county-leading win streak to four, although the Mariners (3-2, 1-2) stayed in the game until the fourth quarter, thanks to a touchdown run and two touchdown passes by junior quarterback Nolan Wright to Brad Duckworth and Andre Watson.
Junior quarterback Brant Heppner scored on a 1-yard run and threw touchdown passes of 33 yards to Daniel Bowler, 68 yards to Cooper Moore for his first varsity score and 6 and 22 yards to Brady Elsner in the second half, giving Elsner his first six scoring catches in a three-game span.
Heppner finished 12 for 21 for 223 yards and four touchdowns, giving him 12 scoring passes and leaving him only 41 yards short of 1,000. Heppner also ran 14 times for 62 yards and improved his touchdowns produced total to 19.
Moore caught five passes for 99 yards, Elsner three for 53 and Bowler two for 48. Freshman kicker Malachi Koenen made all six extra points, making him 22 for 22 at the outset of his career. Sophomore Max Assink, in his first start in place of injured Luke Human, ran 14 times for 97 yards and a 4-yard touchdown and linebacker Charlie Ayres gained 38 yards on nine carries and consistently blocked well, coach Blake Van Dalen said.
Wright completed 27 of 42 passes for 315 yards and no interceptions while improving his touchdown pass total to 14 for Sehome, including six each to Duckworth and Watson, who finished with 14 catches for 137 yards, according to Whatcom Preps website. Duckworth caught eight for 123 yards.
Grady Evans, who converted all three times, kicked a 25-yard field goal to give the Mariners a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Lynden led at halftime 30-10, including a safety by Lofa Tigilau.
“We forced Lynden to play all four quarters,” said Mariners coach Brian Young. “Wright did not get sacked at all and Andre made a great touchdown catch in the end zone on fourth down when we cut Lynden’s lead to 37-24.”
Van Dalen praised Koenen for a 43-yard punt to the 1, setting up Lynden’s safety.
In other NWC 2A games, Anacortes (5-0, 3-0) beat Sedro-Woolley 27-7 to remain tied at the top with Lynden, and Archbishop Murphy beat Lakewood 31-7.
FERNDALE 47, MARYSVILLE-PILCHUCK 28: The Golden Eagles (4-1, 2-1 Wesco North 3A) rebounded well from a 46-14 loss to unbeaten Arlington to stay in the chase for a state playoff spot.
Phoenyx Finkbonner scored on runs of 19 and 57 yards and on a 40-yard swing pass from Bishop Ootsey. Talan Bungard scored from the 6 for Ferndale’s first touchdown and from the 14-yard line for a 33-21 lead, giving him nine scores for the season.
Conner Walcker scored the second touchdown on a 49-yard pass from Ootsey and on a 9-yard run. Walcker finished with 119 yards on nine carries and 104 yards on three catches for a career-high 223 total yards.
Aiden O’Toole had an interception early in the fourth quarter to pretty much clinch the win.
“I felt our line was really outstanding. They really stepped up,” Walcker said of Camden Raymond, Kellan Lefave, Kulshan LaValley, Wyatt Strait and Will Poast along with tight end Lincoln Thomas. “And Jacob Gandy (junior linebacker) played real well on defense.”
The top two finishers in both Wesco North and South will play for seeding in Week Nine and all four will qualify for the 32-team state bracket in Week Ten.
In other Wesco North 3A games, Arlington remained unbeaten with a 42-7 win over Stanwood and Marysville-Getchell beat Mount Vernon 28-27. Oak Harbor took a 34-12 non-league win over Cascade.
MOUNT BAKER 46, BLAINE 17: Junior running back Brady Bruland returned a kickoff 95 yards for Baker’s first touchdown, one week after accomplishing the same feat in a loss to state title contender King’s. Dylan Moa scored on runs of 63 and 4 yards for a 20-0 lead in an NWC 1A opener at Baker before the Borderites (1-4, 0-1) fought back well for a 20-17 deficit.
Bruland added touchdowns of 15 and 21 yards and Moa scored from the 1 and the 3 to finish with a career-best four scores for the Mountaineers (2-3, 1-0).
“I’ve never seen anyone at Baker return kickoffs for touchdowns in consecutive games,” said coach Ron Lepper, in his 28th season. “Vance Lawrence and Alex Maloley applied a lot of pressure with multiple sacks and they had important fumble recoveries.”
Blaine rallied with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Colin Davis to Jesse Deming, a 20-yard field goal and two conversions by Matt Hayes, and a 30-yard touchdown pass from Davis to Justin Minjarez, who caught a career-best five receptions for 104 yards.
Davis completed 16 of 33 passes for 256 yards with no interceptions and now has nearly 800 yards passing. Jaden Paez rushed 15 times for 75 yards.
“We put together nearly a full half of quality football from the last five minutes of the first half until about four minutes to go in the third period,” Blaine coach Andy Olson said. “Each week we continue to get better and learn.”
BELLINGHAM 40, LA CONNER 8: Senior quarterback Josh Leonard completed 14 of 15 passes for 240 yards and threw for five touchdowns for the second consecutive win. Leonard leads Whatcom County with more than 1,200 yards passing and 15 touchdown passes.
Sophomore Owen Hanstead, the “Bayhawk Ballhawk,” accomplished the highly unusual feat of making an interception in the fifth consecutive game for Bellingham (2-3 as an independent). His five pass thefts lead the county.
Josh Tolle amassed 102 yards receiving with four scoring passes and Wyatt Stephan had 79 yards and caught one for a touchdown, while Holden Bates rushed for 85 yards and one score. Tolle has nine touchdown receptions.
Junior linebacker Tyler Frost led Bellingham’s defense with seven tackles, two sacks and one tackle for loss.
“Great win for our team. We’re building each week and our confidence is growing every day,” said Bayhawks coach Adam Leonard.
THURSDAY’S GAME
SQUALICUM 28, BURLINGTON-EDISON 13: Marcus Nixon scored on runs of 17 and 36 yards and Malaki Smith ran for touchdowns from the 4 and 1 for the Storm (3-2, 1-2). Nixon finished with 102 yards on 16 carries and completed 6 of 10 passes for 73 yards. Smith gained 79 yards on 13 carries.
Nixon ran for a two-point conversion and threw a two-point conversion pass to Chase Nelson, who helped hold the Tigers to seven points in the final three quarters with three of the Storm’s six sacks.
The Storm fell behind 6-0 on a 2-yard touchdown by Guadalupe Trujillo, but Squalicum limited the Tigers to 173 total yards, including an 18-yard touchdown by Jakson Granger to cut the Storm’s lead to 20-13.
Squalicum wrapped up the win after Nixon passed to sophomore Ansen Asbjornsen for 28 yards, setting up Smith’s second touchdown. Nixon’s conversion pass to Nelson provided the game’s final two points with 3:41 left.
“Marcus (a running back last season) looked at home at quarterback,” said Storm coach Nick Lucey. “He did the right things and had his best game.”
“I felt comfortable,” said Nixon, whose 36-yard touchdown was a twist-turn-and-weave beauty on the opening series of the second half for a 20-6 lead with Nixon‘s two-point conversion run. “Everybody stayed composed and I felt we could win. And Chase had his best game.”
WEEK SIX
Thursday
Squalicum at Lakewood, 7 p.m.
Friday
Lynden Christian at Nooksack Valley, 7 p.m.
Marysville-Getchell at Ferndale, 7 p.m.
Meridian at Blaine, 7 p.m.
Lynden at Archbishop Murphy, 7 p.m.
Coupeville vs. Bellingham at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
Concrete at Lummi, 6 p.m.
Saturday
Anacortes vs. Sehome at Civic Stadium, 1 p.m.
Mount Baker at La Center, 2 p.m.
This story was originally published October 2, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
