TUMWATER – One of the top overall teams in 1A felt what it was like to tangle with a monster 2A team as Tumwater defeated Nooksack Valley 49-12 on Friday night.
The Pioneers played tough defense early, and was stopping the running attack, but after a few adjustments it was all Thunderbirds who went on to score the first three touchdowns of the game.
Nooksack Valley junior quarterback Evan Brown did connect on a 60-yard touchdown pass with junior wide receiver Cole Coppinger in the second quarter to put the Pioneers into the scoring column.
Coppinger caught another long pass later in the game, and finished with four receptions for 89 yards to lead the Nooksack Valley offense, which was held to 154 yards total.
The second long pass to Coppinger helped set up the second Pioneer touchdown of the game, a 4-yard quick out from Brown to senior Cole Bauman, which came after Tumwater had put up another four scoring plays.
Although he was bottled up for most of the game, senior running back Colton Lentz fought and scrapped his way for 40 yards on 16 carries.
The Pioneers (3-1) will begin conference play on Friday when they travel to Mount Baker (4-0) to take on the Mountaineers at 7:00.
Tumwater 49 Nooksack Valley 12 NV 0 6 0 6 - 12 TUM 7 21 14 7 - 49 TUM - 3 yard touchdown run (kick good) TUM - 29 yard touchdown pass (kick good) TUM - 5 yard touchdown run (kick good) NV - Coppinger 60 pass from Brown (kick blocked) TUM - 3 yard touchdown run (kick good) TUM - 52 yard touchdown run (kick good) TUM - 70 yard punt return (kick good) TUM - 28 yard touchdown run (kick good) NV - Co. Bauman 4 pass from Brown (pass failed) NV TUM 24-30 Rush Att-Yards 50-389 10-18-1 Comp-Att-Int 2-5-0 124 Passing Yards 43 Individual Leaders RUSHING - NV: Lentz 16-40, C. Martin 5-14, Brown 3-(-24). TUM: N/A. PASSING - NV: Brown 10-18-1-124. TUM: N/A. RECEIVING - NV: Coppinger 4-89, Olney 3-20, Co. Bauman 2-9, D. Ackerman 1-6. TUM: N/A.
