Week 9 previews - 10/31

Game of the Week

Naselle @ South Bend, Friday, 7 pm, South Bend High School
It doesn't seem to matter what year it is, what sport it is, in one way or another it always seems to come down to Naselle vs. South Bend for something big. In this case, Friday night's match-up between the Comets (4-4, 3-1) and South Bend (6-2, 3-1) will likely decide who will make the postseason as the Pacific League's other playoff team — the two are tied for second while Valley is a perfect 4-0 in league.

The scenarios of who could make the playoffs is varied and complicated with only two games left. If Valley wins their next two games — which they likely will, as they face NWC and Raymond who are combined 3-7 in league play — the Vikings would be league champs. However, if the Vikings lose one or both for some reason it opens up more possibilities, however unlikely. 

What is more likely is that if Naselle wins Friday night the Comets will have a much easier time securing their playoff spot as they would have the tie-breaker over both South Bend and North Beach and finish at home (where they are 4-0 this year) with last place Ocosta (2-5, 0-4), while South Bend must travel to Ocean Shores to face a very tough North Beach team. A loss Friday would mean that the Comets would have to win their final game and hope that South Bend loses. There is also the possiblilty of playing tie-breaking games on Saturday, Nov. 8 ... but we;ll talk about that later if we have to.

So it's simple for the Comets — win the last two and you're in.

But that is easier said than done. The only team to stop South Bend this year has been the Valley Vikings, who they lost to in a non-league season opener 28-8, and then again two weeks ago 25-14. In their other six games, all wins, South Bend is outscoring teams by an average margin of 26-12.

But while South Bend was beating up on lowly Ocosta last week, the Comets were in a do-or-die struggle with a tough Hyaks team that came down to the wire and most likely helped sharpen the senses of the Naselle team. 

There are some bad omens hanging over the Comets team going into the game though. First and formost, the Comets are 0-4 on the road this season. Their closest road game being a 3-point loss at non-league Seattle Lutheran two weeks ago. Secondly, this is a rivalry game and so far this year the Comets are 0-2 in rivalry games, having lost at Wahkiakum and Ilwaco. And possibly thirdly, it's Halloween night. Now that may be more superstitious than anything else, but we all know how strange things are known to happen. But in this case, perhaps that's just what the Comets need to buck these troublesome trends?

Be sure to check back on Saturday for a photo gallery, player posts and a game recap

Ilwaco  vs. Castle Rock, Friday, 7 pm, Peterson Field, Ilwaco High

The season just hasn't gone the way the Fishermen (2-6, 1-3) would have liked or imagined. After two blowout wins that put them at 2-2, the Fishermen began a steady decline that took them to the bottom of the Trico league last week after losing on the road at Columbia. So having Trico League champ Castle Rock (7-1, 4-0) come to town for the final league game of the season, could be seen as a blessing or a curse. 

On one hand, a seemingly miraculous win over the heavily favored Rockets would be the kind of thing that would give the Fishermen incredible momentum going into their crossover game to end their season next week — as well as something to hang their hat on when they begin practices next summer. But on the other hand, the Rockets are not known for showing mercy to opponents, regardless of their stature — average margin of victory, 39-11. The Rockets have held their opponents to fewer than 10 points on five occasions this year. 

Last week the Fishermen were able to successfully move the ball through the air after inserting David Sinor under center. The senior threw for 289 yards and three TDs. Receiver Justin Short was the recipient of nine catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns. One stat that probably stands out the most though is the fact that the Fishermen only gained 9 total yards on the ground while giving up 427 rushing yards to the Bruins.

Photo gallery - Naselle Middle completes perfect season

CLICK HERE to view a photo gallery from Naselle Middle School's win over Raymond, completing their perfect 6-0 season.

Naselle player posts - Week 8

The First Playoff Game... Basically

Our attitude last night at Rueben Pentilla field was one of urgency. To make the playoffs we needed to win last night. Our coaches preached that it was the first playoff game and that we needed to play like it. We came out firing and Tony Fletcher scored the first touchdown of the game via a Austin Burkhalter pass. However, North Beach had a good offensive night too. The Hyaks offensive line were beastly, we even put in a new scheme to try to stop them. Well, lets say it slowed them down. They scored their first touchdown too. The first half was a volley of scores. We had a less than comfortable lead of 2 at the break. Our offensive line played great and Fletcher and Nick Hines ran well too. Hines had ran for 108 yards on 10 carries and Fletcher added 60 on 12. Austin Burkhalter had his best passing game of the year, passing for two touchdowns and completing 7 of 10 attempts. Halftime was long due to the homecoming events, but the talk in the locker room was no less serious. Many of the defenders were talking about how to stop this and that. We probably said, "We have to finish!" like 100 times during the half way-point.

We kicked off the ball to start the second half, but regained possession quickly when a Hyak RB fumbled. We capitalized and drove the distance to paydirt. Our lead was now nine. On the ensuing Hyak possession, they continued their dive, off-tackle and counter plays and scored their 4th touchdown. We didn't play our greatest defensive game by any means, but we managed to slow them down enough to pull out a victory. Right now the only thing we care about is the "W" in the left column. We were down with around 5:00 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The first two plays went for about 8 yards, but then Hines broke out with a 54 yard touchdown run, which put us ahead 37-35. The Hyaks had four minutes for their final possession. They moved the ball to our 10 yard line after a 15 yard pass interference penalty. The North Beach coaches brought out the field goal unit. The kicker missed wide left by only about 2 feet. We had won!.

Next week we travel to South Bend. We will need to bring our "A" game, considering we are yet to win away and a loss could cost us our playoff chance.

NHS LB,FB
Alan Erickson

Comets win exciting homecoming game, 37-35

NASELLE - Nick Hines zig-zagged his way through North Beach's defense for a 52-yard touchdown run with 4:13 to go and then Naselle's defense hung on for dear life as the Hyaks missed a field goal with nine seconds remaining in a 37-35 Comets Pacific 2B League victory at Rueben Penttila Field Friday.

Read the whole story HERE at chinookobserver.com

Photos from Week 7 - Comets pull out thriller on Homecoming night, 37-35

CLICK HERE to view a gallery from the exciting Naselle Homecoming victory over North Beach, 37-35.

Week 8 previews - 10/24

Game of the Week

Naselle homecoming game vs. North Beach, 7 pm, Naselle High School
It used to be that homecoming week followed your teams longest road trip of the season, but since Naselle's schedule has them playing a home game every other week, tonight's game was chosen as the date. And it couldn't come at a better time for the Comets (3-4, 2-1), who lost their fourth-straight road game this year last week to Seattle Lutheran, 22-19. That good news I was referring to before was the fact that the Comets are 3-0 at home this year.
The Hyaks of North Beach (5-2, 2-1) come into the game in a three-way tie with the Comets and South Bend for second place in the Pacific League after losing to Valley last week. The Vikings are the only undefeated team in the league and are currently ranked no. 6 in the state poll. Prior to last week the Hyaks had rolled off four wins in a row, including wins over league foes Raymond and NWC. North Beach is however a mere 1-2 on the road this year.
The Hyaks have a high-scoring offense, averaging 34 points per game, while holding opponents on average to just 17. The Comets on the other hand need to find some offense (17 PPG average) and stiffen up their defense further (19 PPG average) if they want to stay in the race.
All three teams tied for second in the Pacific League essentially control their own destiny as they will all play each other over the next three weeks, starting tonight. Naselle travels to South Bend next week for a rivalry match on Halloween night. South Bend and North Beach play each other on the final week of the season when Naselle hosts Ocosta (2-4, 0-3). Winning all three games would assure the Comets of a playoff berth as the second place team in the league (the Pacific only gets two playoff spots this year). However, faltering against either North Beach or South Bend would cost the Comets a tie-breaker.
Homecoming crowning will take place at halftime — be sure to dress warm as the temps are predicted to drop into the high 30s tonight!

Be sure to check back Saturday morning for a photo gallery from the game, player blog posts and a game recap.

Ilwaco @ Columbia, 7 pm, Columbia High School, White Salmon
Despite losing their last three games by a combined score of 117-41, the Ilwaco Fishermen (2-5, 0-3) do still have an outside shot of making the playoffs this year. All they have to do is win their next two games and hope for some other teams above them in the standings to fall. They begin this quest tonight at the Columbia Bruins (3-4, 0-3).
The Bruins have also been on hard times of late, dropping their last four games, most recently last week at Kalama, 26-6. The Bruins began their season 3-0 after defeating Goldendale and two small Oregon schools. The Bruins don't score a lot of points, 16 ppg, and they give up about the same, 21 ppg. The Fishermen are still averaging over 23 ppg, but their defensive average has risen significantly over the last few weeks to 28 ppg. If Ilwaco can flip those numbers they'll have a great chance to pick up their first league win of the year.

Photo gallery - Ilwaco Middle School, 36-6 over Ocosta in final home game

CLICK HERE to view a gallery of photos from the Ilwaco Middle School 36-6 win over Ocosta in their final home game of the season

Road woes

Unfortunately the Comets continued their losing streak on the road. We lost to Seattle Lutheran 19-22 on Saturday. We were down 6-15 at halftime but were able to come out and score 2 touchdowns and 1 extra point putting us ahead 19-15. However the Saints came marching into the end zone with 2+ minutes left in the game. The horn sounded before we were able to score.
Next up North Beach at home.

Austin Burkhalter, QB

Late Seattle Lutheran touchdown yields 22-19 victory over Comets

WEST SEATTLE - Seattle Lutheran scored with 2:03 remaining to take a 22-19 non-league victory over Naselle at West Seattle Stadium Saturday. The Comets had erased a 15-6 halftime deficit with solid execution on offense and what Coach Jeff Eaton called his team's "best defensive effort of the season" as they went ahead 19-15 at the 5:50 mark of the fourth quarter.

Read the whole story at chinookobserver.com HERE

Fast start not enough as LaCenter's Concannon runs past Fishermen 42-20

ILWACO - Sensational touchdown catches by Kolby Kirby and Justin Short from Rey Sanchez put Ilwaco up 14-0 in the first 14 minutes of play, but then senior wingback Chris Concannon ran wild as the Wildcats sank the Fishermen 42-20 in Trico League football on a misty Friday night.

Read the whole story at chinookobserver.com HERE

Photos from Week 7 - Fishermen can't weather the storm, fall 42-20 to LaCenter

View a photo gallery from the Ilwaco-LaCenter game HERE

Week 7 preview - 10/17

This week there is football on both Friday and Saturday!

Game of the week

Ilwaco vs. LaCenter, 7 pm, Peterson Field, Ilwaco High School

Tonight could be a do or die situation for the Fishermen (2-4, 0-2) as they face league foe LaCenter (3-3, 2-1)  — one more league loss will likely eliminate the Fishermen from postseason eligibility. The Fishermen will finish their league season with a game at Columbia (3-3, 0-1) next week before their last regular season game with Castle Rock on Halloween night.

Coming into the game the Fishermen have lost two straight while the Wildcats have won two in a row, beating Columbia last week 19-13 and Stevenson the week before 34-0. The Wildcats score a lot of points — an average of 25 per game — but they also give up a lot of points too — an average of 22 per game.

On the other hand, the Fishermen — who put up 40-plus points in back-to-back weeks, have since only scored 21 points over the last two games combined while giving up 75. If the Fishermen are going to finish their season strong they'll need to re-kindle the offensive fire they had burning bright just a few short weeks ago.

Check back Saturday for a photo gallery, player blog posts and a game recap

Naselle @ Seattle Lutheran, 1 pm Saturday, West Seattle Stadium

The Comets (3-3, 2-1) go on the road this week for a rematch of their first round playoff game last year with non-league Seattle Lutheran (4-2) at West Seattle Stadium on Saturday afternoon. 

The Saints come into the game having beat Chief Leschi High in Puyallup last week, 67-6. The Comets take a one week break from their league schedule, in which last week they won a dramatic come-from-behind game against league foe Northwest Christian, 20-14 in OT.

The Saints, who the Comets beat 42-7 last year, are averaging 27 points per game, while giving up an average of 20 per game. Meanwhile, the Comets have been up and down — winning all their home games and dropping of those on the road. Naselle has given up 10 more points then they have scored on the year as well.

For those planning on attending the game, here are directions to West Seattle Stadium:

• Take I-5 North to Exit 163, West Seattle Freeway 

• Take Bridge toward West Seattle. 
• At First stop light Turn left onto 35th. Go 1 block and go through the stop light then turn left into stadium. 

Check back Sunday for player blog posts and a game recap

Naselle player posts - Week 6

What a finish! 

~During the second half, NW Christian's #71 was taken away in an ambulance with a hyper extended neck. Our prayers are with him.~

We really came together to win as a team this past week. We were down 14-0 at halftime, and most people probably would have thought the game was over. But we knew we could make a comeback, and so did our home crowd. We made our comeback, but it was a ways into the fourth quarter before we scored. Our defense played the half the way comets play "Comet Football." We stopped their next drive and got the ball back with time on the board. The drive that continued was "The Drive" that would pretty much determine how our season would continue. Would our playoff goal come from us playing comet football? Or would it come from us rooting for NW Christian to beat Valley. As it turned out, it came down to our seniors stepping up and leading us to a TD, and the 2-point conversion to tie the game and put us in overtime. Nobody on the sidelines knew what overtime we were going to use. Was it the NFL sudden death? Or was it college football style? Or was it a coin flip for the game? It turned out to be similar to the college system where both teams get the ball on the 25 yard line and try to score the most points. Jesus intercepted their 4th down pass and nearly ran it all the way for the win. Once again, our winning drive came down to the leadership of the seniors, as it was nick Hines and Tony Fletcher that drove us to the goal line. Then Alan Erickson punched it in for the score. The atmosphere was ecstatic and it seemed reminiscent of the 35-7 comeback of the Buffalo Bills over the Houston Oilers in 1999. Now, we need to play a game of "Comet Football" on the road. Not a half- a full 48 minutes of Comet Football.

Ryley Queener
Comet #71

The Comets Have Heart!

I think that the last two games have showed one thing, if not more. We have heart. Against Valley, we trotted into the locker room down 21-0, but never felt as if the game were out of reach. In fact, we played a great second half, outscoring valley 6-0 and allowing only 33 yards of total Viking offense. This week was nearly a repeat, down 14-0 at half, we challenged ourselves to out preform and overcome. Coach Eaton addressed the seniors, saying we need to win to keep the playoff hopes alive. They took the challenge and ran with it. Tony Fletcher and Nick Hines both had great games. Tony had 18 tackles and 105 yards on 16 carries. Nick had a solid defensive game and added 8 points via a touchdown and two-point conversion. The offensive and defensive line pulled their weight and more in the second half. Michael Shirley (who also had 15 tackles), Marcus Sanchez, and Tommy Rose played extremely well in the trenches and Gabe See, who made his starting debut at defensive end, played great too. Leonel Mendoza broke up a couple pass attempts at corner.

The third quarter was a stalemate. Our first score of the game came with 8:50 on the scoreboard, after a fumbled snap on a Navigator punt. However the two-point pass went incomplete. Sticking them with hard hits, we forced a three and out on the next Northwest position. On the ensuing possession , Tony Fletcher ran up the middle several times for big gains and Nick Hines ran for pay dirt on fourth and goal. We were down 12-14 and needed the two-point conversion. This was the biggest play of the game and possible of every one's career. So we ran our "bread and butter", the option. Austin Burkhalter (7-15 for 87 yards) pulled and pitched to Nick Hines, who rumbled into the end zone to tie the game. After another stop by the defense, the final buzzer sounded, the score all tied up.

A Kansas City tiebreaker would determine the game. The captains met at center field, to flip for possession. There was no better time to win our first toss of the season. We chose to defend. The Navigators were only allowed to run four plays in the extra frame. Tough defense by Hines and Shirley stuffed the run on first down and second and third down passes were contended by Mendoza and Burkhalter. Facing fourth and about eight, the Navs aired it out again. This time it was caught. Not by a Gator, but by Jesus Martinez. It was a nice pick and he came close to breaking it for a touchdown. Our scoring drive took seven plays. Fletcher and Hines ran up the middle through huge holes. Upon facing a fourth and short, Austin Burkhalter QB sneaked for the first down. I punched it in behind Shirley and Rose on a fullback wedge to top off the comeback. It was awesome! The stands were ecstatic and so were we! When we met in the end zone, Coach Glick said that we grew up tonight and I think he was right. Now we need to prove it and put together 48 minutes of hard nosed Comet football. Coach Eaton was very proud of our performance, but mostly of our heart and our perseverance, he even choked up talking to us. The whole team did its part. The guys on the sidelines cheered loud and performed on special teams. Thanks for all of your support, without you guys preparation would be very difficult. Next week we travel to Seattle on Saturday to play Seattle Lutheran, the team we played in the first round of the playoffs last year. No doubt they want revenge. We need to show and play Comet football!

NHS RB, LB
Alan Erickson

Naselle beat Northwest Christian in overtime 

We we came into the locker room at half time, our coach challenged us seniors to step up and get the job done if we wanted to keep our playoffs hopes alive. And we did just that. Great game by our backs and line. Tony Fletcher had a monster game with 18 tackles and who know how many yards. Credit is also due to Nick Hines and Alan Erickson, who showed some outstanding leadership on the field tonight, and played great games. But one thing we have to learn as a team is to play the entire game like we have been playing the second half. Next week we will travel to face Seattle Lutheran.

-Marcus Sanchez
OL/DL #75

Photos from Week 6 - Ilwaco falls in homecoming upset

Click HERE to view a gallery from the Ilwaco vs. Stevenson game

week 6 preview - 10/10

Game of the Week

Ilwaco homecoming game vs. Stevenson, 7 pm, Peterson Field, Ilwaco

Following a disappointing blowout loss last week to league leader Kalama, Ilwaco (2-3) returns tonight for their homecoming game with Stevenson (1-4). This is the first time in a few years that Ilwaco has played a team with a losing record in their homecoming game, and with the kind of numbers the Bulldogs have put up — or more accurately have not put up — the Fishermen and their high flying offense come into the game as the favorite.

Last week the Bulldogs lost 34-0 at home to league foe LaCenter. The week before Stevenson got their first win of the season, 17-8 over 2A Oregon school Corbett (0-4).  The Bulldogs have lost four of their five games by an average score of 9-30, and they have been shut-out twice already.

The Fishermen on the other hand saw their high-powered spread offense come to a grinding halt last week against a strong Chinooks defense. But while they were shut out in the first half, the Fishermen came out in the second half and matched the Chinooks output 15-15, ending with an identical amount of total yardage for the game. Ilwaco's biggest problem was turnovers, something they will need to keep to a minimum if they wish to continue to get better as a team.

Check back Saturday morning to find a photo gallery from the game, as well as player blog posts and a game recap.

Naselle vs. Northwest Christian, 7 pm, Naselle High School

After hitting a major speed bump last week in their quest to repeat as Pacific League champs, the Comets (2-3) have a good chance to get back on the winning track tonight when the Northwest Christian Navigators (0-5) come to town. 

This is only the third season of football for the Navigators, who have gone 1-22 in that time. So far this year NWC has lost by an average score of 9-23, though they put up a heck of a fight last week against defending co-league champ South Bend before finally falling 14-19 at the end of the fourth quarter.

The good thing for the Comets is that when they have won, they've won big — by an average of 30-10 — but when they have lost, they've also lost big — by an average of 26-7. The Comets have also been plagued by two main detractors this season — turnovers and injuries. And while they really can't control the injury bug, they can definitely corral the number of turnovers they give up per game. A win tonight would put Naselle back to even with a 3-3 overall record and better yet, a 2-1 league record. The Comets take a break from league play next week for a rematch of their first round playoff game at Seattle Lutheran, but come back for only three more league games, two of which are at home. The Comets play two tough games back-to-back — their homecoming game with North Beach (4-1) followed by a trip to rival South Bend (4-1), and then end the regular season against Ocosta (1-3). So far this season the Comets have won all their home games, while dropping the games they've played on the road.

Check back Saturday for player blog posts and a game recap.

Naselle player posts - Week 5

Naselle Lose to Valley 

Last night we played Willapa Valley and lost 21-6. Turnovers were once again our achilles heel, we fumbled twice and were picked off three times. Turnovers on downs also plagued us on offense. Defensively, missed tackles and poor reads on the counter plays lead to three huge runs for the Vikes. Those three runs accounted for 15o yards of the total 225 yard in the first half, for the Vikings. Football is a game of momentum and of big plays. Last night Valley had the big plays and moved the ball. This was a great test for our team and we need to move forward and use this experience against Northwest Christian next week, to take care of business.
At halftime, we were down 21-0, but we never dropped our heads. We all believed that we were as good as Valley if we could just hang on to the ball and stay home on our assignments. We weren't going to give the second half away. We didn't give it away either. We played a great second half offensively and defensively, shutting out Valley 6-0. We held them to a measly 33 yard of total offense in the second half and amassed nearly 150 of our own. We had good drives, but failed to score a couple of drives due mostly to turnovers on downs. But overall we played well offensively, moving the ball much better than the first half. We are now 1-1 in league play and have Northwest Christian at home Friday. Our play in the second half displayed our perseverence and showed our capablities as a team. I don't think we have ever held a team to 33 yards in a half before, especially Valley. Last year we lost to Valley, but still made the quarter finals. Don't count us out yet. The Comets are here to stay, and one loss won't deter us from our playoff goal. I would like to thank our fans for all of your support thus far. Hope to see you at Pentilla field Friday.

Alan Erickson
NHS LB, FB

Start your Engines...

Last year, the comets lost to Valley 7-0 in the fourth quarter in a game that could of gone either way. the loss propelled the team into being 5th in state and making it to the quarter finals. This year we lost to valley 21-6 in a game that could have gone either way. What's to come now? some people would say playoffs and some may not. but we say that what’s next to come is north west Christian. we take this season one practice; one game at a time, and things will come in time.
We were always in the game on Friday. we turn the ball over three times in the first half and in three plays they get 150+ yards and touchdowns to boot. take those away and you have the second half. we got a score, and got down to another one with a minute left and couldn't convert a 4th and 4. go back to our first possession (after taking the ball away from valley on their first possession) and we gave them the ball on their own goal line after an interception. Gabe see was open, but couldn't make the catch that fell into the wrong hands.
Those were the plays that determined the game. turnovers, the other team scoring from turnovers, and our star lineman going down hurt means the comets had a long night. but, it was a night that we were in to the end. we all share the thought of Alan. don't count us out. we're still in this; we still got a playoff dream.

Ryley Queener
Comet Lineman #71

Horrible loss with the greatest ending

We just were not ready for a team like that. The weather was horrible and half of our guys were probably scared

Well we kept Kalama's varisty in the whole time. We kind of shocked them by coming back and scoring after half time. Towards the end of the second quarter and the rest of the game it was a pretty even game. But by half time, it was just to late for it being an even matched game..


THE EXPRESSION ON THE CORNER'S FACE ON OUR HOOK AND LADDER, "priceless".


So we throw to one of our WR's and our WR stopped and stood there completely still in the middle of the field with the ball, and the corner had the funniest expression on his face like "What the he.." and then our WR did the world's greatest pitch to our other WR and the corner just sat their staring and let our WR run 30 yards and score. Yeah and it was pretty great.

When you are up or down by a lot or there short time on the clock, how does a team not see this coming? We have done it with 4.7 seconds left in a half (which put us up 7-6) and we did it when we were losing.. seriously lol. how does anyone not see it coming?

Homecoming

We have to get ready for stevenson. We can not underestimate them like we did winlock. We should be 4-1 right now, but in reality we are 2-3 or 0-1.

Lets stay focused.

Chinooks swim easily past Fishermen

KALAMA - "You can't give up seven turnovers to any team and expect to win and Kalama has two very quick and athletic backs that make them a very good team," Coach Kevin McNulty said after the Fishermen dropped a 50-15 Trico League game there Friday. Kalama intercepted six passes and fell on one fumble while being intercepted twice by the Fishermen.

To read the whole story on chinookobserver.com click HERE

Turnovers kill Comets

MENLO - "Turnovers did us in," Naselle Coach Jeff Eaton lamented after his team dropped a 21-6 Pacific 2B game to Valley there Friday. "We had two interceptions and lost a fumble in the first half and they were able to capitalize and go up 21-0. In the second half we held them to 33 yards on the ground and scored ourselves, but we just got behind too far to a good team."

To read the whole story on chinookobserver.com click HERE

Week 5 preview - 10/3

Due to the fact that both Naselle and Ilwaco are facing off against the defending champs of their respective leagues, both games are the game of the week!

NASELLE @ Willapa Valley, 7 pm, Willapa Valley High School, Menlo

After easily taking care of league opponent Raymond (0-4) last week, the Comets travel to Menlo tonight to take on the only team to beat them during the regular season last year, the Valley Vikings (4-0). The Comets (2-2) shared the league title with Valley (and South Bend) as each team had one loss.

While Naselle has struggled at times in their first four games of the year, the Vikings are off to a dominant and perfect start to the year having already beaten league foes South Bend, Ocosta and Raymond, and non-league foe Toutle Lake. The Vikings have won these four games by an average score of 35-9. 

Naselle rebounded last week after their fallout at Ilwaco the week before with a convincing win over the Gulls, 32-7. However in splitting their first four games the Comets have scored one less point (74) then they have given up (75). In those four games the Comets won their two homes games while dropping the two at opposing stadiums. 

ILWACO @ Kalama, 7 pm, Kalama High School

The Fishermen (2-2) come into this game on a hot streak, having won their last two games by an average score of 45-14. But Kalama (3-1) is not a team to be taken lightly. The Chinooks do come into the game having lost last week to non-league foe Rainier, Ore., 20-12, but they won their first three by an average score of 38-21. 

The Fishermen have much to prove in their first league game of the year. Firstly they need to show that they are indeed as good as they have shown the last two weeks. Secondly, they have some making up to do, as they forfeited their game to Kalama last year due to a rash of injuries. 

There will not be a photo gallery from either game this week due to the fact that Observer photographer Damian Mulinix is out of town this weekend, but be sure to check back Saturday for game recaps and player blog posts!

Big Game Tonight

I now i havent talked on here in a while but i am back. cause tonight is a big game. tonight we set the bar. tonight we play kallama (i dont know how to spell it) the last two weaks we have one i think it helps witha good lead comin into our first league game. we just need to play to our potential and we will come out ok i will tell you how it went tonight when i get back.

Thanks for all the luck.


David Sinor, Ilwaco Football Player # 14

ilwaco and naselle seeks impossible?

Ilwaco faces Kalama

there is no such thing as impossible. we are going to work as a team, we are not going to quit, we will sustain are blocks. we can beat them as long as thats what we beleive! we have trained too hard, too hard, too focused, to get dominated last year by our opponents. "Don't sell yourself short" On paper, it is said that we will be dominated by kalama.

ODDS

we are going to be oregon and kalama is USC.
we be the giants, they be the patriots.
Buster Douglas v.s mike tyson
frazier v.s ali

on paper, giants, douglas, and frazier were supposed to lose. BUT THESE PEOPLE WON. They never stopped believing. They came in knowing they were going to win and they did! Paper doesn't mean CRAP! The reason these people won is because they believed they were the best and will not lose.

NASELLE. lets beat the "odds". Beat Valley. Not because you think you can, but because you know you will..

Lets beat the "odds" and lets both go to state and bring home some gold.

"You can only go as far as you beleive you can"

If worse comes to worse

IF we mess up a play (and we will) brush it off and get ready for the next play. "The most important play is the next one" If either of us lose, we have to brush it off. We don't need to win every league game to make state!! But the more games you win, the better seeding you will have in playoffs!!

Lets do it!

Keep your chins up and never lose confidence in victory. The world's biggest come back and win from half time was by 34 points.

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!

-#69 Bobby Richards