NOOKSACK – It didn’t take long to get the taste of last week’s loss at King’s out of their mouths, as the Pioneers rolled up 42 points in the first quarter and defeated Hoquiam 76-7 at Sid Lambert Field on Friday night.
Nooksack Valley ran 13 plays in the first quarter, and scored a touchdown on six of them, the first came on a 23-yard touchdown run up the middle by junior Cory Olney.
Olney then hauled in a 34-yard touchdown pass moments later from senior quarterback Joey Brown.
On the following drive it was senior running back Skyler Whittern who took off on a 63 yard run, but the ball was knocked loose just before reaching the goal line, and it was recovered in the end zone by senior wide receiver Kasey Newton who was hustling down the field on the play.
The Pioneer then found a gadget in their bag of offensive tricks on the following drive, and it resulted in a double-pass play that saw Olney receive a lateral from Brown, and then throw a 47-yard bomb down the middle of the field which hit senior wide receiver Jackson Bennett in stride for a touchdown.
Olney then had an interception a few plays later, on a pass that was deflected by junior Colton Lentz, and two plays later Whittern made his next carry count with a 33-yard touchdown run.
Brown then connected on a 25-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Evan Bravo to close out the scoring of the first quarter.
Sophomore quarterback Evan Brown came into the game in the second quarter, and promptly completed a 47-yard touchdown pass to Bennett. Lentz, who was favoring an injured leg throughout the contest and had a noticeable limp on the field, took a handoff on the following drive, and raced around the right end to score a touchdown from 79 yards out.
Whittern then capped the scoring in the first half with a dazzling 66-yard touchdown run, and he finished the game with a career-high 165 yards rushing on just four carries. Lentz totaled 146 yards on the ground on six attempts.
Evan Brown was able to score on a pair of touchdown runs in the second half before the Grizzlies got on the scoreboard late in the contest. Nooksack Valley rolled up 641 yards of offense in the game, which is the second most in school history.
Defensively, the Pioneers got two sacks from Cian Coppinger, and one quarterback sack each from John Stremler, Adlei Whitworth and Dalton Hickey.
It was also a record-breaking evening for Nooksack Valley as senior kicker Jorgen Vigre broke the school record for most career extra points made (he now has 60), and he also broke the school record for the most extra points made in a game with 10.
The Pioneers also broke team records in most points scored in a game (76), and biggest margin of victory (69 points).
Nooksack Valley (3-1) will begin conference play on Friday at Meridian (3-1) at 7:00.
Nooksack Valley 76 Hoquiam 7 HOQ 0 0 0 7 - 7 NV 42 21 6 7 - 76 NV - Olney 23 run (Vigre kick) NV - Olney 34 pass from J. Brown (Vigre kick) NV - Newton recovered ball in the end zone (Vigre kick) NV - Bennett 47 pass from Olney (Vigre kick) NV - Whittern 33 run (Vigre kick) NV - Bravo 25 pass from J. Brown (Vigre kick) NV - Bennett 47 pass from E. Brown (Vigre kick) NV - Lentz 79 run (Vigre kick) NV - Whittern 66 run (Vigre kick) NV - E. Brown 1 run (Vigre kick) NV - E. Brown 28 run (Vigre kick) HOQ - 8 yard touchdown run (kick good) HOQ NV 27-62 Rush Att-Yards 31-469 10-21-1 Comp-Att-Int 8-9-0 40 Passing Yards 172 Individual Leaders RUSHING - HOQ: N/A. NV: Whittern 4-165, Lentz 6-146, Newton 2-45, Olney 2-33, E. Brown 6-23, Huante 2-20, J. Brown 1-11, Perez 2-8, O'Bryan 2-8, Jones 1-7, Dugger 3-7, Cr. Bauman 1-(-4). PASSING - HOQ: N/A. NV: J. Brown 3-3-0-66, E. Brown 3-4-0-56, Olney 1-1-0-47, Palumbo 1-1-0-3. RECEIVING - HOQ: N/A. NV: Bennett 2-94, Bravo 2-32, Olney 1-34, J. Brown 1-6, Hester 1-3, D. Ackerman 1-3.
