NOOKSACK – After an even first quarter of play, Tumwater doubled up Nooksack Valley the rest of the way and walked away with a 48-28 victory at Sid Lambert Field on Friday night.
The Pioneers stood toe-to-toe with the perennial 2A powerhouse as they found some magic in the passing game, especially in the first half.
Before intermission, senior quarterback Evan Brown had thrown for 258 yards and three touchdowns, but stopping the overall run game of Tumwater proved to be a problem. Both offenses were on full display early on, as the two teams combined for over 600 yards by the midway break.
Brown found Coppinger twice on touchdown passes in the first half, and he also connected on a 29-yard touchdown pass with junior tight end Dane Ackerman, who had a career-night with 11 receptions for 133 yards.
The Thunderbirds cranked out 356 yards on the ground, and was an efficient 6-for-9 in the passing game for an additional 100 yards.
After a scoreless third quarter, Brown scored on a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth to make it a two score game, but a late pick-six by Tumwater sealed the deal for the visitors.
Brown finished with a career-high 331 yards through the air on 25-of-44 passing. Coppinger also caught five passes for 112 yards, while sophomore Tyler Martin hauled in six passes for 64 yards.
The Nooksack Valley defense was led by senior linebacker Andrew Dugger who had 12 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Martin added 12 tackles and senior linebacker Jaxon Hester finished with seven stops.
The Pioneers (2-2) will begin conference play on Friday when they host Mount Baker (3-1) at 7:00.
Tumwater 48 Nooksack Valley 28 TUM 6 27 0 15 - 48 NV 7 14 0 7 - 28 TUM - 15 yard touchdown run (kick failed) NV - Coppinger 38 pass from Brown (Martin kick) TUM - 10 yard touchdown run (pass failed) TUM - 36 yard touchdown run (kick good) TUM - 1 yard touchdown run (kick good) NV - Coppinger 20 pass from Brown (Martin kick) TUM - 88 yard kickoff return for a touchdown (kick good) NV - Ackerman 29 pass from Brown (Martin kick) TUM - 5 yard touchdown run (2pt pass good) NV - Brown 3 run (Martin kick) TUM - 15 yard interception return for a touchdown (kick good) TUM NV 41-356 Rush Att-Yards 17-45 6-9-0 Comp-Att-Int 25-44-1 100 Passing Yards 331 Individual Leaders RUSHING - TUM: N/A. NV: Scheenstra 3-26, Heutink 9-23, Brown 5-(-4). PASSING - TUM: N/A. NV: Brown 25-44-1-331. RECEIVING - TUM: N/A. NV: Ackerman 11-133, Martin 6-64, Coppinger 5-112, Scheenstra 2-11, Hester 1-11.
