NOOKSACK – If you want to get your heart rate going, just watch a high school football game at Sid Lambert Field this season. In Nooksack Valley’s second home game of the season, much like it’s first game, it came right down to the end, and it also finished with a Pioneer victory. This time, a 25-23 triumph over King’s.
Nooksack Valley opened up the game by driving down the field behind the strong running of Skyler Whittern. A powerful 31-yard run by the junior got the Pioneers into the red zone, and sophomore running back Colton Lentz scored from a yard out.
Whittern then forced a Knights fumble on the following possession, which was recovered by senior cornerback Thomas Abell-Stean. Nooksack Valley had all the momentum in the world, but an errant snap moments later forced Brown to recover the football in the end zone before ultimately taking a safety. The momentum had shifted.
King’s then drove down the field and scored on a 14-yard touchdown pass to put the Knights up 9-7. Nooksack Valley then answered back with a long drive of it’s own, ending with Brown scoring on a 3-yard run which gave the Pioneers a 14-9 lead with 2:35 left until halftime.
King’s was able to run its quick-strike offense to perfection, and had another quick score just over a minute and a half later, and the Knights were ahead 16-14 with 1:03 left in the second quarter.
Nooksack Valley miraculously answered back just before halftime when Brown hit junior wide receiver Jackson Bennett on a fade pattern down the right sideline for a 31-yard touchdown with just 24 seconds left in the half. Lentz barreled over the goal line for the two-point conversion.
With a 22-16 lead going into the third quarter, the Pioneers received the second half kickoff, and methodically matriculated down the field. The drive stalled however, but Nooksack Valley did run off seven minutes before having to punt the ball away.
The Knights rebutted with their best drive of the contest, going 87 yards before ultimately scoring on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1:15 left in the third quarter, and taking a 23-22 lead.
The ensuing kickoff was returned to midfield by Bennett, and the Pioneers got first down after first down, but a strong goal line stand by King’s forced Nooksack Valley to settle for a 19-yard field goal by junior kicker Jorgen Vigre with 7:09 remaining in the game. The successful kick by Vigre resulted in the sixth lead change of the game, and set the stage for another heart-pounding finish.
The Pioneers were able to stop the Knights on third down on the following possession, but King’s was able to covert on a 4th-and-5 from it’s own 40-yard line to keep the drive alive. The Knights had big plays in the passing game, and a few strong runs before ultimately ending up on the Pioneer 12-yard line with a 3rd-and-11 play. That 3rd-and-11 play would be the last for the King’s offense, as sophomore safety Cory Olney stepped in front of a pass at the goal line, and picked the pass off with 2:53 left.
“I just saw the quarterback roll out to my side of the field,” said Olney who was playing a zone coverage on the play. “Once he started to throw, I knew exactly where he was going with the ball, and I just made a play on it.”
It was Olney’s third interception in just three games this season.
The Pioneers were able to run out the clock and secure their third win of the season.
Lentz, who came into the game as Whatcom County’s leading rusher, picked up 76 hard-fought yards on 24 carries. Defensively, Nooksack Valley was led by John Stremler (10 tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack) and Daemion Perez (nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss).
The Pioneers (3-0) will travel to Hoquiam (2-1) on Friday to take on the Grizzlies at 6:00.
King's 23 Nooksack Valley 25 KI 0 16 7 0 - 23 NV 7 15 0 3 - 25 NV - Lentz 1 run (Vigre kick) KI - Safety, Brown tackled in end zone KI - 14 yard touchdown pass (kick good) NV - Brown 3 run (Vigre kick) KI - 21 yard touchdown run (kick good) NV - Bennett 31 pass from Brown (Lentz run) KI - 13 yard touchdown pass (kick good) NV - Vigre 19 FG KI NV 25-149 Rush Att-Yards 42-124 20-31-1 Comp-Att-Int 10-15-0 199 Passing Yards 96 Individual Leaders RUSHING - KI: N/A. NV: Lentz 24-76, Whittern 3-43, Brown 13-4, Bennett 2-1. PASSING - KI: N/A. NV: Brown 10-15-0-96. RECEIVING - KI: N/A. NV: Lentz 3-21, Hughes 3-18, Bennett 2-38, Olney 2-21.
