Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Tri-City teams look to capture state berths

REN FERRN>

Three Tri-City teams will attempt this weekend to do something that no CBBN team was able to do last year:

Win a playoff game against a GSL team.

Southridge travels to Albi Stadium in Spokane tonight to play GSL top seed Mead in the 4A regional playoffs, while Hanford hosts East Valley in a 3A regional tilt at Fran Rish Stadium.

Then Saturday, Kamiakin heads to Albi to try its luck against Central Valley in the 4A playoffs.

Also tonight, Sunnyside travels to Albi to play GSL 3A champion Mount Spokane, Columbia champion Wenatchee hosts Ferris and Walla Walla takes on Cascade champion Eisenhower in Yakima.

At stake, besides a spot in the state playoffs beginning next weekend, is restoring a little pride to the CBBN, which in the past dominated its Spokane opposition but went 0-9 in head-to-head matchups last year -- including 0-4 in playoff games.

"Redemption? Yes, I would say so," Suns coach Andy Troxel said. "I like our league's chances this year. They've definitely improved the state of football in the GSL, but that kind of stuff motivates us to get better."

Southridge and Mead have met one other time in the postseason -- in 2005, when the Panthers won 25-19 in overtime in a first-round state playoff game.

The Suns are 5-1 in the regional round all-time and appear to be peaking at the right time. Since a Week 4 loss to Wenatchee, they are 4-0 and have outscored opponents 152-14.

"The Wenatchee loss may have been a blessing," Troxel said. "You never want to lose, but we learned a lot from that week."

Tonight's game features the CBBN's top defense (Southridge, allowing 181.0 yards per game) against the GSL's No. 1 defense.

Mead allows only 181.6 ypg, and the Panthers give up only 3.2 yards per carry -- which goes against Southridge's strength, its running game led by 1,000-yard rusher Dallin Palmer.

The Panthers feature a balanced offense that was fourth in the GSL in both running and passing yardage.

"We'll have our hands full on both sides of the ball with Mead," Troxel said. "It will come down to turnovers and field position. The team that wins those battles will move on."

Saturday's 4A game features two familiar playoff opponents. Kamiakin is 4-1 all-time against CV in the postseason, winning three regional matchups (1996, '98, 2002), and is 9-1 in regionals, returning after a one-year absence.

The Braves are No. 1 in the CBBN in passing offense, averaging 269 yards per game, while CV was last in the GSL in pass defense, giving up 181 ypg. CV running back Taylor Evans is third in the league in rushing (949 yards, 15 TDs).

Kamiakin coach Scott Biglin thinks the game will turn on how the Braves' secondary receivers complement CBBN leader Tim White (63 catches, 946 yards, 10 TDs).

"CV will have watched film and know that Tim is our guy," Biglin said. "Last week (a 28-14 win over Kennewick), you saw how wide-open our offense is when we get guys like Tyler (Holle) and AJ (Griffiths) involved. They're definitely going to be keys."

Hanford comes into tonight's game off a 50-17 shellacking at the hands of Davis last week. But the Falcons already had clinched the CBBN's top 3A seed by beating Sunnyside in Week 1 and West Valley two weeks ago.

East Valley snapped a four-game losing streak last week with a 34-14 win over Rogers that secured the Knights the GSL's No. 2 regional seed. They are led by senior RB Aaron Awbery (799 yards, 6 TDs).

Tonight's Walla Walla-Eisenhower game is a rematch of a Week 2 matchup in which the Cadets blew out Wa-Hi 37-7 at Borleske Stadium. That was before the Blue Devils got senior WR Gary Winston back in their lineup. Since he returned in Week 4, he has scored 13 touchdowns in six games, and Wa-Hi has averaged 33 ppg.

-- The CWAC title is on the line tonight at Huskie Field as No. 4-ranked Othello hosts top-ranked Ellensburg. The Huskies last won a league title in 2003, while the Bulldogs are looking to end a seven-year title drought.

Both teams feature stingy defenses -- the Huskies are allowing 6.9 points per game in league play to the Bulldogs' 5.5 -- and potent offenses, although each has divergent styles.

Ellensburg has a high-powered aerial attack, with senior Ethan Sterkel throwing for 2,816 yards and 27 TDs and Kramer Ferrell catching 73 passes for 1,343 yards and 14 TDs.

Othello's ground attack has three running backs over 400 yards, led by Parker Davis (632 yards, 6 TDs). Quarterback Jeremy Cerrillo has run for 300 yards and has thrown 15 TDs among his 39 completions with no interceptions.

-- The SCAC regional playoffs are tonight, with No. 2-ranked Connell at home to play Cle Elum and No. 7 Royal hosting Goldendale-Klickitat. River View travels to face Naches Valley, and Wahluke heads to play No. 5 Zillah.

The Eagles are vying for a sixth straight state appearance, while Royal has made nine straight trips -- beating Goldendale 49-7 in last year's regional round. River View (2001) and Wahluke (2003) are looking to end long state playoff droughts.

-- Tri-Cities Prep can clinch the Southeast 1B title outright with a home win this afternoon against Touchet. The Jaguars already earned a share of their first-ever league title last week by upsetting then-No. 2 Colton. Both Prep and Touchet have secured berths in next week's 1B regional playoffs.

Prep QB Will Hoppes needs only one TD pass today to become the state's all-time eight-man leader. He is tied with Dustin Tom (Lummi, 2006-08) with 120 career TD passes.