A family, without a mother but with many fathers and brothers,
is what our team was this year.
Friday night was a big disappointment. We know we can play
better than what we showed against TBS.That is disappointing.
However, if we look at the big picture it was a moment in time
to celebrate the comradeship we have had over many years.
It is sad to leave high school football knowing we will never play
the game together again. However the memories will remain.
I know this because my Dad still reminisces about his playing days.
Alan said it very well in his blog, except for the shitory part.
I'll have to ask him about that word. He must not spell check like I do.
I would like to thank Damian and Mr. Heimbigner for all the articles and pictures about Comet football. This has been a moment in time that I have enjoyed very much.
See you on the hardwood,
Austin Burkhalter, QB
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Photo gallery - A bitter end in the bitter cold
Sorry for the delay in getting this on here, it was a pretty late night,
Photos by Damian Mulinix/Chinook Observer
Naselle Seniors' Football Careers Come to an End
Football is a great game, but I think that the friendships are what really set it apart from other sports. I have known QB/DB Austin Burkhalter, RB/CB Logan Scrabeck, RB/DL Nathan Carlson, and OL/DL Manny Lopez since Kindergarten. Back then we built Legos, laughed over everything, and played football at recess. As time progressed, new friends joined the gang: WR John Hines, WR/CB Jesus Martinez,WR/DB Cody Larson, TE/DE Marcos Herrera, and FB/DL Carson Cooper. And now it has finally caught up with us. The final buzzer has sounded. The last 12 veers, 22 isos, 43 whams have been run. But what great times there were. Football was the best of times for friendship and camaraderie . Eleven best friends all fighting, all clawing, and all struggling for that extra yard or big tackle. Everyone trusting in himself, the man next to him, and in the coaches. And that's what I am going to miss the most, the camaraderie that was built, not over a single season or even since middle school football, but since Kindergarten with Mrs. Swanson, basketball in second grade with Mr. Revis, birthday parties, helping out at the Burkhalter's dairy, and countless other things. I never expected my career under the Friday night lights to end the way it did, but I have had so much fun playing Comet football its ridiculous really.
The 42-8 loss to Tacoma Baptist was a disappointment for sure. We wanted to keep going, to live another day, and to fight another fight. But on Friday night the Crusaders were the better team. I made my share of freshman mistakes, and as a team we had seven penalties. It was definitely not our best showing, but there were some great moments in the game for sure. Down 14-0 at half, we came out of the locker room with a head full of steam and pounded our way to paydirt, good ol' Naselle style, and after the first drive TB had our defense really stiffened in the first half. I don't question the effort of any of the guys. We all gave it our all Friday night. We left a bit of us on the field. Even though we ended the season in disappointment, us seniors really had great Comet careers. Over four years we had a 31-14 (.688) record, and made the playoffs three years in a row. We can look back and say that we were able to make school shitory, compete on the T-dome turf, upset Valley in the quarters, and go 9-1 in our senior regular season (the most regular season wins in Coach Eaton's coaching career). Naselle is, in part because of us, back on the football radar once again, and I don't think Naselle will be off for some time.
At the meeting at center field, I called the coin flip and won. We differed to the second half. WE nearly came up with a fumble on the opening kickoff. But Tacoma recovered and scored on the
drive. Their all-shotgun offense with multiple fakes and their quick passes wove through our defense. We have been notoriously known to give up a quick score to the opposition; It was a matter of time before it caught up with us. However, after their first score, we really tightened up the run defense and forced them to punt several times. We, however were unable to get much going on offense in the first half. Late in the second quarter, the Crusaders took the ball. Pressured for time they went to the air. With twenty seconds remaining in the first half, Tacoma's QB lofted the pigskin into the air. While on its journey through the atmosphere, time seemed to slow. The ball went right through Austin's hands and into the arms of a Crusader for a touchdown. And so we walked to the locker rooms, a little shocked, down 14-0. I was trying to get the boys to believe that we could do it. I knew we could, I think the others did too.
We received the kickoff and went down to what ended up being our only score. I ran in the touchdown from four yards out and Logan scampered to the side for a successful two-point conversion. At this point we had them on their heels. But a big play on third and seven, shifted momentum in their favor. They never looked back. Despite the 42-8 score, the game should have been closer. They scored on a short field due to a lost fumble at least twice. I have to give credit to Tacoma. Their offensive and defensive lines really won the battle in the trenches and gave our sophomore-dominated line a rough time when they would shift a split second before center Nick Zimmerman snapped the ball. They are a good team. I wish, however banal it sounds, that we could have it back.
If you were on the side-lines at the end of the game, you would've seen how much we had put into this team. Almost everyone was in tears before the game even ended. Heck, writing this brings me to tears. We are going to miss every aspect of Friday night under the lights. The community support was amazing through the whole game. Standing on the side, down 42-8, I could hear the ancient "Comet Power" chant and that really hit me. Thanks for your support these four years. It was a great run.
I would like to thank my very supportive and loving parents, Wayne and Becky Erickson. They have come to nearly every one of my games, if not every one. My dad has inspired me since I was a little boy playing in the front yard. His football teams were great! I want to thank my brother Nathan for coming to my games and supporting me this year. We really had some good football talks after the games. Ryan, thanks for coming to my games. Evan, thanks for being supportive and for pushing me. I wish we would have watched film more often. I love you all.
I need to thank my Savior Jesus Christ. He is always there, within me. He fights with me, comforts me, and gives me the strength to do all things. After the game, I thought of one of my favorite verses, Proverb 3:5-6. It reads, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lead not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will direct your paths." I am comforted knowing that I am part of God's bigger picture that can't fully see. Knowing this makes closing this chapter of my life easier. To God be the Glory... win or lose.
Alan "the Diesel" Erickson #35
NHS Fullback and Inside Linebacker
!!!COMET PRIDE FOREVER!!!
The 42-8 loss to Tacoma Baptist was a disappointment for sure. We wanted to keep going, to live another day, and to fight another fight. But on Friday night the Crusaders were the better team. I made my share of freshman mistakes, and as a team we had seven penalties. It was definitely not our best showing, but there were some great moments in the game for sure. Down 14-0 at half, we came out of the locker room with a head full of steam and pounded our way to paydirt, good ol' Naselle style, and after the first drive TB had our defense really stiffened in the first half. I don't question the effort of any of the guys. We all gave it our all Friday night. We left a bit of us on the field. Even though we ended the season in disappointment, us seniors really had great Comet careers. Over four years we had a 31-14 (.688) record, and made the playoffs three years in a row. We can look back and say that we were able to make school shitory, compete on the T-dome turf, upset Valley in the quarters, and go 9-1 in our senior regular season (the most regular season wins in Coach Eaton's coaching career). Naselle is, in part because of us, back on the football radar once again, and I don't think Naselle will be off for some time.
At the meeting at center field, I called the coin flip and won. We differed to the second half. WE nearly came up with a fumble on the opening kickoff. But Tacoma recovered and scored on the
drive. Their all-shotgun offense with multiple fakes and their quick passes wove through our defense. We have been notoriously known to give up a quick score to the opposition; It was a matter of time before it caught up with us. However, after their first score, we really tightened up the run defense and forced them to punt several times. We, however were unable to get much going on offense in the first half. Late in the second quarter, the Crusaders took the ball. Pressured for time they went to the air. With twenty seconds remaining in the first half, Tacoma's QB lofted the pigskin into the air. While on its journey through the atmosphere, time seemed to slow. The ball went right through Austin's hands and into the arms of a Crusader for a touchdown. And so we walked to the locker rooms, a little shocked, down 14-0. I was trying to get the boys to believe that we could do it. I knew we could, I think the others did too.
We received the kickoff and went down to what ended up being our only score. I ran in the touchdown from four yards out and Logan scampered to the side for a successful two-point conversion. At this point we had them on their heels. But a big play on third and seven, shifted momentum in their favor. They never looked back. Despite the 42-8 score, the game should have been closer. They scored on a short field due to a lost fumble at least twice. I have to give credit to Tacoma. Their offensive and defensive lines really won the battle in the trenches and gave our sophomore-dominated line a rough time when they would shift a split second before center Nick Zimmerman snapped the ball. They are a good team. I wish, however banal it sounds, that we could have it back.
If you were on the side-lines at the end of the game, you would've seen how much we had put into this team. Almost everyone was in tears before the game even ended. Heck, writing this brings me to tears. We are going to miss every aspect of Friday night under the lights. The community support was amazing through the whole game. Standing on the side, down 42-8, I could hear the ancient "Comet Power" chant and that really hit me. Thanks for your support these four years. It was a great run.
I would like to thank my very supportive and loving parents, Wayne and Becky Erickson. They have come to nearly every one of my games, if not every one. My dad has inspired me since I was a little boy playing in the front yard. His football teams were great! I want to thank my brother Nathan for coming to my games and supporting me this year. We really had some good football talks after the games. Ryan, thanks for coming to my games. Evan, thanks for being supportive and for pushing me. I wish we would have watched film more often. I love you all.
I need to thank my Savior Jesus Christ. He is always there, within me. He fights with me, comforts me, and gives me the strength to do all things. After the game, I thought of one of my favorite verses, Proverb 3:5-6. It reads, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lead not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will direct your paths." I am comforted knowing that I am part of God's bigger picture that can't fully see. Knowing this makes closing this chapter of my life easier. To God be the Glory... win or lose.
Alan "the Diesel" Erickson #35
NHS Fullback and Inside Linebacker
!!!COMET PRIDE FOREVER!!!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Week 11 preview - Nov. 13
It's the night the Comets have been looking forward to since practice 1 in August, the opening round of the 2B state playoffs
Game of the Week
Naselle @ Tacoma Baptist, 7 pm, Friday, Nov. 13, Curtis High School Stadium, Tacoma
The pieces are placed, the board has been set and its time to make the first move for what could very well be a historic couple of weeks as the Naselle Comets (9-1) face the Tacoma Baptist Crusaders (10-0) in the first round of the 2B state football playoffs Friday night in Tacoma.
The Comets are faced with a seemingly tough opponent Friday night as the Crusaders are undefeated and ranked 4th in the state — as an aside let me say that while we have published the state rankings on here all year I'm starting to get the feeling that those who vote don't really know these teams all that well. The fact that Naselle has one loss, against one of the best teams in the state, and haven't gotten past 10th place in over a month is absurd, while Napavine has two losses and placed at 8th. But I digress.
Tacoma Baptist have been in the top 5 pretty much the whole season, but the question needs to be asked, why? In college football, rankings are based partly on "strength of schedule," something that obviously is not taken into account in these rankings. The Crusaders faced ONE team all year with a winning record, and that was South Bend. The rest of their competition this year went a collective 17-65, so its easy to see why they only played two close games all year — a 14 point win over South Bend and a 50-43 win over a 2-8 Wright Academy in week 1.
So what else do we know about this Tacoma Baptist team? Well, we know that up until last year they were part of the Pacific League and in 2008 they became part of the four-team Sea-Tac League, occupied by the likes of Seattle Lutheran, Evergreen Lutheran and Chief Leschi. In fact the last time they played the Crusaders, a 38-16 NHS win in 2007, coach Eaton uttered one of my favorite quotes ever. On a particularly obvious holding call by one of the Christian school players that went uncalled by the ref's, Eaton yelled out "Even Jesus can see that!"
But while the Pacific League can boast of three playoff teams and four teams with a winning record, the Sea-Tac League can't say as much. While that league has an automatic berth for its top two, only the Crusaders have a winning record — Seattle Lutheran are 4-5 on the year in second place. In fact, aside from Tacoma Baptist's 10-0 record, the rest of the league went 6-21.
We also know that they score a lot of points, mostly through the air. The Crusaders are averaging 46 ppg, but to put that into perspective, aside from South Bend none of the other teams they played this year have scored more than they've given up — and in most cases those teams gave up points on at least a 2 to 1 ratio.
They won't have that luxury with Naselle, who scored 361 points this year (8th best in the state at 2B) while giving up just 115 (and a good 30 points or so of that were given up late in games when the JV was on the field).
The Crusaders come into the game having given up only 26 points over the last six games against really bad teams, scoring 46 or more each time.
The Comets come in having won five straight by an average score of 45-11. Last week they clinched their playoff berth with a first half route of Ocosta 39-6 — I say first half because neither team scored in the second half and the Comets subbed liberally as of late in the second quarter.
And while the offense has been racking up the points, a big part of the success has come on the defensive side of the ball. Here's a little stat that the pass-happy Crusaders may want to take a look at — the Comets haven't allowed a single passing yard or completion in their last two games.
Now, to be fair, on the flip side, Comets QB Austin Burkhalter has only completed three passes in the last two weeks — but part of this could be due to the fact that he was out of the game before halftime last week. That being said, the Comets are not a pass oriented team, they are a power running team with not only great backs but superb blockers. This was most obvious when the Scrabeck boys — running back Logan and O-lineman Seth — were both named all-league first team this week. Logan lead the Comets in rushing yards with 835 (86 ypg average) and fullback Alan Erickson, or "The Diesel" as he is referred, powered to 592 yards on the ground. And for good measure, Nathan Carlson, who missed four games, ran for 566 yards in six games (94 ypg). Scrabeck and Erickson also lead the Comets in TDs this season as Logan tallied 14 scores, and Erickson had 10. Burkhalter split his scores down the middle, throwing for 6 and running for 6 more. Jesus "Zeus" Martinez had 6 scores, while Carlson had 5.
And while a glance at these teams may give the appearance that it may be a high scoring contest, don't bet on it. The closest games the Comets played all year were a 22-20 win over Ilwaco and a 6-21 loss to Valley, both games took place during the four-game suspension of five key players. I have a feeling which ever team is able to do what they want to do will do it a lot. Does that make sense? If the Comets win, I think they roll like they have all year. If the Crusaders figure something out that everyone else hasn't, then I think they could pull away, but I doubt it.
For those travelling to the game — and if the whole town isn't there I'm going to be a bit disappointed! — here's the directions to get to the stadium. (You may want to go early as a look at Google Earth shows a modest amount of parking at the school).
Travel north on Hwy 101 for 48 miles, turn right onto Hwy 107 for 8 miles to Montesano. Merge right onto US 12 and travel 37 miles to Olympia. Merge left onto I-5 north, travel 21.5 miles. Take Bridgeport Way, exit 125. Take exit toward McChord AFB and turn left on Bridgeport Way SW and drive 5.8 miles. Turn left onto 40th St. W for half a mile, arrive at Curtis High School on right.
Estimated travel time, 2.5 hours, 126 miles
*An interesting side note — last year the Valley Vikings beat Tacoma Baptist in the first round in order to face Naselle. This year, if Naselle beats the Crusaders their second round opponent will most likely be, you guessed it, the Valley Vikings.
Estimated travel time, 2.5 hours, 126 miles
*An interesting side note — last year the Valley Vikings beat Tacoma Baptist in the first round in order to face Naselle. This year, if Naselle beats the Crusaders their second round opponent will most likely be, you guessed it, the Valley Vikings.
Don't forget to check back Saturday for a game recap and photo gallery
Pigskin Pick'em
Perfect again last week, but that was an easy one. We're now 14-4 on the year
W- Naselle @ Tacoma Baptist
While the stats may point to a close game, I can see the Comets pulling away by the second half.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Complete bracket set for 2B playoffs
After last night's play-in games the bracket is now complete for the 2B playoffs. South Bend beat the central third place team 20-0 and will travel to Kittatas for their first round game. Here is the full bracket with dates, locations and match-ups.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Comets place several on all-league team
NASELLE - Coach Jeff Eaton announced Monday which Comets placed on the Pacific 2B all-league selections as voted upon Sunday afternoon. Running back Logan Scrabeck and offensive lineman Seth Scrabeck were first team selections. On the defensive side of the football Alan Erickson was first-team linebacker, Austin Burkhalter was all-league safety and Robert Eaton and Ryley Queener proved to be super sophs with Seth Scrabeck as they were all-Pacific defensive linemen.
Honorable mention for the second-place Comets were Burkhalter at quarterback, Erickson at fullback, and Manny Lopez, Nick Zimmerman and Queener at offensive line. Jesus Martinez was tabbed as honorable mention at wide receiver and he and Logan Scrabeck earned mention as defensive cornerbacks. Nate Carlson was honorable mention as a defensive lineman for Naselle.
Honorable mention for the second-place Comets were Burkhalter at quarterback, Erickson at fullback, and Manny Lopez, Nick Zimmerman and Queener at offensive line. Jesus Martinez was tabbed as honorable mention at wide receiver and he and Logan Scrabeck earned mention as defensive cornerbacks. Nate Carlson was honorable mention as a defensive lineman for Naselle.
Monday, November 9, 2009
STOP THE PRESSES! Game date has been changed!
Well, as if it weren't bad enough that the Naselle first round playoff game wasn't going to be on Saturday afternoon, now it's not on Saturday at all! The WIAA announced this morning that the Naselle-Tacoma Baptist game is now on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m., and will still be at Curtis High School. No word as to why the game date was changed, but make your travel plans accordingly Comets fans!
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