NOOKSACK – A win was needed by Nooksack Valley to have a postseason chance. A big 44-7 win was what the Pioneers got against Blaine on Friday night at Sid Lambert Field.
The offensive line plowed the way for 491 rushing yards and 567 total offensive yards.
The two rival teams traded passing touchdowns early on, with Nooksack Valley junior quarterback Joey Brown connecting with sophomore wide receiver Evan Bravo from 17 yards out. It was countered by Blaine senior quarterback Kael Evinger who hit junior tight end Conner Dalry on an 11-yard touchdown pass.
Unfortunately for the Borderite faithful, that would be the only scoring out of the orange and black.
Pioneer sophomore running back Colton Lentz rushed for a career-high 256 yards on 25 carries, including a pair of touchdown runs in the second quarter. Brown also ripped off a couple of long runs, including a 53-yard touchdown on his way to 121 rushing yards on just five carries.
Coming out of a 28-7 lead at halftime, Nooksack Valley scored another pair of touchdowns in the third quarter. The first on a 10-yard strike from Brown to sophomore wide receiver Cory Olney, and the second on a powerful six-yard run by junior running back Skyler Whittern off of the left wall created by sophomore tackle Brady Ackerman and junior guard Duke Halaapiapi.
Evinger completed 13 passes for 134 yards for Blaine, with junior wide receiver Hunter Vezzetti catching five of them for 30 yards, and Dalry hauling in four passes for 43 yards.
Sophomore inside linebacker Colby Martin led the Pioneers with 6.5 tackles, while also adding a tackle for loss and a sack. Junior defensive end John Stremler had 2.5 tackles for loss.
Blaine’s defense was led by junior defensive lineman Alejandro Moser-Hernandez who had seven tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a pass batted down.
The Pioneers (7-1) will face Mount Baker (5-4) at Blaine on Thursday at 5:30 in a Kansas City Tie Breaker. The winner will automatically get a bid into the 1A State Playoffs. The loser will face Lynden Christian to follow in another Kansas City Tie Breaker. The winner of that outcome will also get a bid into the playoffs, and the loser of that game will be bounced from playoff contention.
The Borderites (1-8) will finish their season at home against Cedar Park Christian (1-6) on Friday at 7:00.
Nooksack Valley 44 Blaine 7 BLA 7 0 0 0 - 7 NV 14 14 14 2 - 44 NV - Bravo 17 pass from Brown (Vigre kick) BLA - Dalry 11 pass from Evinger (Hayes kick) NV - Brown 53 run (Vigre kick) NV - Lentz 6 run (Vigre kick) NV - Lentz 8 run (Vigre kick) NV - Olney 10 pass from Brown (Vigre kick) NV - Whittern 6 run (Vigre kick) NV - Safety
BLA NV 22-65 Rush Att-Yards 48-491 13-31-0 Comp-Att-Int 7-11-1 134 Passing Yards 76 Individual Leaders RUSHING - BLA: Paez 9-54, Shipp 8-12, Davis 1-12, Ihde 2-(-2), Evinger 2-(-11). NV: Lentz 25-256, J. Brown 5-121, Whittern 5-42, Blake 4-38, Brisky 4-29, Halaapiapi 1-3, O'Bryan 1-2, Olney 1-1, Co. Coppinger 2-(-1). PASSING - BLA: Evinger 13-26-0-134, Davis 0-5-0-0. NV: J. Brown 7-9-0-76, E. Brown 0-2-1-0. RECEIVING - BLA: Vezzetti 5-30, Dalry 4-43, Ihde 2-51, Minjarez 2-10. NV: Bravo 2-25, Lentz 1-13, DeLange 1-10, Olney 1-10, Hughes 1-9, Bennett 1-9.
