EVERETT – Nooksack Valley won the turnover battle, and ultimately the game, beating Cascade of Everett 33-20 at Everett Memorial Stadium on Friday night.
The Pioneer defense recovered three fumbles in the first quarter alone, with junior linebacker Daemion Perez capturing two of them, and it help set up a short field for Jordan Silva’s first touchdown of the game.
On the first play of the second quarter sophomore John Stremler blocked a punt which was then scooped up by senior Dawson Kimball and returned 28 yards for a touchdown. In one of the best team-plays I had seen all season, after blocking the punt, Stremler saw multiple teammates running after the ball, and he set himself up perfectly to throw a block so a teammate of his would get the glory and score the touchdown.
The run-heavy Bruins then drove down the field and scored their first touchdown of the contest on an 18-yard touchdown pass, but the Pioneers answered back with Silva’s second touchdown of the night. The senior running back finished with a team-high 96 yards on 25 carries. .
Cascade and Nooksack Valley went on to trade touchdowns the rest of the game, as the Pioneers kept a strong hold of the lead for the rest of the contest.
Sophomore quarterback Joey Brown had a one-yard touchdown run, and freshman backup quarterback Colton Lentz scored a game-clinching touchdown in the final minute.
Defensively, Nooksack Valley got a strong contribution from sophomore free safety Jackson Bennett who led his team with 10.5 tackles. Senior linebacker Jet Triplett had 6.5 tackles and two tackles for loss, and Stremler finished with seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
The Pioneers finished their season with a 4-5 record.
Nooksack Valley 33 Cascade (Everett) 20 NV 6 14 0 13 - 33 CAS 0 7 6 7 - 20 NV - Silva 1 run (kick failed) NV - Kimball 28 blocked punt return (run failed) CAS - 18 yard touchdown pass (kick good) NV - Silva 1 run (Lentz run) CAS - 4 yard touchdown run (kick failed) NV - Brown 1 run (Kingma kick) CAS - 16 yard touchdown run (kick good) NV - Lentz 2 run (kick failed)
NV CAS 50-208 Rush Att-Yards 41-243 7-13-1 Comp-Att-Int 3-9-0 79 Passing Yards 113 Individual Leaders RUSHING - NV: Silva 25-96, Brown 16-63, Lentz 7-36, Kimball 1-8, Bravo 1-5. CAS: N/A. PASSING - NV: Brown 7-13-1-79. CAS: N/A. RECEIVING - NV: Kingma 5-56, Bravo 1-17, Silva 1-6. CAS: N/A.
