BLAINE – The Pioneers ended their three-game losing skid by picking up the 52-22 road win against Blaine on Friday night.
It was all Nooksack Valley in the first half as sophomore running back Trey Heutink scored on a 2-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter.
Senior quarterback Evan Brown then launched a perfectly placed deep ball right over the shoulder of his senior wide receiver Jaxon Hester, as the two combined for a 46-yard touchdown pass.
Heutink powered into the endzone on another short touchdown run to begin the second quarter, and he was quickly followed up by another touchdown when Hester blew through the line to block a Borderite punt. He then scooped up the ball at the 16-yard line and headed towards six more points.
Just before halftime, Brown went to the air again, and he targeted Hester on an out route, but the ball went off of his hands and ended up in the hands of his senior teammate Cole Coppinger who took it 52 yards untouched for a score, and the Pioneers led 33-0 at the midway break.
Not to be discouraged, Blaine came out firing in the second half and reached the endzone on a 19-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Connor Brown to junior wide receiver Peyton Bouma.
Nooksack Valley countered with another touchdown pass, this time Evan Brown hit wide receiver Max Lautenbach on a crossing route, and the junior did the rest to rumble 32 yards for his first varsity touchdown, on his second varsity reception.
Connor Brown then found senior wide receiver Kai Kerwin on a 9-yard touchdown pass on 4th down, and followed it up with a safety moments later when a snap got away from Evan Brown and went into the back of the endzone.
Evan Brown and Coppinger hooked up again in the fourth quarter on a 12-yard touchdown pass. Coppinger finished with nine receptions for 130 yards.
The last reception of Coppinger’s came in the next drive when he caught a six-yard stick route, and then lateraled the ball to sophomore running back Treven Scheenstra, who was already at a full gallop coming out of the backfield. He then went 62-yards for the hook-and-ladder touchdown.
Connor Brown tossed his third touchdown pass of the night at the end of the fourth quarter when he hit Bouma on a 10-yard pass.
The Pioneers (3-3) will continue on in conference play as they will travel to Meridian (5-1) on Friday to take on the Trojans, and the Borderites (1-5) will step out of conference play for one week as they will travel to Friday Harbor (2-4) on Friday and battle the Wolverines at 6:30.
Nooksack Valley 52 Blaine 22 NV 14 19 6 13 - 52 BLA 0 0 15 7 - 22 NV - Heutink 2 run (kick blocked) NV - Hester 46 pass from Brown (Hester pass from Brown) NV - Heutink 3 run (Martin kick) NV - Hester 16 blocked punt return (run failed) NV - Coppinger 52 pass from Brown (run failed) BLA - P. Bouma 19 pass from C. Brown (P. Bouma kick) NV - Lautenbach 32 pass from Brown (kick failed) BLA - Kerwin 9 pass from C. Brown (kick failed) BLA - Safety NV - Coppinger 12 pass from Brown (run failed) NV - Scheenstra 62 run (Martin kick) BLA - P. Bouma 10 pass from C. Brown (P. Bouma kick) NV BLA 19-104 Rush Att-Yards 33-49 19-31-0 Comp-Att-Int 14-31-1 254 Passing Yards 224 Individual Leaders RUSHING - NV: Scheenstra 7-73, Heutink 8-57, Grimm 1-0, bad snap 1-(-10), Brown 2-(-16). BLA: C. Brown 16-34, Kerwin 4-10, Heer 1-5, Kanagie 2-1, Johannesson 10-(-1). PASSING - NV: Brown 18-27-0-250, Berends 1-4-0-4. BLA: C. Brown 13-30-1-174, Kerwin 1-1-0-50. RECEIVING - NV: Coppinger 9-130, Hester 4-61, Reimer 2-21, Martin 2-6, Lautenbach 1-32, Kooiker 1-4. BLA: P. Bouma 6-79, Candanoza 3-49, Kerwin 3-37, I. Bouma 1-50, Heer 1-9.
