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.

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.