NOOKSACK – The weather, and some penalties, made for a somewhat sloppy game, but Nooksack Valley did what needed to be done to win the game as it defeated Montesano 13-7 at Sid Lambert Field on Friday night.
First downs didn’t come easy all night, and early on both teams made adjustments to their usual gameplans as the weather turned unusual.
The pass-first Bulldogs looked to move the ball on the ground, as did the Pioneers who went with an unbalanced line at times, and included putting sophomore Tyler Martin in as a wildcat (run-first) quarterback.
Montesano’s best drive of the night was its first one, but the Bulldogs ended up being turned away inside the 5-yard line when junior cornerback Jaden Jones intercepted a pass in the endzone.
After a scoreless first quarter, and both teams trading punts multiple times, Montesano scored first with a 51-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.
Nooksack Valley then got great field position on the short kickoff, and after a couple of 3rd-and-long completions from senior Evan Brown to Jones, and to senior wide receiver Jaxon Hester, the Pioneers found themselves on the 12-yard line. Brown then rolled to his right, but didn’t find anyone open so he took care of business on his own and carried the ball into the endzone himself.
Martin’s kick tied the game at 7-7, which stood until the half.
When both teams came out of the locker rooms at the end of halftime, the weather had taken a turn for the worse, with wind now becoming a factor.
The game was mostly played in the middle of the field, as little progress was made in the third quarter, and the game remained tied going into the fourth.
With multiple punts flying back and forth, the Bulldogs decided to go for a fake punt in the fourth quarter on their own 40-yard line, instead of trying to pin the Pioneers deep. The pass ended up going incomplete, which gave Nooksack Valley great field position.
The fired up Pioneers took advantage of the situation and quickly connected on a first-down pass from Brown to senior Cole Coppinger, and another a few plays later to Martin. That set up a first-and-goal from the 4-yard line, and sophomore running back Trey Heutink did the rest as he broke multiple tackles for crossing the goal line.
While attempting the comeback, the Bulldogs were forced to go to the air, but were able to complete just three of their final 13 pass attempts of the game. They were turned away on downs twice more, and Nooksack Valley was able to secure the home win.
The purple-cladded defense was led by Hester who had 10 tackles, one tackle for loss, one sack and a pass defended. Jones finished with three tackles, three passes defended and the first quarter interception, while junior Max Lautenbach had 7.5 tackles, senior Brian Leyerly had 6.5 tackles and senior Andrew Dugger finished with six tackles.
The Pioneers (5-3) will jump back into conference play on Thursday when they host Lynden Christian (7-1) at 7:00.
Nooksack Valley 13 Montesano 7 MON 0 7 0 0 - 7 NV 0 7 0 6 - 13 MON - 51 yard touchdown pass (kick good) NV - Brown 12 run (Martin kick) NV - Heutink 4 run (kick failed) MON NV 25-112 Rush Att-Yards 34-154 12-30-1 Comp-Att-Int 10-19-1 159 Passing Yards 126 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MON: N/A. NV: Scheenstra 12-66, Heutink 12-44, Brown 4-26, Martin 6-18. PASSING - MON: N/A. NV: Brown 10-19-1-126. RECEIVING - MON: N/A. NV: Hester 4-48, Jones 3-44, Coppinger 2-21, Martin 1-13.
