Prep football roundup: Pioneers looking to separate themselves in punishing Northwest 1A

A team with the imposing talent of unbeaten Nooksack Valley, which has put up more than 40 points in each of its three wins, would normally be thought of as a solid conference title favorite.

Nooksack’s 47-20 win over King’s — in a game nowhere near that close — and Colton Lentz’s 223 yards rushing and five touchdowns at home Friday would seem to bolster that reputation.

But is any team a true title favorite in the Fearsome Five league otherwise known as Northwest Conference 1A.

“I love playing in our league. It’s the best, no doubt,” Lentz said, speaking about as fast as the senior runs.

“Agreed,” is what every coach in the circuit would respond.

After all, defensive goliaths Blaine and Mount Baker are 3-0 for the first time in many years. Meridian is 2-1 in the immediate wake of a 35-34 road loss to unbeaten 4A power Kamiak. And it took a defending divisional champion from British Columbia in the opener and 2023 state 2B champion Okanogan to beat Lynden Christian Friday.

Not only is the Fearsome Five a combined 12-3, but they have scored 536 points, with the vast majority in the first half.

And yet … there is a way that Nooksack can establish itself as the most fearsome of the five. On Friday, the daring Pioneers will travel more than 150 miles to take on Tumwater (3-0), which has long boasted one of the most explosive of all 2A programs.

“I’m very happy to be playing Tumwater,” said Lentz. “We won’t be intimidated. I hate losing more than I love winning.”

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What does Pioneers coach Craig Bartl think?

“Tumwater is a good opportunity to play a good team and we want to be challenged,” he said. “But you know we don’t talk much about opponents, but rather about what we need to do to get better.”

At halftime, with the Pioneers up 33-6 via four short Lentz touchdown bursts and a spiffy 49-yard score from junior Evan Brown to elusive Cole Bauman, there was only one doubt. Would Lentz match his father’s last remaining school record?

“I have only one left,” longtime assistant coach Britt Lentz lamented with good humor at the half, flashing a grin as wide as the holes Lentz‘s line made. “The five touchdowns in one game.”

After a welcome non-Lentz score — Brown’s 39-yard touchdown pass, his seventh, on a nifty slant pattern by Evan Bravo — Colton finally caught Dad.

His fifth of the game and 58th of his career, a 9-yard tackle-breaking bolt, made the score 47-6 . The score sent the game into 40-point margin mercy mode with a running clock after Nooksack’s second series of the third quarter.

The Pioneers put in their second team but the Knights (0-3) did no such thing and wound up using only one passer, Colton Adams. He finished 12 for 38 with two touchdowns and interceptions by Cole Coppinger, Jaxon Hester and Andrew Dugger.

King’s used Braeden Caulk as their only ball-carrier. He finished 15 for 72 yards, with a 22-yarder for the game’s final score .

Because King’s kept using starters, Nooksack couldn’t play all of its younger guys.

“King’s (which beat Nooksack last year) said they wanted to compete,” said a disgruntled Nooksack coach, who obviously felt for the young kids.

Coppinger’s interception was a marvelous sight. The athletic junior juggled the ball twice but held on.

“That was exciting!” Coppinger acknowledged pilfering a pass that was thrown more than half the length of the field.

Brown had another encouraging game, going 6 for 12 for 170 yards, including a breath-taking 64-yarder to Cory Olney

THURSDAY

Lynden 42, Marysville-Pilchuck 21: Even before the kickoff Thursday in Anacortes, No. 2-ranked Lynden (3-0 0 overall, 1-0 NWC 2A) and No. 1 Anacortes (3-0, 2-0) had already made football history.

“I can’t remember any league game in our area where the top two ranked teams (in the Associated Press poll) met,” said Lynden coach Blake Van Dalen, who began his career as an assistant coach at Lynden 27 years ago.

For that matter, most Lynden fans would be hard-pressed to recall a kicker recovering his own onside kick to set up the key drive of the game.

That’s just what happened at home after the Lions snapped a 21-21 halftime tie with a 56-yard drive that was capped by a 12-yard touchdown run by junior Max Assink and the fourth of Malachi Koenen’s five conversions.

“When I was told to make an onside kick, my adrenaline just exploded,” said Koenen. “I had never recovered my own onside kick, but I wanted to kick it to myself. I was excited!”

His tactic worked and the Lions responded with a 54-yard drive to take a 35-21 advantage. Isaiah Oudman made a diving catch of a 2-yard toss by Brant Heppner.

“Everyone stayed calm at the half,” Van Dalen said. “There was no panic, no frustration. We pushed through some tough stuff.

The toughest stuff in the first half was Tomahawks running back Joseph Davis, who scored on runs of 4, 44 and 16 yards. He finished with 210 yards on 22 carries, but the Lions made adjustments and limited him to 30 yards in the second half while shutting out the Tommies (0-3, 0-3), formerly in the Wesco North 3A ranks.

Heppner finished 12 for 15 for 195 yards, with six for 106 yards to Oudman including a 51-yard first-half score. Heppner, who has eight scoring passes this season, also fired a beauty of a 51-yard scoring pass to sophomore Samm Puello Arango on Lynden’s first play from scrimmage. Dani Bowler caught key passes of 14 and 8 yards shortly after the onside recovery.

The fast-improving Assink carried 19 times for 110 yards and three touchdowns, including a 3-yard dagger with 4:43 to play. Zach Dykstra recovered a fumble to begin a game-clinching 80-yard drive.

Freshman Markus Koenen kicked the last extra point, making him 7 for his first 7 to go with his brother’s 11 for his first 11 this season. Markus then boomed a kickoff well out of the end zone.

Elsewhere Friday

Sehome 48, Lakewood 0: Third-year quarterback Nolan Wright accounted for 437 total yards, including four touchdown passes and a 71-yard run, for the surging Mariners (2-1, 2-1).

“I told Nolan I would put the ball in his hands,” said Mariners coach Brian Young of his prize junior. “I wanted him to be able to establish dominance, to put as much pressure as possible on their defensive tactics.”

Cooper McAtee caught an 8-yard scoring pass from Wright on fourth-and-goal for McAtee’s first score. Sawyer Woods then ran 19 yards to score shortly before Wright’s 71-yard scamper and Gray Evans kicked the eighth field goal of his career, a 37-yarder.

County historian Tyler Anderson said Evans tied a school record set by Andrew Anderson in 1998-2000.

In the second half, Evans caught a 5-yard scoring pass, followed by Wright’s scoring throws of 5 yards to Theo Quiggle and 15 -yards to Andre Watson for his school-record 26th touchdown catch.

“Theo Quiggle is becoming a top-tier receiver,” Young said of the junior, who caught six passes for 105 yard to help Wright finish 21 for 33 for 292 yards. Wright ran 10 times for 145 yards.

Solomon McAlister gained 71 yards and Woods had 50. Watson had an interception and caught eight passes for 86 yards, while Evans snagged three for 43. Woods and Evans also pilfered passes.

“Hudson Neff, Fisher Hall and Carl Bach played really dominant defense,” Davis said. He also praised defensive back Coleby Chambers for “a heck of an effort.”

Ferndale 42, Marysville-Getchell 14: Talan Bungard scored on runs of 4, 6 and 60 yards to finish with 204 on 19 carries as the visiting Golden Eagles (1-2, 1-1) broke into the win column in the 3A Wesco North.

“We definitely showed a lot of improvement,” said the senior leader. “Our line did a really great job with Chance Hatchett, Jacob Kennedy, Wyatt Straight, Kulshan LaValley and Karan Randhawa.”

Zach Nielsen carried 10 times for 56 yards and a 1-yard touchdown. Junior quarterback Nolan Boleak made the most of 4-for-6 passing for 81 yards with touchdowns of 17 yards to Elliot Lenssen and 42 yards to Eli Kennerley, whose brother Israel Kennerley made an interception.

Lineman/kicker Kaden Eldridge was out with an injury, so tight end Lincoln Thomas kicked five of five extra points and lineman Halston Hadrath made good on his first opportunity for a conversion kick.

Blaine 27, Chelan 0: Blaine is off to its first 3-0 start since 1990, when coach Andy Olson noted that he was indeed 10 months old.

The Borderites snapped a scoreless tie with a 20-point second quarter on the road. Quarterback Colin Davis scored from the 1-yard line, followed by a 12-yard run by Jaiden Paez for his ninth touchdown of the season. Colby Shipp’s 12-yard run and Logan Villarreal’s second extra point made it 20-0.

David threw an 8-yard scoring pass to Kai Kerwin and Villarreal converted for 27-0 in the third quarter.

Kerwin, Shipp and Peyton Bouma made interceptions.

Paez ran 23 times for 153 yards, extending his streak to three games over 100. Davis went 7-for-8 for 132 yards, with four passes for 89 yards to Kerwin.

“For many of our kids, this was their first long road trip for any sporting event,” Olson said with pride in his team, which has already matched last year’s victory total.

Mount Baker 41, Centennial Secondary (Coquitlam, B.C.) 14: This was vintage Baker ball, with 456 yards rushing on 52 carries. Like many coaches, Ron Lepper relies on the Whatcom Preps website to provide team statistics.

Dylan Moa scored a pair of 2-yard touchdowns and rushed 18 times for 155 yards. Brady Bruland gained 101 yards on eight carries, including a 35-yard touchdown run as the Mountaineers (3-0) matched last year’s win total.

Shaun Dugger made the most of four carries for 77 yards, sprinting 32 and 29 yards to score. Kamden Moa scored from the run and finished 8 for 74 yards.

Freshman Enoc Smith went 5 for 5 on conversions, giving him a 15-for-16 start.

“The big thing for us was stopping them on the 5-yard line when we were up 7-0,” said Lepper. “Then we went on a 95-yard scoring drive” for 14-0.

“It was another real good day for our entire defensive team,” the coach added.

Okanogan 36, Lynden Christian 22: Boyce Robertson scored on a 90-yard pass-run from fellow junior Eli Maberry on the Lyncs’ first play from scrimmage. Jaxon Huleatt soon scored on a 14-yard pass from Maberry and Jacob Penner’s second conversion made it 14-0.

Cole Larson’s 65-yard fumble return for a touchdown, and Maberry’s 2-point conversion pass to Trey Bosman, made it 22-22 in the third quarter before the defending 2B state champions rallied.

Maberry went 15 for 25 for 215 yards, becoming the 23 rd player in LC history to surpass 1,000 yards through the air, historian Anderson noted/ Robertson caught four for 153 yards.

I’m really proud of our guys,” said LC coach Greg Terpstra, who pointed out how hard the Lyncs played against their much bigger, more experienced visitors.

Okanogan (3-0) rushed for 354 yards, using a significant size advantage.

Archbishop Murphy 45, Squalicum 21: The Wildcats (3-0, 3-0) scored twice in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Storm (2-1, 2-1).

“We played pretty well but they’re a mighty good team,” Storm coach Nick Lucey said, expressing pride that his team was still in the game while trailing 31-21 in the third quarter.

“All three of our touchdowns were long passes from Cole Burke,” said Lucey, pointing out that the ever-improving junior passer found Marcus Nixon, Laki Fagaautau and Ansen Asbjornsen. Burke already has eight touchdown passes in his first season as varsity starter.

Kamiak 35, Meridian 34: “We gave a much bigger team all they could handle,” Trojans coach Patrick Ames said of 4A Kamiak (3-0).

“Our guys played hard (on the road) and fought to the end against a much bigger team that was loaded with future Division I players.”

Kelley Gray scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter, capping a day of 90- yards on 19 carries, but the run on the conversion failed and Kamiak held on from that point and denied more good shots.

Lincoln Hoefer scored on a 35-yard fumble return and Landen Downey converted for a 7-0 lead.

River Todd scored on a 46-yard pass from Jaeger Fyfe, who finished 12 for 24 for 150 yards and one interception, with four passes to Todd for 96 yards.

Todd also scored on a 37-yard halfback pass from Trey Alexander and Downey converted, giving him more than half of a 110-point start for Meridian (2-1). Downey then scored on a 9-yard run and Fyfe found Pierce Brzozowski for a 2-point conversion, keeping the Trojans in the game.

The versatile Downey gained 74 yards on 19 carries.

Anacortes 49, Bellingham 0: “It was a rough game,” Bayhawks coach Adam Leonard said. “They proved early why they are the No. 1 team in the state, along with being the returning state champions. … But it was a great opportunity, and we took away many things that we can work on to build our program. … We played mostly backups after falling behind 42-0 at the half.”

Leonard said linebacker Gabe Van Hofwegen played a determined game and led the team in tackles. Standout defensive back Owen Hanstead took a turn at quarterback in the second half and finished 4 for 9 for 57 yards.

THIS WEEK

Friday

• Lynden at Anacortes, 7 p.m.

• Sehome at Burlington-Edison, 7 p.m.

• Ferndale at Mount Vernon, 7 p.m.

• Nooksack Valley at Tumwater, 7 p.m.

• Meridian at Forks, 7 p.m.

• Mount Baker at Sultan, 7 p.m.

• Archbishop Murphy vs. Bellingham at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.

• Blaine at Granite Falls, 7 p.m.

• Lummi Nation at Tulalip Heritage, 7 p.m.

Saturday

• Lakewood Nine Mile Falls at Lynden Christian, 3 p.m.

• Squalicum vs. Lakewood at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.