Coach: Robb Myhre, 19th season with Nooksack Valley (99-89)
Home Field: Sid Lambert Field at Nooskack Valley High School
Last Season: 6-5 (2-4 NWC)
Key Losses: QB/OLB Casey Bauman; OL/DE/P Luke Winter; WR/ILB Kyle Veldman; OL/NT Kirk Veldman; WR/CB/K Jordan Veening; OL/DL Colton Hickey; RB/KR Tre Silva.
Top Returnees: WR/CB Baylor Galley; QB/ILB Austin O’Bryan; WR/RB/S Evan Neitling; ILB Cooper Clawson; OL/DE Landon Bruland.
Click HERE to listen to Coach Robb Myhre’s interview on The Doug Lange Network. You can listen to more interviews by going to www.onthedln.com.
2017 RESULTS
Nooksack Valley 45, Blaine 6
Nooksack Valley 56, Granite Falls 34
Nooksack Valley 55, Coupeville 14
Nooksack Valley 26, Mount Baker 14
Meridian 50, Nooksack Valley 36
Lynden Christian 28, Nooksack Valley 14
Mount Baker 29, Nooksack Valley 12
Meridian 28, Nooksack Valley 27
Nooksack Valley 35, Lynden Christian 17
Nooksack Valley 66, Sultan 12
Cascade Christian 61, Nooksack Valley 53
2018 SCHEDULE
08/31 – Sehome – 7 PM
09/07 – Granite Falls – 7 PM
09/14 – at King’s – 7 PM
09/21 – Meridian – 7 PM
09/28 – at Lynden Christian – 7 PM
10/05 – Mount Baker – 7 PM
10/12 – at Meridian – 7 PM
10/19 – Lynden Christian – 7 PM
10/26 – at Mount Baker – 7 PM
The 2017 Pioneers made the 1A State Playoffs for the first time since 2010, and even though Casey Bauman is now playing quarterback at Montana State, and they lost linemen Luke Winter and Kirk Veldman to graduation, Nooksack Valley is poised for another great run.
Senior Austin O’Bryan is assuming the quarterback role after leading the Pioneers in rushing and scoring last season. And, although he has played running back and wide receiver the past few seasons, he has been the backup quarterback.
Taking over O’Bryan’s spot at running back in 2018 is junior Cole Eldridge. A broken foot sidelined Eldridge last season, but he has fully recovered and Coach Myhre likes what he sees out of his 185-pound speedster.
Senior wide receiver Baylor Galley returns after a huge season a year ago, and his overall athleticism should allow him to do some big things this season. Senior Evan Neitling also returns and is a true offensive weapon. The coaching staff will find every way possible to get the ball into his hands. At 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, junior Ryan Veening should fill the stand-up tight end spot quite well, and senior Ty Rawls (who hasn’t turned out for football since junior high) is impressing coaches with his abilities, toughness and intensity.
The offensive line won’t be as large as hit has been in years past, but it will still be very athletic. Senior tackle Landon Bruland, senior center Hayden Hester and junior tackle Easton Zylstra lead the way up front while four other players are fighting for the last two positions.
Going from a three down front line to four, Bruland will also be a force at defensive end. At 6-3 and 190 pounds he already has the size, but his tremendous speed will cause fits for opposing offensive tackles. Veening will play defensive end opposite of Bruland. The interior of the line will be filled by Zylstra, Hester, Alex Clawson and Jordan Prink.
The Pioneer inside linebackers might be small, but they both made huge plays last season. Senior Cooper Clawson is a tackling machine, and has a motor that won’t quit. O’Bryan will move from outside linebacker to the inside, and his amazing instincts and toughness will allow him to cause a lot of havoc. Dane Winter and Adam Dugger will fill the outside linebacker spots, along with Eldridge who is more of a linebacker/safety hybrid player.
Neitling returns at safety and should be one of the best at the position in Whatcom County. Galley also returns after making huge plays at corner back last year, totaling over 100 yards in just interception returns. Rawls will be the other cornerback.
Nooksack is looking at three different players to take over the kicking duties. Sophomore Scout Whittern made five extra points last season in week one before tearing his ACL, and fellow sophomore Aiden Conner his six extra points last season at the end of the year. Eldridge is also in the mix.
This is one of the fastest teams that Nooksack Valley has had in recent history, but they are lacking the size that they usually have.
2017 STATISTICAL LEADERS
(Returning players have the * after their names)
RUSHING
| Rank | Player | Season | Games | Att. | Yards | TD | Yds./Att. | Yds./Gm. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin O’Bryan* | 2017 | 11 | 136 | 832 | 11 | 6.12 | 75.6 |
| 2 | Casey Bauman | 2017 | 11 | 144 | 619 | 15 | 4.30 | 56.3 |
| 3 | Evan Neitling* | 2017 | 10 | 28 | 237 | 3 | 8.46 | 23.7 |
PASSING
| Rank | Player | Season | Games | Comp. | Att. | Comp %. | Yards | TD | Int | Rating | Yds./Att. | Yds./Comp. | Yds./Gm. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casey Bauman | 2017 | 11 | 186 | 288 | 64.58% | 2914 | 27 | 3 | 124.97 | 10.12 | 15.7 | 264.9 |
| 2 | Austin O’Bryan* | 2017 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 50.00% | 4 | 0 | 0 | 56.25 | 2.00 | 4.0 | 0.4 |
RECEIVING
| Rank | Player | Team | Season | Games | Recpt. | Yards | TD | Yds./Att. | Yds./Gm. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jordan Veening | Nooksack Valley | 2017 | 11 | 49 | 892 | 8 | 18.20 | 81.1 |
| 2 | Baylor Galley* | Nooksack Valley | 2017 | 11 | 45 | 829 | 6 | 18.42 | 75.4 |
| 3 | Austin O’Bryan* | Nooksack Valley | 2017 | 11 | 33 | 487 | 5 | 14.76 | 44.3 |
| 4 | Kyle Veldman | Nooksack Valley | 2017 | 9 | 28 | 348 | 5 | 12.43 | 38.7 |
| 5 | Evan Neitling* | Nooksack Valley | 2017 | 10 | 23 | 260 | 1 | 11.30 | 26.0 |
| 6 | Ryan Veening* | Nooksack Valley | 2017 | 8 | 6 | 52 | 2 | 8.67 | 6.5 |
| 7 | Levi Tenkley | Nooksack Valley | 2017 | 2 | 2 | 36 | 0 | 18.00 | 18.0 |
KICK RETURNING
| Rank | Player | Season | Games | Returns | Yards | TD | Yds./Att. | Yds./Gm. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evan Neitling* | 2017 | 10 | 14 | 281 | 0 | 20.07 | 28.1 |
| 2 | Austin O’Bryan* | 2017 | 11 | 10 | 220 | 0 | 22.00 | 20.0 |
| 3 | Baylor Galley* | 2017 | 11 | 9 | 141 | 0 | 15.67 | 12.8 |
PUNT RETURNING
| Rank | Player | Season | Games | Returns | Yards | TD | Yds./Att. | Yds./Gm. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baylor Galley* | 2017 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 3.00 | 0.5 |
PUNTING
| Rank | Player | Season | Punts | Yds./Att. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luke Winter | 2017 | 23 | 32.61 |
INTERCEPTIONS
| Rank | Player | Season | Int. | Yards | Yds./Att. | TD | Yds./Gm. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baylor Galley* | 2017 | 4 | 109 | 27.25 | 0 | 9.9 |
| 2 | Austin O’Bryan* | 2017 | 2 | 16 | 8.00 | 0 | 1.5 |
| 3 | Jordan Veening | 2017 | 3 | 5 | 1.67 | 0 | 0.5 |
SCORING
| Rank | Player | Season | TD | FGs | 2-Pt Conv | PAT | Total Points | Points/Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin O’Bryan* | 2017 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 102 | 9.3 |
| 2 | Casey Bauman | 2017 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 96 | 8.7 |
| 3 | Jordan Veening | 2017 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 71 | 6.5 |
| 4 | Kyle Veldman | 2017 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 4.2 |
| 5 | Baylor Galley* | 2017 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 3.3 |
| 6 | Evan Neitling* | 2017 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2.4 |
| 7 | Ryan Veening* | 2017 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1.8 |
2018 ROSTER
| Jersey | Name | Positions | Grade | Ht | Weight |
| 1 | Collin Averill | QB, LB | 9 | 6′ | 185 |
| 2 | Cameron Bauman | TE, DE | 11 | 6’3″ | 180 |
| 3 | Cole Eldridge | RB, S | 11 | 6′ | 185 |
| 4 | Tyler Rawls | WR, C | 12 | 5’10” | 150 |
| 5 | Austin Deming | WR, DB | 9 | 5’8″ | 150 |
| 7 | Evan Neitling | WR, S | 12 | 5’10” | 175 |
| 8 | Aidan Conner | WR, C, K | 10 | 5’9″ | 145 |
| 10 | Nick Averys | WR, S | 12 | 5’11” | 155 |
| 11 | Halston Boersema | WR, C | 12 | 6’2″ | 155 |
| 12 | Isaiah (Eli) Gorskikh | WR, C | 12 | 5’4″ | 115 |
| 13 | Quantell Abell-Hopkins | QB, LB | 10 | 6′ | 190 |
| 14 | Baylor Galley | WR, C | 12 | 6′ | 180 |
| 15 | Austin O’Bryan | QB, LB | 12 | 5’8″ | 185 |
| 18 | Mathew Lankhaar | WR, C | 10 | 5’7″ | 135 |
| 20 | Brady Peninger | WR, S | 10 | 5’10” | 150 |
| 21 | Scout Whittern | WR, S, K | 10 | 6′ | 165 |
| 22 | Devin Lackey | RB, LB | 12 | 5’6″ | 150 |
| 23 | Braden Leyba | RB, LB | 11 | 5’9″ | 155 |
| 25 | Jordan Silva | RB, DB | 9 | 5’6″ | 125 |
| 26 | Gabe Diersing | WR, LB | 11 | 6′ | 180 |
| 28 | Ryan Veening | TE, DE | 11 | 6’3″ | 225 |
| 34 | Tylor Perez | WR, DB | 10 | 6′ | 155 |
| 42 | Ethan Foote | WR, DB | 9 | 5’5″ | 135 |
| 43 | Dawson Kimball | TE, LB | 9 | 5’11” | 130 |
| 51 | Hayden Hester | C, DT | 12 | 5’8″ | 220 |
| 52 | Adam Dugger | OL, LB | 12 | 6′ | 210 |
| 53 | Alex Clawson | G, DL | 10 | 6′ | 240 |
| 54 | Jordan Prink | OL, DL | 12 | 6′ | 230 |
| 56 | Dane Winter | OL, LB | 11 | 5’11” | 185 |
| 57 | Liam Coppinger | OL, DE | 10 | 6’1″ | 175 |
| 60 | Levi Harlan | OL, DL | 11 | 6’1″ | 230 |
| 61 | Easton Zylstra | T, DL | 11 | 6’3″ | 250 |
| 62 | Nick Dykstra | OL,DE | 9 | 6′ | 155 |
| 63 | Jacob Franson | OL, LB | 10 | 5’8″ | 175 |
| 64 | Hunter Morgan | OL, DL | 11 | 5’7″ | 170 |
| 65 | Landon Bruland | T, DE | 12 | 6’3″ | 190 |
| 67 | Gerrit Bruland | OL, DL | 9 | 5’10” | 170 |
| 68 | Kamryn Turner | G, DT | 9 | 6′ | 255 |
| 69 | Ethan Rutdledge-Jones | OL, DL | 9 | 5’2″ | 130 |
| 70 | Teddy Martin | OL, DE | 11 | 6’1″ | 185 |
| 71 | Alex Gool | OL, DL | 9 | 5’7″ | 225 |
| 72 | Moses Zamudio | OL, LB | 9 | 5’8″ | 190 |
| 74 | Hunter Coleman | OL, DL | 10 | 6’2″ | 305 |
| 75 | Andrew Brooks | OL, DL | 9 | 5’7″ | 220 |
| 77 | Joey Leazer | OL, DL | 12 | 6’1″ | 295 |
| 78 | Cooper Clawson | OL, LB | 12 | 5’9″ | 195 |
| 81 | Clancy Coppinger | TE, DE | 11 | 6’4″ | 165 |
| 84 | Devin Daniels | WR, DB | 10 | 5’10” | 160 |
| 85 | James Triplett | WR, DB | 9 | 5’8″ | 130 |
| 86 | Jordan Bennett | WR, DB | 9 | 5’6″ | 125 |
| 87 | Caleb Kingma | WR, LB | 9 | 5’8″ | 135 |
| 88 | Jeff Boykin | WR, S | 10 | 5’8″ | 165 |
