NOOKSACK – The Pioneers put together a great game plan, and executed it quite well as they defeated Onalaska 35-12 at Sid Lambert Field on Friday night.
The Loggers struck first when they sprung loose on a 62-yard touchdown run on the sixth play of the game.
Nooksack Valley answered quickly when a myriad of quick strikes drove the Pioneers down the field, and senior quarterback Evan Brown then saw plenty of green ahead of him and sprinted for an 18-yard touchdown.
The Pioneers put together another touchdown drive early in the second quarter, which ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Brown to senior wide receiver Cole Coppinger.
Onalaska would score once again in the second quarter, but that would be the end of the scoring for the Loggers. The bend-but-don’t-break defense of Nooksack Valley did its job in the second half, as they pitched the shut out against the run-heavy 2B powerhouse.
Before halftime, though, Brown hit senior wide receiver Jaxon Hester over the middle for a 16-yard touchdown pass, which gave the Pioneers a 21-12 at the midway break. Hester finished with a game-high nine receptions for 71 yards.
Brown connected with Coppinger once again for a touchdown in the third quarter, to the delight of the home crowd. Brown threw for 203 yards, and he also matched his career-high with 25 completions.
Senior running back Matthew Blake led the ground attack with 85 yards on 12 carries, and he also scored the lone touchdown of the final quarter.
Blake also started at safety where he racked up a team-high 12 tackles. Senior linebacker Andrew Dugger finished with nine tackles, and each of them also recovered a fumble, as did senior defensive tackle Cohen Hofford. Hester also registered 8.5 tackles from him linebacker spot.
The Pioneers (1-0) will host Life Christian (0-1) on Friday at 6:00.
Nooksack Valley 35 Onalaska 12 ONA 6 6 0 0 - 12 NV 7 14 7 7 - 35 ONA - 62 yard touchdown run (run failed) NV - Brown 18 run (Martin kick) NV - Coppinger 14 pass from Brown (Martin kick) ONA - 2 yard touchdown run (run failed) NV - Hester 16 pass from Brown (Martin kick) NV - Coppinger 7 pass from Brown (Martin kick) NV - Blake 4 run (Martin kick) ONA NV 56-320 Rush Att-Yards 22-153 0-2-0 Comp-Att-Int 25-33-0 0 Passing Yards 203 Individual Leaders RUSHING - ONA: N/A. NV: Blake 12-85, Brown 6-55, Heutink 4-13. PASSING - ONA: N/A. NV: Brown 25-33-0-203. RECEIVING - ONA: N/A. NV: Hester 9-71, Ackerman 5-56, Coppinger 3-39, Jones 3-6, Heutink 2-34, Blake 2-(-7), Reimer 1-4.
