Latest / Whatcom Preps Podcast / Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 437 - 2026 Nooksack Valley Pioneers Football Preview

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Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 437 - 2026 Nooksack Valley Pioneers Football Preview · Whatcom Preps Podcast

0:16
Speaker 1: Greetings and welcome into the Whatcom Preps podcast. This is
0:19
Speaker 1: episode 437 of the 2026 Nooksack Valley football preview. And
0:26
Speaker 1: I am Tyler Anderson of Whatcom Preps. It is the
0:30
Speaker 1: 10th preview over the last five days. And the reason
0:33
Speaker 1: why I had Blaine and Nooksack last is because they're
0:37
Speaker 1: playing on Saturday. So they're kind of playing, they're the
0:39
Speaker 1: last teams that are going to be playing in week one.
0:42
Speaker 1: So push them out to this final day. And, you know,
0:47
Speaker 1: I'll be honest, Nooksack Valley is a team that I
0:50
Speaker 1: feel like I just don't have a great grasp on. Meaning,
0:55
Speaker 1: you know, some teams I look at and I say, yeah, I,
0:58
Speaker 1: you know, I think they are definitely a playoff team.
1:03
Speaker 1: I could see them going to the quarters or whatever,
1:05
Speaker 1: or I could see them finishing at the top of
1:07
Speaker 1: the league, or I see them still being a few
1:09
Speaker 1: years away or whatever. And when I look at Nooksack,
1:13
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if, You know, if they make
1:19
Speaker 1: a run or if they, you know, only win three
1:23
Speaker 1: or four games, I just, for some reason, I don't
1:26
Speaker 1: have a great grasp on them. And I think that,
1:29
Speaker 1: I think they like it that way. But that makes
1:34
Speaker 1: it to be really exciting. I think we'll learn a lot, obviously,
1:36
Speaker 1: in those early games. Let's talk about the Pioneers. Head
1:40
Speaker 1: coach is Craig Bartle, who's in his eighth season with
1:43
Speaker 1: Nooksack Valley, his 10th season overall as a head coach.
1:46
Speaker 1: 49 wins in his career to just 39 losses. The
1:50
Speaker 1: home field, Sid Lambert Field. I tell you what, I
1:54
Speaker 1: saw some pictures of that turf being put in. It's beautiful.
1:59
Speaker 1: It looks like it's going to be ready. Week two
2:02
Speaker 1: is the first home game to be played on it.
2:05
Speaker 1: So that'll be exciting. It's hard to believe that a
2:10
Speaker 1: lot of these– it's crazy to think that there's multiple
2:13
Speaker 1: fields that I played on in high school that that
2:15
Speaker 1: were grass at the time. Blaine, Civic Stadium, and now
2:20
Speaker 1: they're turf. And Nooksack Valley now. Sid Lambert Field is
2:24
Speaker 1: now turning into that. I wonder if it'll still be
2:27
Speaker 1: called field, even though it's not natural grass. Sid Lambert Stadium?
2:34
Speaker 1: I don't know. But that's not for me to decide.
2:37
Speaker 1: Last year, Nooksack Valley Pioneers went 6-5. Oh, man. They
2:43
Speaker 1: made it to the first round of the state playoffs
2:45
Speaker 1: where they got defeated by Life Christian. Key losses from
2:49
Speaker 1: last year, Cole Coppinger, Evan Brown, Jackson Hester, Gabe Sniders,
2:54
Speaker 1: Caleb Visser, Brian Laerle, Andrew Duggar, Landon Stauffer, Matthew Blake,
2:59
Speaker 1: Cohen Hofford. There's a lot of big names there that
3:04
Speaker 1: they'll have to replace. But they did have a lot
3:08
Speaker 1: of young guys that stepped up and did some good
3:10
Speaker 1: things last year. Plus, they had a big rash of injuries,
3:13
Speaker 1: which is horrible, but it forced other players to play
3:17
Speaker 1: other positions and learn new things, and that will only
3:22
Speaker 1: help them going into this year. So let's take a
3:25
Speaker 1: look at last year's results. They started off the year
3:29
Speaker 1: with a win over Onalaska, 35-12. Then they defeated Life Christian, 42-26.
3:34
Speaker 1: Those were both home games. Then they went on the
3:38
Speaker 1: road to take on Kings, lost a heartbreaker 22-19. Then
3:43
Speaker 1: they were back home to take on two-way powerhouse Tumwater.
3:47
Speaker 1: They lost 48-28. And they lost another heartbreaker, this time
3:52
Speaker 1: to Mount Baker, to open up league play 46-39. Then
3:56
Speaker 1: they turned around and went on a winning streak where
4:00
Speaker 1: they defeated Blaine 52-22. They defeated Meridian 47-20. and they
4:05
Speaker 1: defeated a very, very good Montesano team, 13-7, and are
4:11
Speaker 1: on a pretty good run there to face Lyndon Christian
4:15
Speaker 1: in the final week at home, where they lost 28-14
4:19
Speaker 1: in a very competitive game there. Their record allowed them
4:23
Speaker 1: to get into a state play-in game, and that was
4:25
Speaker 1: against Kings, who they had lost to earlier in the year,
4:29
Speaker 1: and this time they beat them 49-34, and then which
4:35
Speaker 1: put them in the state playoffs against Life Christian, where
4:38
Speaker 1: they lost 35-7 against the all-state quarterback there. So this year,
4:43
Speaker 1: a few different opponents, as most teams are looking at,
4:48
Speaker 1: and they will start the year on Saturday night in
4:51
Speaker 1: Week 1 at Cascade Christian. And then the following week,
4:56
Speaker 1: they will open up, they will unveil the turf, let's
5:01
Speaker 1: just say, on that Friday night, the 11th, against Okanagan,
5:05
Speaker 1: who comes to town. That will be a 6 p.m. game,
5:08
Speaker 1: so be ready for that an hour early. Then they
5:11
Speaker 1: will travel to Kings. I feel like Nooksack Valley and Kings,
5:14
Speaker 1: they play each other every year, and it's a good,
5:17
Speaker 1: nice little rivalry they got going on there. And then
5:20
Speaker 1: I love this game. Squalicum comes to town, and I
5:24
Speaker 1: believe it's the first time in the school's history that
5:27
Speaker 1: they're playing each other, which is rare in Whatcom County,
5:30
Speaker 1: where two teams have not played each other before. ever.
5:33
Speaker 1: I mean, like you think of like, well, Ferndale and
5:35
Speaker 1: Meridian have never played. Well, they did back in like
5:39
Speaker 1: the fifties, stuff like that. So, um, it just has
5:43
Speaker 1: been a long time, but that has happened. Uh, and
5:46
Speaker 1: here for Squalicum and Nooksack Valley. Uh, I love that.
5:50
Speaker 1: I love that game. I think it's going to be
5:51
Speaker 1: a lot of fun. Uh, and then they open up
5:53
Speaker 1: league play. They will host Blaine in week five. Then
5:57
Speaker 1: they will go to Mount Baker, host Linden Christian, and
6:00
Speaker 1: then go to Meridian and And then they will finish
6:03
Speaker 1: off the year with a non-league game on the road
6:07
Speaker 1: against Marysville Pilchuck. So a few different opponents this year.
6:14
Speaker 1: Cascade Christian, Okanagan, Squalicum, those teams are, and Kings. I mean,
6:18
Speaker 1: those teams are traditionally very, very good programs. So that's
6:24
Speaker 1: kind of cool. I like the Cascade Christian matchup. you know,
6:27
Speaker 1: a very strong 1A team. So it gauges that even
6:29
Speaker 1: though it's week one, you still have to be able
6:31
Speaker 1: to use that if there's some seeding stuff involved. Okanagan
6:35
Speaker 1: always near the top of the 2B rankings. You know,
6:38
Speaker 1: they came out and knocked off LC a couple years ago.
6:41
Speaker 1: So they, you know, they're a big, strong, tough, that
6:44
Speaker 1: big kid that Boise State commit at quarterback that was
6:48
Speaker 1: going to Boise State to play like tight end or
6:50
Speaker 1: defensive end or something. But he was just a rumbler.
6:53
Speaker 1: Like I said, Kings is always, always competitive. They always
6:55
Speaker 1: have really close games. Squalicum is going to be knocking
6:59
Speaker 1: on the door for two-way playoffs, I think, this year.
7:03
Speaker 1: That's really good competition leading into league play. Let's take
7:10
Speaker 1: a look at the players that are going to be
7:12
Speaker 1: coming back for Nooksack Valley. We're going to start at
7:14
Speaker 1: the quarterback position where it is a quarterback battle. You've
7:18
Speaker 1: got Ty Behrens, who's a junior, and you've got Lucas Woodrich,
7:22
Speaker 1: a sophomore. A little different types of play there Ty
7:29
Speaker 1: Barron's about 6'4 but he's probably more of a runner
7:35
Speaker 1: Lucas Woodridge more of a classic quarterback but definitely athletic
7:39
Speaker 1: enough to take off and run as well so you
7:42
Speaker 1: got a good battle there I would imagine that whoever's
7:46
Speaker 1: not going to be in there will find playing time
7:50
Speaker 1: somewhere else whether it be on defense or whatever but
7:53
Speaker 1: those two guys battling it out at quarterback at the
7:56
Speaker 1: moment And, you know, I've watched Ty Barron's over the
7:59
Speaker 1: years as the backup. I've been impressed with certain things
8:05
Speaker 1: and how he stands tall in the pocket, stuff like that.
8:07
Speaker 1: Lucas Ridrich, I mean, I really got to know him
8:09
Speaker 1: last year during baseball. You know, one of the best
8:14
Speaker 1: freshman baseball players last season hit that home run at Linden,
8:20
Speaker 1: which is no easy task against their ace. So really
8:24
Speaker 1: good athlete. And so I'm excited to kind of see
8:29
Speaker 1: what he could do if he's the one that gets
8:31
Speaker 1: chosen as well. So both of them competing. It's a
8:34
Speaker 1: lot of fun to see. At the running back spot,
8:37
Speaker 1: they actually returned two running backs that played quite a bit,
8:40
Speaker 1: which not a lot of teams can say. Trey Hutink
8:43
Speaker 1: last year, 503 yards on the ground, five yards of carry,
8:47
Speaker 1: seven touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 70 yards
8:51
Speaker 1: and a touchdown. He's your battering ram. And he obviously
9:00
Speaker 1: puts the time in the weight room, and that's evident
9:02
Speaker 1: when you look at him. And he's a guy that
9:07
Speaker 1: wants to go through you. He's not going to do
9:09
Speaker 1: too much juking and jiving. He is lowering the shoulder
9:14
Speaker 1: and he's challenging defenders when he's carrying the ball. which is,
9:20
Speaker 1: you know, he's a throwback. He's one of those guys
9:22
Speaker 1: that is a throwback and will be great in that,
9:27
Speaker 1: you know, short yardage type situation. But, I mean, anytime.
9:30
Speaker 1: I mean, he returns the most carries on the team.
9:34
Speaker 1: Trevon Skeenstra, again, these are both juniors. Trevon Skeenstra is
9:38
Speaker 1: a little different. Skeenstra is about 6'2, 6'3, 200 pounds.
9:44
Speaker 1: I mean, he looks like a high school lineman or
9:47
Speaker 1: a high school tight end, But he's so athletic. Getting
9:51
Speaker 1: the ball in his hand is huge. Broke off some
9:54
Speaker 1: big plays last year. Ran for 458 yards. Averaged 7.5
9:56
Speaker 1: yards a carry. touchdowns. He also caught six passes for
10:02
Speaker 1: nearly 20 yards of catch and two touchdowns. So he
10:07
Speaker 1: could be a weapon out of the backfield in the
10:09
Speaker 1: receiving game as well. Really good basketball player, track guy.
10:15
Speaker 1: I mean, he's just one of those freak athletes that
10:19
Speaker 1: has to be accounted for at all times on the field. So,
10:22
Speaker 1: and you might see them go to some two back
10:24
Speaker 1: sets because of the personnel that they have and the
10:27
Speaker 1: talent that they have. And you could see both those
10:29
Speaker 1: guys being back there. They can both block. You can
10:34
Speaker 1: see maybe them block for each other, who knows that
10:36
Speaker 1: kind of stuff. So that'll be really fun. Eli King
10:39
Speaker 1: is another kid. That's kind of that next in line
10:42
Speaker 1: that you might see get some carries if, if they
10:45
Speaker 1: need a break and stuff like that, that they could
10:47
Speaker 1: rely on him. At the wide receiver spot, a lot
10:51
Speaker 1: of returning guys. It's a deep, deep group of wide receivers.
10:56
Speaker 1: Some of them haven't played a ton of varsity yet,
10:59
Speaker 1: but are very athletic and can show what they can do.
11:03
Speaker 1: Jaden Jones, he returns with 19 catches, 214 yards, and
11:07
Speaker 1: two touchdowns. He's a guy that can catch a short
11:11
Speaker 1: pass and then just outrun everybody. So you have to
11:13
Speaker 1: always account for him. Or he can get past everybody
11:17
Speaker 1: on a deep ball. Think about Jackson Bennett a few
11:20
Speaker 1: years ago, a guy that wasn't the biggest guy, but
11:22
Speaker 1: every time he touched the ball, he was a home
11:24
Speaker 1: run threat. That could be Jaden Jones again. So you
11:29
Speaker 1: have to always be ready for him and account for him.
11:33
Speaker 1: Tyler Martin, really good athlete, 14 catches, 114 yards. He
11:41
Speaker 1: might not be split out wide. He might be more
11:43
Speaker 1: of like an H guy. or a Y or, you know,
11:46
Speaker 1: kind of more inside, but, but he's grown and gotten
11:50
Speaker 1: bigger and stronger. And, you know, he's a three sport
11:53
Speaker 1: kid and, um, he'll, he'll make plays. He also did some, uh,
11:58
Speaker 1: wildcat quarterback for them last year, getting seven carries averaging
12:01
Speaker 1: six yards of carry. So it's, you know, when you
12:04
Speaker 1: have a kid like that, it's finding ways to get
12:06
Speaker 1: him the ball. So he'll be very, very active on
12:09
Speaker 1: the outside and, And then there's a lot of guy,
12:11
Speaker 1: I mean, Max Lautenbach caught a couple touchdown passes last year,
12:14
Speaker 1: averaging 20 yards a catch. Uh, he's more of a
12:17
Speaker 1: defensive guy. Um, but you know, he could spell some
12:21
Speaker 1: kids on offense. Uh, Silas Tierna is a kid that
12:25
Speaker 1: I'm really excited about really athletic looking 200 pounds. Um,
12:30
Speaker 1: you might see him on some, you know, fly sweeps,
12:32
Speaker 1: getting the ball, uh, but he will be a difference
12:36
Speaker 1: maker that people don't really know about yet. Trace Palumbo
12:39
Speaker 1: is a guy that's been in the system forever. He'll
12:42
Speaker 1: probably start on defense, but he'll get some run probably
12:45
Speaker 1: as a receiver. Colt Koiker is a tall threat that
12:49
Speaker 1: could be on the outside. You know, I'm trying to
12:53
Speaker 1: think like, like Tristan Camp House, maybe type, maybe not
12:56
Speaker 1: that tall, but that type of player. So you got
12:59
Speaker 1: lots of different guys here. And then when you go
13:01
Speaker 1: into the tight ends, I mean, Dane Ackerman is, one
13:05
Speaker 1: of the best tight ends that's returning this year in
13:08
Speaker 1: the county. 33 catches last year, 364 yards, and two touchdowns,
13:13
Speaker 1: and he missed almost half the season. So that is
13:17
Speaker 1: a huge plus to have him back. Looks like he's
13:20
Speaker 1: fully recovered from the eye injury, and what a weapon
13:24
Speaker 1: he'll be both in the run game and in the
13:27
Speaker 1: pass game. And then A.J. Woodrich is a guy behind
13:30
Speaker 1: him who kind of– If you didn't know what numbers
13:33
Speaker 1: they wore, you would look and say, that looks like
13:35
Speaker 1: Dane Ackerman a couple years ago. You know, he's kind
13:38
Speaker 1: of that next in line that has a similar build.
13:40
Speaker 1: And so they can do a two tight end set
13:44
Speaker 1: and not lose a whole lot. And you have some height.
13:49
Speaker 1: You know, you have Dane Ackerman. You have Tyler Martin.
13:51
Speaker 1: You could split out Trevon Skeenstra, A.J. Woodrich, Colt Koiker.
13:55
Speaker 1: And you could put guys, you know, together where you
13:58
Speaker 1: have to account for this height. You could throw the
14:00
Speaker 1: ball up. So they've got a lot of options here offensively,
14:04
Speaker 1: and it's bringing in a new offensive mind. Tyler Dubuque
14:11
Speaker 1: from Anacortes is going to help because what he's done
14:17
Speaker 1: at Anacortes has been extremely impressive. And with these athletes,
14:23
Speaker 1: I'm really curious to see how he can shape and
14:26
Speaker 1: mold them and find ways to get certain guys the
14:30
Speaker 1: ball in space and see what they can do. At
14:34
Speaker 1: offensive line, you return basically, you know, you return three
14:37
Speaker 1: guys that have the most experience. Trevick McMillan, you know,
14:41
Speaker 1: big senior, 6'4, 235 pounds, started at left tackle all
14:46
Speaker 1: year last year. So he's kind of that pillar of
14:48
Speaker 1: the offensive line. What an awesome kid too. And so
14:54
Speaker 1: it's nice to have that where that's kind of set.
14:57
Speaker 1: You don't really need to worry about that. Because of
15:00
Speaker 1: injuries and stuff last year, guys like Paxton Miller and
15:04
Speaker 1: Lucas Norris got a lot of playing time on the
15:07
Speaker 1: offensive line. So they return with good experience on the
15:12
Speaker 1: interior of the offensive line. And I really think, especially
15:16
Speaker 1: Paxton Miller, I think he's going to skyrocket up and
15:20
Speaker 1: be kind of in that all-league talk. And it's a
15:24
Speaker 1: really good group of offensive linemen. in, uh, in the
15:27
Speaker 1: one A's and to, so to be named an all
15:29
Speaker 1: conference first team and they don't do a second team.
15:32
Speaker 1: So to be named that would be something, but I
15:34
Speaker 1: think that's kind of the trajectory he's on. I think
15:36
Speaker 1: he's poised to, to, to be that kind of kid. Um,
15:41
Speaker 1: there's about four other kids battling for the last two spots,
15:45
Speaker 1: younger guys that are going to be ready. I'm not
15:47
Speaker 1: too sure exactly who they are. I think, but one
15:51
Speaker 1: that stands out to me when I'm watching is Liam Felix.
15:54
Speaker 1: He's a sophomore, um, about six feet tall, 230 pounds,
15:59
Speaker 1: a really, really strong athletic 230 pounder. That's just a sophomore.
16:04
Speaker 1: So I would expect him to, you know, stand out
16:09
Speaker 1: with these younger linemen to get a shot early. And
16:12
Speaker 1: I really think he's got what it takes to be
16:16
Speaker 1: a varsity football player. So excited about that. When you
16:20
Speaker 1: go to the defensive side of the ball, They return
16:24
Speaker 1: defensive ends Trevick McMillan and Dane Ackerman. McMillan last year,
16:29
Speaker 1: 15 and a half tackles, four tackles for loss. That's
16:32
Speaker 1: more than anybody that's returning. Two sacks, that's also more
16:35
Speaker 1: than anyone. And he knocked down a pass at the
16:37
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. Dane Ackerman on defense last year, six tackles,
16:41
Speaker 1: one sack, half a tackle for loss and a pass
16:43
Speaker 1: knocked down at the line of scrimmage. So you return
16:45
Speaker 1: those two defensive ends and you got other guys that
16:49
Speaker 1: could spell them you know, maybe like a Liam Felix or,
16:57
Speaker 1: you know, a guy like that. And, but I think
16:59
Speaker 1: the rotation on the defensive line in the interior will
17:03
Speaker 1: be pretty impressive. Paxton Miller last year, got some run
17:07
Speaker 1: 11 and a half tackles and a sack. Lucas Norris
17:12
Speaker 1: will probably be in there as well. You could see
17:14
Speaker 1: Liam Felix. You got a couple of big guys, Trenton
17:18
Speaker 1: Huggins and Ion Davis are a couple of guys that,
17:22
Speaker 1: you know, it'd be really beneficial if they can stand
17:26
Speaker 1: out and be pillars on the defensive line. So you
17:29
Speaker 1: can rest some of the offensive linemen, unless, you know,
17:32
Speaker 1: Ion maybe starts on at right tackle on the offense too.
17:36
Speaker 1: Then you're, then you're looking at it a little differently,
17:38
Speaker 1: but you know, to grab a role and take command
17:41
Speaker 1: of it would be awesome. And he might do that
17:43
Speaker 1: on the defensive side of the ball. So a lot
17:45
Speaker 1: of different guys on the defensive line, traditionally a four
17:48
Speaker 1: man front and, um, So we'll just kind of see.
17:52
Speaker 1: It might depend on the competition and stuff like that,
17:55
Speaker 1: whatever the game presents. You know, they usually run kind
17:58
Speaker 1: of a 4-2-5. So those two inside linebackers are pretty important.
18:03
Speaker 1: And there's a battle right now between a lot of guys.
18:06
Speaker 1: Trey Hutink, Silas Tierna, Eli King, Trevin Skenstra. These are
18:12
Speaker 1: all guys that, you know, could make a difference. On
18:16
Speaker 1: the inside there, Trey Huting had 11.5 tackles last year.
18:19
Speaker 1: Skeenstra had 9.5 tackles last year. And when you look
18:23
Speaker 1: around the league, it seems like everyone returns a ton
18:25
Speaker 1: of linebackers, but Nooksack Valley doesn't. And there's a lot
18:30
Speaker 1: depending on those two inside guys. So we'll just have
18:33
Speaker 1: to see which two stick out, make a difference, and
18:37
Speaker 1: then stick around. And then, you know, they have those
18:40
Speaker 1: outside linebacker strong safety types, kind of tweeners between linebacker
18:44
Speaker 1: and D.B., Max Lautenbach returns. He's one of the best
18:48
Speaker 1: at doing that around the whole county. Last year, 61
18:52
Speaker 1: and a half tackles, two tackles for loss, nine passes
18:55
Speaker 1: broken up, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble and an interception.
18:59
Speaker 1: He just makes plays. He just flies around and makes plays.
19:02
Speaker 1: He has a nose for the ball. And I think
19:06
Speaker 1: that he could be I mean, he he returns and
19:09
Speaker 1: I look at him as kind of the best defensive
19:12
Speaker 1: player on this team. And it all started when I
19:16
Speaker 1: saw him going down on kickoffs and making plays as
19:18
Speaker 1: a sophomore. And whenever I see a sophomore underclassman making
19:23
Speaker 1: plays on kickoff, I always go, that kid's going to
19:25
Speaker 1: be a tremendous player on defense someday, a starter. And
19:29
Speaker 1: that's what happened with him. It happens all the time.
19:33
Speaker 1: And he has separated himself, to me anyways, that he's
19:38
Speaker 1: the best defensive player on the team. And different guys
19:41
Speaker 1: that could be in that spot, You know, Colt Koiker,
19:45
Speaker 1: Trevon Skenstra, Ty Barons. These are tall, lanky guys that
19:51
Speaker 1: show a lot of big, a big wingspan can cover
19:53
Speaker 1: a lot of ground that are kind of in the,
19:55
Speaker 1: in the flats and just kind of in that area
19:58
Speaker 1: where you have to, you have to look out for
20:00
Speaker 1: them and they might, you know, sit in a zone
20:03
Speaker 1: or pick off a pass and then take it the distance.
20:05
Speaker 1: So you gotta be ready. So those are the kinds
20:06
Speaker 1: of guys that they're looking at there. At corner, Jaden
20:10
Speaker 1: Jones returns as a starter. I thought he had a
20:13
Speaker 1: great year last year, 20, 21 and a half tackles,
20:16
Speaker 1: 13 passes broken up. I think that, I think that
20:20
Speaker 1: led the County. I know him and Wyatt camp house
20:23
Speaker 1: were both very, very high on that list. And he
20:25
Speaker 1: also had two interceptions. Um, you know, I kind of
20:29
Speaker 1: felt like he got thrown to a lot with Colt
20:31
Speaker 1: Coppinger on the other side and And what it did
20:36
Speaker 1: is it made him better, and he made a lot
20:37
Speaker 1: of plays. I mean, to break up 13 passes, that's
20:40
Speaker 1: a lot in a season. And a very, very athletic kid,
20:45
Speaker 1: soccer player, tremendous speed. You know, I'd probably be willing
20:49
Speaker 1: to say fastest kid on the team. So he kind
20:52
Speaker 1: of locks down one side as the corner. The other side,
20:56
Speaker 1: Trace Palumbo returns. He had 10 tackles and a pass
21:00
Speaker 1: broken up last year. Um, Evan Laerly is another kid
21:03
Speaker 1: as just a sophomore. They got a little bit of
21:06
Speaker 1: run in playoffs last year as a freshman. Uh, he's very,
21:10
Speaker 1: very athletic, five tackles, one pass broken up last year.
21:13
Speaker 1: So those two, uh, could be on the other side
21:16
Speaker 1: at corner kind of battling there. And, but very athletic.
21:20
Speaker 1: I mean, you're not going to have a big, you know,
21:23
Speaker 1: it's not a big worry if, you know, one starts
21:25
Speaker 1: over the other, they're both very good players, uh, free safety,
21:28
Speaker 1: Tyler Martin, uh, did some really good things at safety
21:34
Speaker 1: last year, 48 and a half tackles, one tackle for loss,
21:37
Speaker 1: five passes broken up and a forced fumble, you know, big, tall,
21:42
Speaker 1: strong kid back there at free safety. And so that's
21:45
Speaker 1: always nice to have. Brayden Phillips, Jimmy is another kid
21:49
Speaker 1: that is kind of, you know, making a push to
21:52
Speaker 1: get some playing time in that secondary. So look for
21:54
Speaker 1: him to also make us make a splash, but you
21:58
Speaker 1: got a lot of these athletic kids that, And it's
22:00
Speaker 1: fun watching their defense because having those two strong safeties
22:06
Speaker 1: that you don't know which one's coming up or which
22:07
Speaker 1: one's coming back or how they're doing it. And with
22:10
Speaker 1: one of them being Max Lautenbach flying around, it's hard
22:16
Speaker 1: to account for. It's hard to prepare for. And that
22:19
Speaker 1: makes it really fun to watch. At kicker, Tyler Martin
22:24
Speaker 1: had been kicking, but it looks like it might be
22:29
Speaker 1: Evan Lairley uh, to kick the extra points. And, um,
22:33
Speaker 1: he did kick a little bit last year when Tyler
22:36
Speaker 1: Martin got hurt. Um, didn't mean, you know, he made
22:39
Speaker 1: six extra points. Um, and then if it had some
22:42
Speaker 1: happens to be a long field goal, it might be
22:43
Speaker 1: Ty Barron's. Um, who's got, you know, big, tall, strong kid.
22:47
Speaker 1: He got a little distance to it. He might kick
22:49
Speaker 1: off as well. And then punting, they have a couple
22:52
Speaker 1: of guys that they like trace Palumbo, Lucas Woodridge, and, um,
22:58
Speaker 1: Who knows? I mean, Nooksack Valley in the past, I
23:02
Speaker 1: remember when they had two punters back there, you know,
23:05
Speaker 1: at the same time for the same play. And you
23:08
Speaker 1: don't know which one's getting the snap. One punted left footed,
23:11
Speaker 1: one punted right footed. And that's what these two guys do, too.
23:15
Speaker 1: So you might see two punters back there, which, you know,
23:21
Speaker 1: that's high school football, baby. You just don't know. So
23:25
Speaker 1: that's that's really fun, too. And then in the return game,
23:28
Speaker 1: Jaden Jones returns. He did a lot of kickoff returning
23:34
Speaker 1: last year, nearly 200 yards in kickoff returns. Trace Palumbo
23:37
Speaker 1: averaged over 20 yards of return last year. Tyler Martin,
23:41
Speaker 1: nearly 20 yards of return. Trevin Skenstra could do some things.
23:45
Speaker 1: Trey Hutink had a big, long kickoff return against Lennon Christian.
23:48
Speaker 1: They got a lot of guys back. Colin Hayes. There's
23:52
Speaker 1: lots of different guys that could fill that role. Um,
23:56
Speaker 1: and then in punt returning, Tyler Martin did a really
23:59
Speaker 1: good job in punt returning last year, 12 and a
24:01
Speaker 1: half yards of return. Uh, and Trevin Skeenstra, Trevin Skeenstra
24:06
Speaker 1: also returned a punt for 11 yards, but I really
24:08
Speaker 1: like Tyler Martin back there. You know, a lot of
24:11
Speaker 1: teams say, you know, put, put your center fielder back
24:15
Speaker 1: there to return and Hey, Tyler Martin, that's perfect. You
24:19
Speaker 1: just put them back there and have them catch the
24:21
Speaker 1: ball and go. So, um, So yeah, like I said,
24:25
Speaker 1: I feel like I wouldn't be surprised if they make
24:29
Speaker 1: another run on the state playoffs like they've been doing
24:31
Speaker 1: the last handful of years, what, four or five years
24:34
Speaker 1: they've made the state playoffs. But there's a lot of
24:41
Speaker 1: new players. And when you look at teams that were
24:45
Speaker 1: below them last year, the Meridians and the Blaines that
24:47
Speaker 1: return a lot, I think those battles, the Nooksack Valley, Meridian, Blaine,
24:52
Speaker 1: it could be one of those things where they all
24:55
Speaker 1: beat each other. And there's a three-way tie for third.
24:58
Speaker 1: And we had that. We had a three-way tie for
25:01
Speaker 1: third a couple years ago. And, you know, Lyndon Christian
25:05
Speaker 1: and Nooksack Valley played for the league championship. That was
25:09
Speaker 1: a one-point game. And then everybody beat each other in
25:13
Speaker 1: the other three with Mount Baker, Blaine, and Meridian. They
25:17
Speaker 1: had to play that Kansas tiebreaker. So, That could be
25:21
Speaker 1: what it is here. It's hard to say, but then
25:23
Speaker 1: I could see Nook's X-Files winning the conference. It's one
25:29
Speaker 1: of those years where it's so hard to make a prediction.
25:35
Speaker 1: And it might just be because there's so many returning quarterbacks.
25:39
Speaker 1: Like last year, a lot of teams asked me how
25:41
Speaker 1: Baker was going to be. And I said, well, I
25:43
Speaker 1: think they'll be second, probably third in the conference because
25:47
Speaker 1: I didn't know what to expect. with toga toga played
25:51
Speaker 1: as a sophomore didn't know was the backup as a
25:53
Speaker 1: junior and he came out and threw 20 touchdown passes
25:58
Speaker 1: and jet ross caught 17 of them i didn't know
26:01
Speaker 1: that was going to happen and they end up winning
26:02
Speaker 1: the conference and getting to the semis and so that's
26:06
Speaker 1: why you know you just don't know now if one
26:09
Speaker 1: of these guys emerges and becomes a great quarterback that's
26:12
Speaker 1: going to really elevate their their team so we'll just
26:15
Speaker 1: have to wait and see what happens there of course
26:17
Speaker 1: they get you know, four non-league games to start off
26:20
Speaker 1: the first four weeks and before they play Blaine and
26:24
Speaker 1: at home. And that's when you'll find out how it's
26:28
Speaker 1: going to be. And that's what makes it so fun.
26:30
Speaker 1: So yeah, the Pioneers, it's going to be a new
26:34
Speaker 1: season on the turf. How's that going to look? I
26:37
Speaker 1: think it's going to look really cool. It's bright green.
26:40
Speaker 1: I mean, it's brand new. Standing on brand new artificial
26:42
Speaker 1: turf is so different. I mean, this is so cool.
26:47
Speaker 1: I remember standing on at Bellingham high school, it was
26:50
Speaker 1: like three days after they put it in. And I
26:52
Speaker 1: was like, Whoa, this is just, this is nice. Like
26:56
Speaker 1: I could sleep on this. This is awesome. And so
26:58
Speaker 1: it's going to be, it's going to be a lot
26:59
Speaker 1: of fun. So, um, yeah, not a lot of, not
27:03
Speaker 1: a lot of places, uh, in high school football where
27:06
Speaker 1: you're standing on artificial turf, but you're, but you can
27:10
Speaker 1: still smell, um, the, the manure being, being spread. And I,
27:14
Speaker 1: I love it. That's the smell of money out there. So,
27:18
Speaker 1: But that combination, you just don't see that too often.
27:21
Speaker 1: Maybe out at Royal. But yeah, it's going to be
27:25
Speaker 1: a lot of fun. I look forward to seeing the
27:27
Speaker 1: Pioneers and seeing exactly what they can do. And it's
27:31
Speaker 1: a tremendous coaching staff. So that's also going to be
27:35
Speaker 1: great to see. This has been episode 437, the 2026
27:38
Speaker 1: Nooksack Valley football preview. I am Tyler Anderson of Wacom Preps,
27:44
Speaker 1: and I will talk to you tomorrow when we do
27:48
Speaker 1: the volleyball season preview. So that's going to be a
27:51
Speaker 1: lot of fun. And yeah, that'll be because the season
27:56
Speaker 1: kicks off. I think there's a Jamboree Tuesday and probably
28:00
Speaker 1: as this is coming out, there's a Jamboree playing right
28:03
Speaker 1: now at Meridian high school and games start right away, Wednesday,
28:07
Speaker 1: Thursday and Saturday. And so, yeah, it's going to be
28:11
Speaker 1: kicking off pretty quickly. So, so look forward to that
28:14
Speaker 1: with the volleyball season preview and, with all the teams
28:18
Speaker 1: and to be ready for that tomorrow.