DEMING – It came down to the end once again as Mount Baker held on to put the first notch in the loss column of Nooksack Valley by the score of 21-14 at Bob Tisdale Field on Friday night.
After each team had one possession that came up empty, Pioneer junior running back Trey Heutink rambled for a 22-yard run, and that was followed up by a 58-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Lucas Woodrich to junior Tyler Martin. The two-play drive put Nooksack Valley in front 7-0 almost halfway through the first quarter.
Both teams traded punts, and Mount Baker was then on the move as junior quarterback Tyson Barksdale hit senior wide receiver Gage Smith down the right sideline for a 36-yard gain to cross midfield. The drive continued as it turned into the second quarter, and was finished off with a 1-yard touchdown run by senior running back Andrew Monteith. Enoc Smith’s extra point kick tied the game up at 7-7.
On the following drive, senior defensive end Kell Reardon showed why he was named All-State last season as he was able to get to the quarterback, force a fumble and it was recovered by junior defensive lineman Sylis Maple at the Pioneer 34-yard line.
A few plays later, senior wide receiver Zyan Paglia ran an immaculate route where he faked a slant pattern, and cut to the corner of the end zone. Barksdale’s pump-fake helped as well, as it caused the defender to bite on the play and Barksdale hit Paglia for a 16-yard touchdown to five the Mounties their first lead of the night.
Both teams traded multiple punts before going into the locker room for halftime.
Mount Baker received the second half kickoff, and moved the ball right away. Barksdale threw a fastball for a strike right down the middle of the field that hit junior running back Enoc Smith for a 31-yard gain, and a few plays later Barksdale and Paglia hooked up for another touchdown. This time, it covered 29 yards as Paglia leapt at the goal line to haul the pass in.
The majority of the third quarter was then played between the 30-yard lines as punts flew back and forth, as both teams played relatively conservatively, knowing that they needed to take advantage of a big break at some point. It may have came when Martin intercepted a pass in Mount Baker territory, which set the Pioneers up with great field position with 2:43 left in the third quarter. It was Martin’s Whatcom County leading seventh interception of the season.
It appeared that Nooksack Valley wasn’t going to be able to score with this golden opportunity as Enoc Smith forced an incomplete pass down the right sideline on 3rd-and-8, but the Pioneers were able to pick up a new set of downs as Woodrich found senior tight end Dane Ackerman over the middle for 10 yards.
Treven Scheenstra then broke through the middle of the line for 11 yards, and the junior running back followed that up with a 2-yard touchdown run to bring the game within one score at the end of three quarters, 21-14.
The fourth quarter was filled with more punts than first downs, and the final punt of the game was received by Nooksack Valley who now had to go 81 yards with 3:42 left in the game.
The Pioneers needed some big plays at this moment, and the two longest plays they had to that point both came on the 80-yard scoring drive early in the game.
The big plays started to happen, as Woodrich found Scheenstra out of the backfield for a 26-yard gain, and Woodrich then hit Ackerman for an 18-yard completion which moved Nooksack Valley well past midfield.
Two plays later Woodrich found Ackerman again on a play-action pass, this time for 14 yards to get the Pioneers to the Mount Baker 25-yard line with 2:25 left in the game.
A three-yard carry by Scheenstra coupled with a nine-yard reception by sophomore tight end A.J. Woodrich produced a new set of downs for the Pioneers at the Mountie 13-yard line.
Nooksack Valley used all four downs to throw the ball into the end zone, but none of them were completed as Gage Smith broke up the final pass on fourth down to secure the win for Mount Baker.
It was a great way to top off the night for Smith who led his team with 11 tackles. It also spoiled the huge game by Pioneer junior defensive tackle Paxton Miller who finished with 8.5 tackles, and four tackles for loss.
The Mountaineers (4-2) will host Blaine (2-4) at 7:00 on Friday, and Nooksack Valley (5-1) will host Lynden Christian (4-2) at 7:00 on Friday.
Mount Baker 21 Nooksack Valley 14 NV 7 0 7 0 - 14 MB 0 14 7 0 - 21 NV - Martin 58 pass from L. Woodrich (Leyerly kick) MB - Monteith 1 run (E. Smith kick) MB - Paglia 16 pass from Barksdale (E. Smith kick) MB - Paglia 29 pass from Barksdale (E. Smith kick) NV - Scheenstra 1 run (Leyerly kick)
NV MB 22-76 Rush Att-Yards 39-125 14-31-0 Comp-Att-Int 8-14-1 208 Passing Yards 132 Individual Leaders RUSHING - NV: Scheenstra 13-48, Heutink 5-31, Martin 2-6, L. Woodrich 2-(-9). MB: E. Smith 17-81, Monteith 13-29, Barksdale 8-15, G. Smith 1-0. PASSING - NV: L. Woodrich 14-30-0-208, Martin 0-1-0-0. MB: Barksdale 8-14-1-132. RECEIVING - NV: Ackerman 5-71, Martin 3-69, Scheenstra 2-38, A.J. Woodrich 2-24, Jones 2-6. MB: Paglia 3-59, E. Smith 3-29, G. Smith 2-44.
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