SUMNER – A rarity in high school football. A total of zero points were scored in the second half. Not a ton were scored in the first half either as the Pioneers hung on to defeat the Cougars 14-7 at Sunset Chevrolet Stadium on Saturday night.
Nooksack Valley was able to move the ball well early on, and got on the board first when junior running back Treven Scheenstra took a pitch to the right side, broke a tackle in the back field and sprinted 18 yards for a touchdown.
Cascade Christian capitalized on a fluky play early in the second quarter when a Pioneer pass was tipped high into the air in the middle of the field, and a Cougar intercepted it. The play gave Cascade Christian the ball at the Nooksack Valley 13-yard line, and the Cougars scored on a 9-yard touchdown pass a few plays later.
The Pioneers then put together another strong drive, which was highlighted by a 32-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Lucas Woodrich to junior wide receiver Tyler Martin. Woodrich finished the drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Scheenstra who came out of the backfield, caught the pass and ran into the endzone untouched.
Woodrich, who was making his varsity debut at quarterback, finished with 219 yards on 22-of-31 passing. Martin remained his main target as he ended with 11 receptions for 136 yards.
The Cougars went on a strong drive late in the game, and looked to tie it up, but a pass over the middle was intercepted by Scheenstra at the Nooksack Valley 20-yard line with 3:22 left in the game.
A number of Pioneer first downs would be needed to ice the game away, but the Cascade Christian defense rose to the occasion, and turned the purple-cladded visitors away on a 3rd-and-short run. Nooksack Valley’s punt just cleared midfield, and the Cougars had one last chance with 1:15 left at their own 44-yard line.
After picking up a few first downs, Cascade Christian was out of timeouts, but was able to get the ball to the Pioneer 12-yard line, where the Cougars quickly spiked the ball with seven seconds left.
An incomplete pass stopped the clock once more, which led to one final play.
Forced to pass once again, the Cascade Christian quarterback was quickly flushed out of the pocket by Trevek McMillen as the clock read all zeros. The 6-foot-4 225-pound senior defensive end was able to get a hand on his jersey, and he brought him to the ground to the delight of the visiting sideline. However, a penalty flag came in, and a horse-collar tackle was the call, which meant one more untimed down would take place, this time from the 6-yard line.
The Cougars attempted a sweep to the left side, but it was snuffed out by junior linebacker Ty Berends, and his tackle ended the game.
The Pioneers (1-0) will host Okanogan (1-0) on Friday at 7:00 as they unveil the new artificial turf at Sid Lambert Field.
Nooksack Valley 14 Cascade Christian 7 NV 7 7 0 0 - 14 CC 0 7 0 0 - 7 NV - Scheenstra 18 run (Leyerly kick) CC - 9 yard touchdown pass (kick good) NV - Scheenstra 6 pass from L. Woodrich (Leyerly kick)
NV CC 19-39 Rush Att-Yards 31-128 22-32-1 Comp-Att-Int 14-24-1 219 Passing Yards 88 Individual Leaders RUSHING - NV: Scheenstra 9-47, Heutink 6-0, Martin 2-0, Tijerina 1-(-1), L. Woodrich 1-(-7). CC: N/A. PASSING - NV: L. Woodrich 22-31-1-219, Berends 0-1-0-0. CC: N/A. RECEIVING - NV: Martin 11-136, Ackerman 6-42, Scheenstra 3-44, Jones 2-(-3). CC: N/A.
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