NOOKSACK – It’s been the way of things for Nooksack Valley this season. Big plays, especially going for touchdowns, and the best way to combat that is to control the clock. King’s tried its best (running twice as many plays as Nooksack Valley), but the big-play Pioneers got the best of the Knights 28-21 at Sid Lambert Field on Friday night.
Nooksack Valley drove down the field with relative ease on its opening possession, which began with a little razzle-dazzle. Wide receiver Keldon Weidkamp took an end around hand off, and looked back to the Pioneer sideline to find quarterback Cole Eldridge wide open for a 23-yard gain. The capped the drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Eldridge to 6-foot-3 225-pound tight end Ryan Veening.
After turning over the Knights on downs on the following drive, the Pioneers began their next drive on their own 27-yard line. If you can call it a drive. It took just one play as right guard Levi DeWeber pulled and kicked out the defensive end, Veening down-blocked the inside linebacker and Dane Winter exploded through the hole for a 73-yard touchdown run.
Eldrigde scored on a 62-yard keeper in the third quarter to make it 21-0 heading into the fourth, but it was far from over.
The Knights scored on a short touchdown to begin the final quarter, and they followed that up with a 13-yard touchdown pass. Eldridge eventually found the end zone again in the fourth quarter to break the King’s rally. He finished with a game-high 136 yards on 13 carries.
The Knight’s final drive stalled, and on 4th down it appeared that senior cornerback Nate Steele had an interception return for a touchdown, but it was nullified because of a pass-interference call, giving King’s a new set of downs. The Knights scored their final touchdown of the game on a 23-yard pass that was a result of a busted coverage.
Senior defensive tackle Easton Zylstra had another monster game, as he was in on 11 tackles and 2.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage.
The Pioneers (2-1) will begin conference play this Friday at Meridian (0-3).
King’s 21
Nooksack Valley 28
KI 0 0 0 21 – 21
NV 14 0 7 7 – 28
NV – Veening 16 pass from Eldridge (Whittern kick)
NV – Winter 73 run (Whittern kick)
NV – Eldridge 62 run (Whittern kick)
KI – 1 yard touchdown run (kick good)
KI – 13 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
NV – Eldridge 14 run (Whittern kick)
KI – 23 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
KI NV
37-93 Rushing Att-Yards 22-242
18-31-1 Comp-Att-Int 8-12-1
259 Passing yards 56
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – KI: N/A. NV: Eldridge 13-136, Winter 7-95, Whittern 2-11.
PASSING – KI: N/A. NV: Eldridge 7-11-1-33, Weidkamp 1-1-0-23.
RECEIVING – KI: N/A. NV: Veening 2-21, Winter 2-10, Eldridge 1-23, Weidkamp 1-8, Bauman 1-(-2), Leyba 1-(-4).
