NOOKSACK – The home opener for the powerful Pioneers was delightful one for all that were in purple on Friday night at Sid Lambert Field. A 63-14 win over Connell took place, and Nooksack Valley looked every bit of the 1A powerhouse it was expected to be.
The Pioneers scored on their first six possessions of the first half, with the first being on a 23-yard touchdown run by junior Cory Olney.
Nooksack Valley quickly gained possession again, and scored on it’s first play of the second drive on a 63-yard bomb from senior Joey Brown to fellow senior Jackson Bennett.
Senior running back Skyler Whittern rumbled past the goal line at the end of the first quarter behind a jumbo set, which made the score 21-0.
Junior running back Colton Lentz took over in the second quarter, as he scored three touchdowns in the period, with a fourth one called back due to a penalty.
His first one was from four yards out, and also in the jumbo package. His second one came on a quick pass from Brown, in which he followed his gigantic blockers into the end zone for an 11-yard score, and his third came on a powerful 39 yard run.
Just like that, the Pioneers were up 42-0 at halftime.
Nooksack Valley was receiving the second half kickoff, and junior Evan Bravo made the most of it by taking it 86 yards for a touchdown.
Moments later, Olney intercepted a pass, his second of the game, which set up Lentz on the very next play to rumble in a 22-yard touchdown run.
It went from bad to worse quickly for the Eagles as junior linebacker Colby Martin intercepted a pass and took it 23 yards for a score to make it 63-0.
Connell scored two passing touchdowns in the fourth quarter to wrap up the scoring.
To go along with Olney’s two interceptions, and Martin’s pick-six, the Pioneers also got interceptions from senior Kasey Newton and junior Tristan Kamphouse.
Senior inside linebacker John Stremler finished with eight tackles, including three for a loss and one forced fumble, and junior defensive end Brady Ackerman had 1.5 quarterback sacks.
The 63 points scored was the second most in school history for a single game, and senior Jorgen Vigre tied a school record by going a perfect 9-for-9 in extra points.
Nooksack Valley (2-0) will be back on the road next week when it faces King’s (2-0) on Friday at 7:00.
Nooksack Valley 63 Connell 14 CON 0 0 0 14 - 14 NV 21 21 21 0 - 63 NV - Olney 23 run (Vigre kick) NV - Bennett 63 pass from J. Brown (Vigre kick) NV - Whittern 1 run (Vigre kick) NV - Lentz 4 run (Vigre kick) NV - Lentz 11 pass from J. Brown (Vigre kick) NV - Lentz 39 run (Vigre kick) NV - Bravo 86 kickoff return (Vigre kick) NV - Lentz 22 run (Vigre kick) NV - Martin 23 interception return (Vigre kick) CON - 14 yard touchdown pass (kick good) CON - 15 yard touchdown pass (kick good) CON NV 16-(-6) Rush Att-Yards 28-236 24-38-5 Comp-Att-Int 6-9-0 214 Passing Yards 111 Individual Leaders RUSHING - CON: N/A. NV: Lentz 8-105, Whittern 5-65, Olney 5-42, Perez 5-22, J. Brown 1-6, O'Bryan 1-1, Blake 2-(-2), Palumbo 1-(-3). PASSING - CON: N/A. NV: J. Brown 5-8-0-105, E. Brown 1-1-0-6. RECEIVING - CON: N/A. NV: Bennett 2-73, Silves 1-12, Lentz 1-11, Bravo 1-9, Kamphouse 1-6.
Good job guys, your hard work is paying off!