NOOKSACK – The Pioneers became the first team this season to move to 3-0 in the wildly competitive 1A Northwest Conference, and did it in a commanding way by defeating Meridian 29-0 at Sid Lambert Field on Friday night.
An evenly played first quarter showed what many felt the game would be like in its entirety, as both defenses came to play. The Trojans got an interception when senior Landen Downey was able to tip a pass that ended up in the hands of junior Daniel Larsen, and the Pioneer defense was able to turn Meridian over on downs as football was mainly played between the 30-yard lines.
Even superstar senior running back Colton Lentz was bottled up in the first quarter, having gained just seven yards in his first eight carries. However, his first carry of the second quarter pumped life into the home crowd as he took it 25 yards to the house, which gave the Pioneers a 7-0 lead.
As the rain fell harder, and the field got muddier, both teams went into the locker room at the half with Lentz’ touchdown run the only play of the game to that point that went over 20 yards.
Nooksack Valley kept the ball on the ground to begin the second half, and Lentz ran over the right side of the line, which was unbalanced and anchored by senior offensive tackle Brady Ackerman, and eventually got into the end zone a second time.
The ensuing kickoff was short, but high in the air, and when Nooksack Valley sophomore Max Lautenbach recovered the ball to give his teammates back-to-back possessions, the momentum was clearly on the of the purple-cladded Pioneers.
A 32-yard run by Lentz set up another Nooksack Valley touchdown, this time by senior running back Colby Martin who waltzed in from six yards out.
Lentz capped the scoring in the beginning of the fourth quarter with a 33-yard touchdown run, and he finished with a game-high 172 yards on 27 carries. His big game put him over 4,000 career rushing yards, making him the 10th player in Whatcom County history to accomplish that feat.
The Trojans had few answers, and the weather didn’t help as passing the ball was becoming a lesser option by the minute.
Lentz also led the defense for Nooksack Valley with 14.5 tackles, a tackle for loss, a pass broken up and half a sack. Martin added 9.5 tackles from his linebacker spot. Meridian was led defensively by seniors Jaxson Hurlbut who had a team-high eight tackles and a blocked punt, Downey who had 7.5 tackles and Lincoln Hoefer who had two stops behind the line of scrimmage.
The Pioneers (6-1) will travel to Montesano (4-3) on Friday to take on the Bulldogs at 7:00, and the Trojans (5-2) will host Lynden Christian (4-3) on Friday at 7:00.
Nooksack Valley 29 Meridian 0 MER 0 0 0 0 - 0 NV 0 7 15 7 - 29 NV - Lentz 25 run (T. Martin kick) NV - Lentz 14 run (Lentz run) NV - C. Martin 6 run (T. Martin kick) NV - Lentz 33 run (T. Martin kick) MER NV 38-107 Rush Att-Yards 37-216 7-14-0 Comp-Att-Int 4-10-1 46 Passing Yards 50 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MER: Downey 13-48, Gray 12-47, Fyfe 13-12. NV: Lentz 27-172, C. Martin 8-27, Brown 2-17. PASSING - MER: Fyfe 7-14-0-46. NV: Brown 4-10-1-50. RECEIVING - MER: Hedahl 2-22, Brennan 2-12, Larsen 2-10, Alexander 1-2. NV: Olney 2-29, Coppinger 2-21.
