Nine months ago, Nooksack Valley football was on the doorstep of its first-ever 1A state championship. The Pioneers faced in-county rival Mount Baker in the semifinals, losing 14-13, and putting an end to the program’s best season since 2009 with a 9-3 overall record.
“You see a lot of teams that get here and then become satisfied,” NV coach Craig Bartl said following the loss on Nov. 26, 2022. “We can’t let that happen — we can’t be satisfied with what we just did.”
As the Pioneers work through their 2023 fall camp ahead of a Week One road game at Mountain View on Friday, Sept. 1, they are far from satisfaction, by all accounts.
NV lost just three starters from last year’s group — a luxury almost unheard of in high school football for a team that was on the cusp of a championship berth. Their experience and roster consistency, Bartl said, has opened many doors for the Pioneers.
“We have so many veteran guys that we’re steps ahead of where we have been in the past [ahead of the season],” said Bartl, who is entering his fifth season as head coach.
Regarding last year’s playoff exit, Bartl and the coaching staff’s messaging to the team has been clear: Forget the past, don’t look to the future. Focus on now.
“It’s a new year and we take it day by day, game by game,” fourth-year starting quarterback Joey Brown said. “We haven’t talked about it since the coaches haven’t brought it up.”
Brown, an All-Northwest Conference First Team selection last season, amassed 23 total touchdowns as a junior through the air and on the ground, according to Whatcom Preps. He will once again be joined in the backfield by junior running back Colton Lentz, who broke out last season to the tune of more than 1,500 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns.
The pair almost single-handedly fueled NV’s offense a year ago, and they aim to be even better this season alongside returning receivers Jackson Bennett (senior) Cory Olney (junior) and others.
“The chemistry just keeps on improving,” Lentz said. “We’re with each other every single day at school, every single day of practice, at Buffalo Wild Wings — we’re doing everything together.”
Lentz is also one of NV’s key pieces on defense. His versatility to play both linebacker and defensive back has allowed former defensive end John Stremler to drop back to middle linebacker — a change Bartl feels is a better fit for the 6-foot-3 senior — and senior Daemion Perez to move to the weak side linebacker.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how teams deal with that, trying to block him,” Bartl said of Stemler. “There’s times that we may move him down [to the line] and, you know, now you’ve got him, Duke [Halaapiapi] and Cian [Coppinger].”
The Pioneers’ defense remains littered with budding stars. NV’s offensive and defensive lines — already two of the top units in the state at the 1A level last year — are where Bartl has seen the most improvement, he said.
Junior Brady Ackerman joins seniors Halaapiapi and Coppinger as impact returners alongside senior breakout candidate Dalton Hickey.
“[We’re all] just making sure we do our job, knowing everyone else is going to do their job and fill in the right place,” Halaapiapi said. “That’s the improvement I’ve seen lately through all of us, even through last year.”
Brown’s brother, sophomore quarterback Evan Brown, will see the field at times as well, at least in the first four games of the season, Bartl said. Evan is expected to take over the starting quarterback position in 2024.
Expect some surprises this year when Evan is on the field, Bartl said, in relation to where full-time starter, Joey, is lined up.
“We won’t say too much,” Joey said, laughing.
Other underclassmen to watch
WR/DB Tristan Kamphouse, junior; WR/DB Cole Bauman, junior; WR/DB Matthew Davis, sophomore; DB Cole Coppinger, sophomore; OL/DL Cohen Hofford, sophomore; OL/DL Sebastian Finkbonner, sophomore.
