GRANITE FALLS – One more game stood in the way of the Pioneers making the state playoffs for the second season in a row, and they made sure it would be all Nooksack Valley as the Pioneers defeated Granite Falls 56-0 on Friday night on the road.
The Tigers put together their best drive of the game to open things up, and was able to get into the red zone, but a John Stremler strip sack knocked the ball loose, which was recovered by senior defensive tackle Duke Halaapiapi. From there, it would be all Pioneers.
Nooksack Valley went on to possess the ball seven times in the first half, and scored seven touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Joey Brown went a perfect 9-for-9 through the air for 171 yards and two touchdowns to junior wide receiver Cory Olney.
Junior running back Colton Lentz led the way on the ground with 178 yards on just 11 carries, to go along with his three touchdowns. Senior running back Skyler Whittern also carried the ball nine times for 152 yards and three touchdowns, including a 52-yard touchdown to begin the third quarter.
The Pioneers had rolled up 465 yards of offense in the first half alone, and the second half moved swiftly with the continuous clock on the move.
The Nooksack Valley offense had seven plays of 30 or more yards, and the defense held Granite Falls to 14 yards on the ground. Stremler finished with a team-high eight tackles, including two sacks a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Lentz had seven tackles, and junior cornerback Evan Bravo had an interception which he returned 23 yards.
The Pioneers closed out the regular season with a 7-2 record, and will await their opponent for the first round of the state playoffs, which will be announced on Sunday.
Nooksack Valley 56 Granite Falls 0 NV 21 28 7 0 - 56 GF 0 0 0 0 - 0 NV - Olney 30 pass from J. Brown (Vigre kick) NV - Whittern 4 run (Vigre kick) NV - Lentz 59 run (Vigre kick) NV - Whittern 4 run (Vigre kick) NV - Lentz 8 run (Vigre kick) NV - Olney 17 pass from J. Brown (Vigre kick) NV - Lentz 1 run (Vigre kick) NV - Whittern 52 run (Vigre kick) NV GF 28-357 Rush Att-Yards 22-14 10-11-0 Comp-Att-Int 21-36-1 183 Passing Yards 190 Individual Leaders RUSHING - NV: Lentz 11-178, Whittern 9-152, Olney 1-15, Huante 4-9, E. Brown 1-2, Newton 1-1, Hester 1-0. GF: N/A. PASSING - NV: J. Brown 9-9-0-171, E. Brown 1-2-0-12. GF: N/A. RECEIVING - NV: Olney 6-95, Bennett 2-47, Kamphouse 1-29, Stauffer 1-12. GF: N/A.
