SPORTS -- Forks' best season in eight years ends with playoff loss

BELLINGHAM — Forks High School’s most successful football season since a 2000 run to the Class 2A state quarterfinals ended Saturday with a 39-14 loss to Nooksack Valley in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs.

The Spartans (9-2 overall) took an early 14-6 lead after Luke Dixon rambled for a 63-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Forks’ Elijah Chumley had scored the game’s first touchdown on a two-yard run early on in the first quarter.

After intercepting a Nooksack Valley (9-1) pass in the end zone in the beginning of the second quarter, Forks’ defense stiffened again inside the red zone with a successful goal line stand at the Forks 3-yard line late in the second quarter.

With a long third down at the three-yard line, Forks attempted a halfback pass by Dixon which was intercepted by the Pioneers.

Nooksack Valley quarterback Wade Rediger returned to the game from a dislocation to his non-throwing shoulder and proceeded to hook up with receiver Anthony Reese on a 28-yard touchdown pass to cut Forks lead to two, 14-12 at halftime.

Rediger, the Pioneers’ leading rusher and top offensive threat, repeatedly waived off attempts by Nooksack Valley’s coaching staff to replace him throughout the game and managed to toss two touchdown passes and run for another.

Tyler Perry, who replaced Rediger on four separate occasions during the game, also made sure the Pioneers didn’t miss a beat while their starter was out.

“Wade is a tough kid who wants to win,” Nooksack Valley coach Robb Myhre said. “He was hurt that’s for sure.”

“We told him if he couldn’t play 100 percent than Tyler would do a good job for us, but Wade said he was good to go. It limited us a little with what we could do running the ball, but it also gave Nick [deGrasse] a chance to really perform well.”

Nooksack Valley’s Nick deGrasse returned the second half’s opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and the first lead of the game for the Pioneers.

“You could feel the morale on our sidelines pick up after Nick’s play,” Nooksack Valley’s Rediger said. “He’s so good at giving us that big play when we need it and giving us a boost.”

As if that wasn’t enough of a boost, sophomore Caleb Cragle delivered a fierce hit on a Forks player on Nooksack Valley’s ensuing kickoff that sent the Pioneers into another frenzy.

“After Nick’s return we kicked off and Caleb Cragle really laid a hat on a kid and all of a sudden the electricity built up,” Myhre said.

“After that I think there was a fire in our belly.”

Nooksack Valley’s defense further stoked those flames in the second half, racking up three quarterback sacks, two interceptions, and blocking a Sean Weekes field goal attempt in the second half.

The Pioneers also did a good job containing standout Spartans running back Luke Dixon. The senior entered the game with more than 1,700 yards rushing, but was limited to 103 yards on the ground against Nooksack Valley.

“We thought that if we could stop their running back then we could stop them,” deGrasse said.

“Their quarterback can throw, but most of what they do is through Dixon and we were able to stop him.”

Nooksack Valley advances to face Montesano, which squeaked past Vashon 14-7 on Saturday.

Information for this report was provided by the Sports Department at The Bellingham Herald.

Nooksack Valley 39, Forks 14

Nooksack 6 6 12 15 — 39

Forks 14 0 0 0 — 14

First Quarter

F–Chumley 2 yard run (Weekes kick)

NV–Handy 5 pass from Rediger (Kick Failed)

F–Dixon 63 yard run (Kick good)

Second Quarter

NV¬¬– Reese 28 pass from Rediger (Kick Failed)

Third Quarter

NV– deGrasse 90 yard kickoff return (Kick Failed)

NV- Arnason 21 run (Kick Failed)

Fourth Quarter

NV– Rediger 2 run (Kyle Handy pass from Rediger)

NV– Roller 27 pass from Perry (Benner kick)

Individual leaders

Rushing — Forks: Dixon 18-103, Chumley 3-6, Jaksha 7-2, Merek 2-1, Hernandez 1-2. Nooksack Valley: Rediger 8-49, deGrasse 15-79, Arnason 7-57, Nolasco 5-14, Perry 8-14, Reese 1-10.

Passing — Forks: Jaksha 6-12-3-103, Dixon 0-1-1-0. Nooksack Valley: Rediger 7-9-0-55, Perry 7-10-1-68.

Receiving — Forks: Weekes 1-15, Hurn 3-65, Dixon 2-24,. Nooksack Valley: Reese 6-51, Roller 3-36, Handy 2-16, Arnason 1-12, Myhre 1-4, Nolasco 1-4.

Neah Bay 20, Taholah 14

EDMONDS — Neah Bay advanced to the First Round of the Class 1B state playoffs after rallying for the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter against the Chitwins (6-3) on Saturday.

“We had to dig deep for this one,” Red Devils (8-3) assistant coach Kendrick Doherty said.

“Taholah was aggressive, they hit hard and they nearly knocked us off.”

In a defensive struggle unusual for an 8-man football contest, the Red Devils, with help from the crowd support of a large contingent of traveling Neah Bay fans, made just enough big plays to advance.

Trailing 14-12 with just over three minutes to play in the game, Neah Bay began their game-winning drive on their own 29-yard line.

Starting quarterback Drexler Doherty, who had earlier returned a Taholah onside kick for a 52-yard touchdown, was knocked out of the game with a stinger on the second play of the drive.

With a backup in at quarterback, the Red Devils then fumbled the quarterback-center exchange on the ensuing play.

Enter Doherty.

Facing fourth-and-4 at his own 33, Doherty completed a 36-yard pass to Eric Akin.

“He made a miraculous catch over his shoulder with a guy hanging on him. It was really something to see,” Kendrick Doherty said.

The Red Devils continued to move the ball while fighting against the clock, with Adam Bates scoring his second rushing touchdown of the contest from one yard out with 35 seconds to play.

Not wanting to give the Chitwins any chance at a kickoff return, Doherty popped the kickoff over the first line of the Taholah return unit and Titus Pascua raced down the field to recover the ball and seal the win for the Red Devils.

Pascua had already helped keep Neah Bay in the game with a crucial fourth quarter interception in his own end zone, the second end zone interception of the game for the Red Devils after Doherty picked one off in the second quarter.

The elder Doherty singled out Shane DePoe and Anthony Rascone for their play on the defensive line for Neah Bay.

DePoe finished with 12 tackles and Rascone added 10.

Neah Bay will face the winner of Saturday night’s Highland Christian Prep-Wishkah Valley game next weekend.

Neah Bay 20, Taholah 14

Neah Bay 12 0 0 8 — 20

Taholah 6 8 0 0 — 14

First Quarter

NB–Bates 2 yard run (PAT Failed)

T– 43 yard run (PAT Failed)

NB–Doherty 52 yard kickoff return (PAT Failed)

Second Quarter

T¬¬– 2 yard run (Pat Failed)

T –Safety

Fourth Quarter

NB– Bates 1 yard run 35 seconds to go (Doherty PAT)

Lake Quinault 66, Crescent 20

LACEY — An experienced and talented Lake Quinault squad proved to be too much for a Crescent team making its first postseason appearance since 1997 and missing three of its top players because of an unfortunately scheduled college visit.

“I’m not going to use that as an excuse,” Crescent coach Tim Rooney said. “You go with the players who have been practicing, and I made the decision as coach to keep them out.”

“We just made too many mistakes to win this game.”

Crescent hung tough for a quarter, matching Lake Quinault’s first touchdown with an 80-yard counter rush for a touchdown by Jared Kilmer to make it 8-7 in the middle of the first.

Unfortunately for the Loggers, the Elks returned the ensuing kickoff 80-plus yards for a touchdown, dampening the enthusiasm on the Crescent sideline.

Lake Quinault then added three more scores, one of them coming on a three-yard fumble recovery.

Crescent quarterback Joey Barnes stopped the scoring steak, connecting with senior Ben Williams on a 37-yard touchdown pass.

Barnes left the game later in the quarter with a concussion.

After gifting Lake Quinault an interception return for a touchdown for a 44-14 halftime score, Crescent’s backup quarterback Peter Lester scored on one-yard touchdown run to make the score 44-20.

That would be as close as the Loggers would come as Lake Quinault notched three straight third quarter scores for a mercy-rule win with two minutes to play in the third quarter.

“We still had a great season. Nobody expected us to get to the playoffs, and hopefully these players have started a new legacy for Crescent football,” Rooney said.

Lake Quinault 66, Crescent 20

Lake Quinault 16 28 22 — 66

Crescent 7 7 6 — 20

First Quarter

LQ–1 yard run (PAT Good)

C– Kilmer 80 yard run (Kick Good)

LQ–83 yard kickoff return (PAT Good)

Second Quarter

LQ¬¬– 39 yard pass (Pat Failed)

LQ — 9 yard run (PAT Good)

LQ –3 yard Fumble recovery (PAT Failed)

C–Williams 37 yard pass from Barnes (Kick Good)