BY MAKAYLA SPARKS – For Whatcom Preps
BELLINGHAM – All season long, the Nooksack Valley Pioneers have been putting up points on opponents, averaging almost 50 per contest over their 10 games played. Saturday night was no exception as they took a 59-7 victory over the Cascade Christian Cougars in the first round of the 1A state playoffs at Civic Stadium.
If attendees of the game didn’t know who Colton Lentz was when they showed up, they sure did by the end of the first quarter.
The junior running back scored the first four touchdowns of the game, all of which were rushing touchdowns, and did it in just under seven minutes on four consecutive carries. Lentz rushed into the end zone from six yards out for his first touchdown three and a half minutes into the game after the Nooksack defense denied the Cougars of a first down.
A 32-yard run from senior quarterback Joey Brown brought the Pioneers deep into Cascade Christian territory on their next drive and Lentz scored again on an 18-yard run.
The Nooksack Valley defense continued to force the Cougars to punt and on the first play of the Pioneer’s third drive, Lentz took a hand off from Brown, evaded a hand full of defenders, and powered 50 yards to the house.
With 1:23 left in the first quarter, Lentz found the end zone yet again on a 15-yard run, and the quarter ended 28-0 with Nooksack Valley out in front.
The hot-handed offense continued at full throttle into the second quarter when Brown connected with senior receiver Jackson Bennett for the first and only passing touchdown of the game from either team only 12 seconds after the quarter began.
After scoring a touchdown on offense, Bennett carried his momentum over onto the defensive side of the ball. He intercepted a Cascade Christian pass attempt and returned 29 yards for yet another Pioneer touchdown.
Both junior defensive back Evan Bravo and senior defensive lineman Dalton Hickey also recorded interceptions in the second quarter.
Senior running back Skyler Whittern scored the longest touchdown of the night when he raced down the far side of the field for a 65-yard touchdown near the midpoint of the second quarter.
With a 49-0 lead and a little under four minutes of play in the first half, Nooksack Valley senior lineman John Stremler left his spot at right guard to carry the ball 21-yards for a touchdown. Stremler also finished with eight tackles, two tackles for loss, one quarterback sack and a pass deflection.
The Pioneers finished their scoring burst with on 30-yard field goal made by senior kicker Jorgen Vigre and headed into the locker room with a 59-0 advantage at halftime.
The Nooksack coaching staff put in their JV and C-team squads to finish out the second half of the game and the scoreboard didn’t change till late in the fourth when the Cougars finally managed to score on a 5-yard touchdown.
With the 59-7 win, the Nooksack Valley Pioneers have advanced to the 1A quarterfinals and will play Lynden Christian this Friday at 7 pm in a game that will be held at Civic Stadium.
Nooksack Valley 59 Cascade Christian 7 CC 0 0 0 7 - 7 NV 28 31 0 0 - 59 NV - Lentz 6 run (Vigre kick) NV - Lentz 18 run (Vigre kick) NV - Lentz 50 run (Vigre kick) NV - Lentz 15 run (Vigre kick) NV - Bennett 71 pass from J. Brown (Vigre kick) NV - Bennett 29 interception return (Vigre kick) NV - Whittern 65 run (Vigre kick) NV - Stremler 21 run (Vigre kick) NV - Vigre 30 FG CC - 5 yard touchdown pass (kick good) CC NV 26-82 Rush Att-Yards 26-266 8-21-3 Comp-Att-Int 6-9-0 82 Passing Yards 146 Individual Leaders RUSHING - CC: N/A. NV: Whittern 11-123, Lentz 7-102, J. Brown 2-21, Stremler 1-21, Dugger 2-2, Newton 1-1, Huante 2-(-4). PASSING - CC: N/A. NV: J. Brown 4-5-0-121, E. Brown 2-4-0-25. RECEIVING - CC: N/A. NV: Bennett 1-71, Lentz 1-30, Stauffer 1-27, Olney 1-11, Bauman 1-9, Newton 1-(-2).
