The purple and white are a legit force. They have won their first four games, and they’ve looked pretty good doing it. Despite losing seniors Tre Silva and Levi Tenkley to injury, Nooksack Valley has performed at an extremely high level. Tenkley has been cleared to practice, but it looks like Silva will be lost for the rest of the season.
“We’re thankful for every win we get,” Nooksack Valley coach Robb Myhre said. “They are extremely hard to come by.”
The last time Coach Myhre’s team went 4-0 was in 2001, and he remembers that team fondly.
Nooksack Valley 2001
“What I remember most that season was Mitch Thompson and Kevin Spoelstra as the pulling guards,” he said. “Every time they pulled, someone on the other team was getting knocked down. We also had the Willemsens (Ty and Trent), a great defense (led by Thompson who was an All-State linebacker) and Darrin VanWeerdhuizen was a great running quarterback. He would have really excelled in the offense we have now.”
Nooksack travels to Meridian to take on the undefeated Trojans this Friday night. If the Pioneers come out of Laurel with the win, they will be 5-0 for the first time since 1975! To put that in perspective, Coach Myhre was in kindergarten that year.
The way that I babble on about statistics is putting these two guys asleep! So….. how about a statistical breakdown of the two senior signal callers?
Simon Burkett
2017
Casey Bauman
Senior
Grade
Senior
6’3″
Height
6’6″
185
Weight
220
13
Number
2
Punter
Also Plays
Outside Linebacker
4-0
Record
4-0
127
Attempts
93
75
Compl.
67
59.1%
Com %
72.0%
1114
Yards
1094
8.77
Y/ATT
11.76
11
TD
11
4
INT
1
49
Rush Att.
39
230
Rush Yds
214
4.69
Avg
4.38
4
Rush TD
6
Career Numbers
649
Attempts
687
367
Compl.
436
56.5%
Com %
63.5%
4904
Yards
5617
7.56
Y/ATT
8.18
45
TD
49
21
INT
18
214
Rush Att.
221
1171
Rush Yds
898
5.47
Avg
4.06
21
Rush TD
17
Head to Head Numbers
70
Attempts
79
40
Compl.
49
57.1%
Com %
62.0%
614
Yards
734
8.77
Y/ATT
9.29
6
TD
8
3
INT
5
20
Rush Att.
30
182
Rush Yds
184
9.1
Avg
6.1
4
Rush TD
1
It looks to be a shootout in Laurel this Friday night. A friendly rivalry between two of the best quarterbacks in the state, and both of their teams are undefeated. What more could you ask for?
It was pretty awesome two weeks ago when Blaine senior quarterback Cam Ellis broke a 21-year old school record, by passing for 387 yards against Meridian. He just did it again. On Friday night at Civic Field he threw for 439 yards against Bellingham. His 33 completions also broke the school record (which was 23 held by Sean Allen, along with Ellis from two weeks ago). His 51 pass attempts on Friday night is another school record that Ellis set, breaking Caleb Luehmann’s 21-year old record of 40. Bellingham won the game 36-35 in a thrilling finish.
Matt Galley and Mike Hughes are both heavily involved in Pioneer athletics, with Galley currently the principal at Nooksack Valley High School, and Hughes the football team’s photographer. However, this pair of 1991 graduates had stellar football careers at other schools.
Matt Galley
Galley starred at Sehome High School, as a running back and defensive back. As a junior he ran for 217 yards (4.9 average) and three touchdowns. He was one of the best players in the county as a senior, rushing for 696 yards (6.1) and 13 touchdowns. He also returned a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown in a 21-14 win against Mount Vernon. He was named All-League 1st Team at running back and defensive back. He also graduated as Sehome’s leading scorer with 110 points (17 touchdowns and four 2-point conversions), two points ahead of Ladin Langeman’s 108.
Mike Hughes
Hughes was one of the best players in Mount Baker history. He started at both center and middle linebacker in both his junior and senior seasons. As a junior he was named All-League 2nd Team at both positions. He was incredibly dominant his senior season, and was named All-League 1st Team on both sides of the ball. Despite just winning three games that season, Hughes was still recognized as one of the best, and was named All-State 1st Team at center and linebacker.
Today’s offenses are putting up huge numbers, and scoring a lot of points! Squalicum’s 85 points in week two was the highest ever output by a Whatcom County team. The 2000 Meridian Trojans put up 81 against South Whidbey and the 2001 Lynden Christian Lyncs scored 80 against Granite Falls. Both of those games were shutouts.
However, no team has put up more points per game than the 1999 Trojans. They unbelievably had SEVEN players score at least 10 touchdowns, just think about that for a minute.
Joel Pears – 16
Jarrod Karuza – 15
Eli Slesk – 13
Chase Schmidtz – 13
Matt Matheson – 13
Jeff Bennum – 12
Corey Culp – 10
Here is the list of teams that have averaged OVER 40 points per game for an entire season, which includes three teams from last season:
1999 Meridian – 52.8
2005 Ferndale – 50.6
2003 Meridian – 45.6
2016 Squalicum – 45.4
2016 Mount Baker – 44.4
2012 Lynden – 43.9
2008 Ferndale – 42.9
2010 Meridian – 42.8
2015 Mount Baker – 42.3
2001 Meridian – 41.5
2013 Mount Baker – 41.1
2012 Ferndale – 40.4
2016 Ferndale – 40.4
2002 Meridian – 40.2
Relive the greatest teams, players, coaches and moments.
