CONNELL – The Pioneers dominated the line of scrimmage, the time of possession, and ultimately the scoreboard in shutting out Connell 21-0 on Saturday afternoon.
After a scoreless first quarter, Nooksack Valley scored in the second quarter when junior quarterback Joey Brown threw a deep-out pass to junior wide receiver Jackson Bennett. The 150-pound speedster made one man miss, and took it to the end zone for 38 yard touchdown.
It was a rough first three quarters that had a load of big hits delivered on both sides of the ball. The big Pioneers leaned on the Eagles in the fourth quarter, and were able to break through for two more touchdowns at the end of the game.
The first being an 11-yard touchdown run by Brown. He finished with 45 yards on the ground, and completed 6-of-10 passes for 162 yards.
The final touchdown would be Bennett’s second touchdown of the game, this time on a game-breaking 75-yarder from Brown. Bennett had career-highs in catches (4) and receiving yards (125). You can find Bennett on Instagram under the name @jacksonbennettiscool. After watching that performance, I can attest that he is pretty cool.
Sophomore running back Colton Lentz went over the 100-yard mark for the second week in a row, this time rushing for 107 yards on 12 carries.
The defense was stellar for the Pioneers, who were once again led by junior defensive end John Stremler. He finished with 9.5 tackles, two sacks and another tackle for loss.
Sophomore Brady Ackerman also had a stellar performance with 6.5 tackles and 3.5 quarterback sacks, junior linebacker Daeimon Perez led with 10 tackles and sophomore safety Cory Olney registered 5.5 tackles, two passes broken up and an interception which was returned 33 yards.
Nooksack Valley (2-0) will host King’s (2-0) this Friday at 7:00 in what will be one of the top 1A state games in the state.
Nooksack Valley 21 Connell 0 NV 0 7 0 14 - 21 CON 0 0 0 0 - 0 NV - Bennett 38 pass from Brown (Vigre kick) NV - Brown 11 run (Vigre kick) NV - Bennett 75 pass from Brown (Vigre kick) NV CON 40-231 Rush Att-Yards 26-50 6-10-0 Comp-Att-Int 17-26-1 162 Passing Yards 116 Individual Leaders RUSHING - NV: Lentz 12-107, Whittern 8-54, Brown 11-45, Olney 7-32, Bravo 1-2, Vigre 1-(-9). CON: N/A. PASSING - NV: Brown 6-10-0-162. CON: N/A. RECEIVING - NV: Bennett 4-125, Olney 1-22, Bravo 1-15. CON: N/A.
