BY JEFF WOOD – For Whatcom Preps
BELLINGHAM – Lynden Christian found out the hard way the truth in the saying “It is tough to beat a good team twice in the same season.” After taking the regular-season game 21-20 at Nooksack Valley, this time the Lyncs came out on the other side, falling 47-14 at Civic Stadium on Friday night.
The Pioneers rode a strong rushing game totaling 274 yards and some timely defensive stops to the big win, which puts them into the final four teams of the 1A State Playoffs.
Although there were over 60 points scored on the night, none were scored in the first quarter. Some big-game jitters and slippery footballs contributed to both offenses slow starts.
Nooksack Valley senior quarterback Joey Brown’s first two passes were intercepted by LC senior cornerback Dawson Bouma. This led to early opportunities for the Lyncs but two fourth down rushes were stopped by the Nooksack Valley defense.
With momentum from their defense, the Pioneers started finding their rhythm on their third drive.
Nooksack fed their workhorse, junior tailback Colton Lentz. He rushed eight times on the drive and capped it with a 9-yard touchdown early in the second quarter. The extra point was blocked keeping the lead at 6-0 in favor of Nooksack Valley.
Lynden Christian quickly answered with a TD drive of its own. Senior quarterback Jeremiah Wright was 4-for-4 on the drive connecting with multiple receivers. A 6-yard touchdown catch by Kayden Stuit tied the game at 6 and the extra point by sophomore Jacob Penner gave the Lyncs their only lead of the game at 7-6.
Nooksack was in business again with a balanced drive deep into LC territory. A 25-yard reception that included a broken tackle by junior receiver Cory Olney put the ball into the red zone. However, a snap issue caused the drive to stall and the Pioneers settled for a 30-yard field goal by senior Jorgen Vigre.
With the Pioneers leading 9-7 it was LC’s turn to answer. Two big pass plays got the Lyncs to the cusp of the red zone, with senior wide receiver Tyson Bajema starting the drive with a 13-yard reception. After a 3-yard run by junior Hollis Owen, the Nooksack defense locked up the LC receivers. Facing a 4th-and-7, Bajema made a catch but it was 2 yards short of the line to gain and Nooksack took over on the 15 yard line.
That stop and the next drive were the turning point in the game as the Pioneers moved with purpose down to the Lyncs 33-yard line.
With the Lyncs only rushing 3, Brown scrambled to find extra time on a dropback by rolling right. He used his vision and athleticism to make a throw back to the middle of the field to Lentz who had found an opening in the zone. Lentz then broke a tackle and made it into the end zone with less than 7 seconds left before halftime. Unfortunately, on the PAT, LC quarterback and linebacker Jeremiah Wright was injured and was unable to return to the game.
Nooksack Valley was leading 16-7 at the break and while Lynden Christian received the ball to start the second half they were without their leader behind center. Sophomore Eli Maberry started the second half at quarterback for the Lyncs.
The Pioneers forced a punt after a 3-and-out and yet another slippery snap ended up on the ground. Junior defensive end Brady Ackerman jumped on it for a Pioneer touchdown that pushed their lead to 23-7.
Nooksack Valley kept the pressure up on defense and was able to start grinding out more and more yards with its running game.
Seniors Skyler Wittern and John Stremler both contributed with speed and size behind the strong Pioneer offensive line. After a second Vigre field goal, this time from 36 yards, and a Lentz touchdown run, the third quarter ended with Nooksack Valley up 33-7.
Maberry began to find his rhythm in the fourth quarter. He hooked up on a 51-yard touchdown pass to Bouma who made the catch and raced across the field then turning the corner down the sideline outrunning the defense to the pylon. This closed the lead to 33-14 and showed a glimpse of the future behind center for the Lyncs.
Stuit, playing his last game at Lynden Christian, hauled in 9 catches for 139 yards and a touchdown to lead his team in both categories.
Whittern (15 carries for 118 yards) scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and would salt the game away for the Pioneers giving the packed purple-clad north side fans plenty to cheer about.
With a 47-14 victory, Nooksack Valley avenged the earlier season loss to Lynden Christian and moves them into the semifinals next weekend against Lakeside Nine Mile Falls.
Nooksack Valley 47 Lynden Christian 14 NV 0 16 17 14 - 47 LC 0 7 0 7 - 14 NV - Lentz 9 run (kick blocked) LC - Stuit 6 pass from Wright (Penner kick) NV - Vigre 30 FG NV - Lentz 33 pass from Brown (Vigre kick) NV - Ackerman recovered fumble in end zone (Vigre kick) NV - Vigre 36 FG NV - Lentz 1 run (Vigre kick) LC - Bouma 51 pass from Maberry (Penner kick) NV - Whittern 1 run (Vigre kick) NV - Whittern 8 run (Vigre kick) NV LC 47-274 Rush Att-Yards 12-30 9-15-2 Comp-Att-Int 20-39-0 147 Passing Yards 314 Individual Leaders RUSHING - NV: Whittern 15-118, Lentz 19-63, Stremler 4-60, Brown 8-26, Bennett 1-7. LC: Wright 4-17, H. Owen 8-13. PASSING - NV: Brown 9-14-2-147, Lentz 0-1-0-0. LC: Wright 9-13-0-167, Maberry 11-23-0-147, Bouma 0-1-0-0, DenHartog 0-2-0-0. RECEIVING - NV: Olney 5-82, Bauman 2-27, Lentz 1-33, Bennett 1-5. LC: Stuit 9-139, Bajema 4-35, Bouma 3-66, Bouwman 3-31, Trev. Blair 1-43.
