Do or die for Naselle on the road while Ilwaco faces league leader Toledo at home
Game of the Week
Naselle (4-2, 1-2) @ NW Christian (4-2, 2-1), 7 pm, Friday, Oct. 15, Lacey, Wa.
Despite the fact that they have three games left, the Comets whole season comes down to their game in Lacey against NW Christian Friday night, simple as that.
They win the game, they put themselves into a third-place tie with NWC, with the tie-breaker over them, and two games left (which they should win) against the two worst teams in the league. If they lose, they could never catch back up as NWC would own the tie-breaker, even if they lost in their final game at South Bend (which they likely will). The third place team will play a crossover game with the Central League third place team for the final state playoff spot.
The Comets (4-2, 1-2) got back on track last week after two straight losses with a solid win at floundering Pe Ell — though the bumbling referee crew did everything they could to make it that much harder. Sophomore QB Dustin Eaton came alive after coming under fire early in the season for suspect play. With the Comets two leading rushers out last week Eaton looked like a certain quarterback from years back (Kyle Burkhalter) when he took off running time and again, scoring three TDs, and scoring his first 100 yard game, while operating a wildcat, option-read offense. RB Leo Mendoza is set to be back on the field this week, giving their offense some added dimension. It is unclear whether FB Robert Eaton will return this week or not.
This has been by far the most successful season in the short history of the NWC football program (4-2, 2-1). In their previous four seasons they went a combined 6-32. So far they have blowout wins over 0-5 Rainier Christian, 1-5 Seattle Lutheran, 2-4 Ocosta and got by a feisty 1-5 Raymond team in a shootout. Their two losses have come against the 1-5 Tenino, and last week at Valley, where they put up a good fight in a 36-19 loss.
The Navigators have scored a lot of points (against Swiss cheese D's for the most part), to a 30 ppg average, but have also given up more than their fair share, 15 ppg on the year. However, that average has been doubled over their last two games.
The Comets scoring is down this year, having just crossed the century mark last week (103 points total), for an average of 17 ppg. However, if you take away the two games against South Bend and Valley where they only scored 6 points, the Comets are averaging a more respectable 24 ppg in their four wins. Last weeks 27 was the highest output yet this season. The Comets are 3-0 on the road this year, while NWC is perfect at home.
Don't forget to check back Saturday for a game recap, photo gallery and player blog posts
Ilwaco (1-5, 0-4) vs. Toledo (5-1, 4-0), 7 pm, Friday, Oct. 15, Peterson Field
Good lord, that long bus ride up the gorge can be a killer, as the Fishermen found out last week when visiting White Salmon. The Fishermen went in with a real good chance at a win, and left two hours later (for the four hour bus ride home) with an 8-42 loss. *See sidebar below
Prior to last week the Columbia Bruins had scored only 33 points over the first five weeks, and then drop a 42 point bomb on the Fishermen, nearly matching their worst outcome of the season, a 45-8 loss to Kalama in week four.
Skyler Olson had a pretty good game, rushing for 76 yards on 10 attempts (7.6 ypc) and had a 93-yard kick return for the Fishermen's only score, and QB Josh Berteaux completed just under 60 percent of his passes, but only for an average of 6 yards per. The Fishermen came close to scoring two other times, but lost another fumble on the Bruins 15 yard line and the clock ran out on them on the Bruin 1 yard line to end the game. The Fishermen gave up 311 yards on the ground and another 90 in the air.
Things don't get any better for the beleaguered crew as they come home to an undefeated Toledo team who are atop the Trico League, are averaging a league-best 30 ppg and giving up 14 ppg. The Fishermen on the flip side have the league's lowest scoring offense, averaging only 9 ppg. Toledo come in after knocking off the other previously unbeaten Trico team, Stevenson, last week, 33-0.
** So this leads me to a rant that I've been thinking about for quite awhile now — Why the hell are teams located that far apart still in the same league?
The Trico League is made up of eight teams, five of which are located between Longview and Vancouver, as well as the far flung places like Ilwaco, Stevenson and White Salmon. A bus ride from IHS to Stevenson is a total of 294 miles and at least six hours on the road roundtrip. An away game at White Salmon, like last week, is a whopping 342 miles and nearly eight hours on the road! Last week they didn't get back until after 2:30 am.
The other 1A league in District IV is the Evergreen League, made up of mostly teams from around Grays Harbor county and a few along the southern I-5 corridor. And then there's Forks. Forks! That vampire-loving northern Washington town, that is still a 5 hour roundtrip for an Evergreen team like Montesano.
Granted there was some team shifting last year as a few teams either dropped down to 1A, moved up to 2A, etc., but none of that made Ilwaco's travel schedule any easier. Put this into contrast with the league Naselle plays in, the 2B Pacific League, all of their foes are in Pacific or south Grays Harbor counties, save for NW Christian, located in Lacey — 200 miles roundtrip and 4 hours on the road total. A two hour bus ride is not unreasonable, but when you start adding more and more hours to that it gets a little ridiculous, not only for the athletes, but for transportation costs.
Why can't Ilwaco be placed into a restructured Evergreen League (with Forks moving to a northern Washington league and Rainier into the Trico), that way their longest drive would be a two hour trip to Tenino once a year. And while we're at it, let's take this a step closer to home — what happened to natural rivals? I know that IHS' enrollment is still just a tick too high to be placed in the 2B Pacific League (probably not for too much longer though), but wouldn't it make sense if they were? They are the only high school in the county that isn't. Between the teams in Pacific, Grays Harbor and Wahkiakum counties, you can't tell me they couldn't reshuffle the deck and come up with leagues that are feasible athletically, economically and in the way of travel time.
These leagues need to be reassessed with travel time and distance in mind, because it can't be any better for the likes of Stevenson and White Salmon who have to come here, especially after a blowout?
Pigskin Pick'em
Comets come thru, Fishermen, eh, not so much— now 7-4 this year
L- Ilwaco vs. Toledo
Hate to say it, but this one could get ugly
W- Naselle @ NW Christian
This is going to be a tight game, probably the best in the Pacific League this week. But with their season on the line I think the young Comets get by in a close win.
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