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

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.

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.

2B state playoff preview

We begin our week-long coverage of the Comets first round game with Tacoma Baptist with a look at the road before them to reach the state title game over the next four weeks.

So the Comets are in, locking up second place in the Pacific League and the third seed in District IV.
This is the third straight year that the Comets have made the state playoffs and a look ahead at the road before them that could lead to a state championship game looks eerily familiar.
Last year the Comets began their run to the semifinals on the road against a private Christian school, Seattle Lutheran, which they easily dispatched 34-7. And while they won't be facing the Saints this time (they also beat them in the first round of the 2007 playoffs) instead they will face Tacoma Baptist, a member of the Pacific League until last year when they converted to the much easier Sea-Tac League — a four team league populated by underperforming private schools. In fact, outside of Tacoma Baptist, who went 10-0 this year against weak competition, the other three teams in the league combined record is 6-21.
If the Comets get past the Crusaders this Saturday they will likely have a rematch with the team they beat in last years quarterfinals (and the only team they've lost to this year) the Valley Vikings. Valley plays Concrete in their first round game, a 6-4 team that barely scored more than they gave up (212-201) this year. A Naselle-Willapa Valley rematch would be much anticipated, especially by Naselle fans after the Vikings had their way with the Comets earlier this season. The X factor there would be the fact that the Comets were missing several of their key players in that game. Since then Valley has sent a scout to at least three Comets games, watching them run over all in their path.
If Naselle can once again advance to the semifinals at the Tacoma Dome they may once again match up with the same foe as last year, Napavine, who beat them en route to the state title. Napavine plays the top team from the Northwest 2B/1A league Orcas Island in the first round. Orcas Island are no picnic though, going 8-2 and outscoring opponents 299-77 on the year. Napavine is also 8-2 with similar scoring and defensive numbers. Another possible match-up in the semis could be Central League powerhouse Adna, who are 9-0 this year and have been blowing teams out all year — only giving up 39 points all season, by far the best in the state at the 2B level. They face off against Seattle Lutheran, who got in with a 5-4 record as the second place team in the Sea-Tac League, in the first round.
At this time we are unable to assess the teams coming from the east side of the bracket, as most of the spots are not filled out yet in the 2B bracket. South Bend would play in that bracket if they can beat Mossyrock on Tuesday night in a play-in game. The only way the Comets would face them again is if both teams advanced to the finals.

Continue to quick in throughout the week as the Comets prepare for their opening round game.