MONTESANO – In a wild, back-and-forth contest Nooksack Valley couldn’t hold on to a late lead and fell to Montesano 34-28 at Jack Rottle Field on Friday night.
The loss doesn’t affect the conference standings, where the Pioneers are still undefeated, but it will affect the seeding for week 10.
Both teams traded scores throughout the first half, as the Bulldogs got on the board first, but were quickly quickly answered by senior running back Colton Lentz who went across the goal line from two yards out.
Montesano then kicked a field goal at the end of the first quarter, and the Pioneers took the lead in the second quarter on a 25-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Cory Olney. Nooksack Valley junior quarterback Evan Brown was hit hard on the play immediately after releasing the pass, but was able to continue in the game.
The Bulldogs scored on a long 56-yard touchdown pass to recapture the lead, but a strong drive the Pioneers at the end of the first half ended with another short touchdown run by Lentz, and Nooksack Valley led 21-17 at the midway break.
The Pioneers enjoyed their largest lead of the evening after Lentz scored his third touchdown of the game, and the 71st of his career, which gave Nooksack Valley a 28-17 third-quarter lead. However, the purple-cladded Pioneers unable to score for the rest of the game, due to untimely fumbles which led to short fields for the Bulldogs.
Montesano went on to score the last 17 points of the game, and finished with 350 yards passing.
Lentz finished the game with 173 yards on 30 carries, which broke a 33-year old school record for career rushing yards, which was formerly held by Dave Longoria. Lentz also added 11.5 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss on the defensive side of the ball.
The Pioneers also got multiple stops behind the line from junior linebacker Andrew Dugger, and an interception from both cornerbacks, Cole Coppinger and Evan Bravo.
Nooksack Valley (6-2) will travel to Lynden Christian (5-3) on Friday to take on the Lyncs at 7:00 for the NWC 1A championship.
Montesano 34 Nooksack Valley 28 NV 7 14 7 0 - 28 MON 10 7 6 11 - 34 MON - 3 yard touchdown run (kick good) NV - Lentz 2 run (T. Martin kick) MON - 27 yard field goal NV - Olney 25 pass from Brown (T. Martin kick) MON - 56 yard touchdown pass (kick good) NV - Lentz 1 run (T. Martin kick) NV - Lentz 1 run (T. Martin kick) MON - 8 yard touchdown pass (pass failed) MON - 27 yard field goal MON - 67 yard touchdown pass (2pt run good) NV MON 39-181 Rush Att-Yards 30-71 11-24-0 Comp-Att-Int 25-39-2 106 Passing Yards 350 Individual Leaders RUSHING - NV: Lentz 30-173, C. Martin 5-13, Brown 4-(-5). MON: N/A. PASSING - NV: Brown 11-24-0-106. MON: N/A. RECEIVING - NV: Bravo 4-12, Olney 3-53, Coppinger 3-23, Bauman 1-18. MON: N/A.
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