Monday, Oct. 12, 2009

Enjoying a three-day weekend

An unexpected three-day weekend at that, because I forgot I'd requested Saturday off.

You might ask, How do you forget about a day off?

Simple answer -- I make the absent-minded professor look like a memory champion.

But it's allowed time to reflect upon the weekend that was Week 6 of the prep football season.

It started Thursday night with Southridge's 48-0 beatdown of Pasco, and finished with River View's day-delayed 27-0 victory over Wahluke.

In between were Ellensburg's assertion of CWAC dominance with a 35-7 rout of Prosser (how many times has the phrase rout of Prosser been used in the past two decades?) and Kamiakin's wild 38-35 OT win over Walla Walla, and all points in between.

Let's start at the beginning. I never thought I'd see the day when Pasco, much less Prosser, would be manhandled at home the way each was this weekend.

Southridge racked up a 5-to-1 advantage in total yards on Pasco. 5-to-1.

This is what some Pasco fans feared when the high school split and Chiawana formed -- the Bulldogs falling into the second tier of CBBN teams. Right now, the only thing keeping Pasco in the playoff hunt is a missed PAT by Davis in overtime that allowed the Bulldogs to escape with a Week 2 win.

I gotta agree with coach Dustin Lamb -- this bye week comes at a great time to allow the Bulldogs to regroup, come back for their regular-season finale against Kennewick and prepare for their crossover playoff game, most likely against Eisenhower or Kamiakin.

I say Kamiakin because the Braves rallied from 21 points down to shock Wa-Hi in overtime, which gives them the inside track to the Cascade Division's No. 2 crossover seed.

Yes, the Braves still have to get past a Richland team that has won two straight to put itself in position to steal the No. 2 seed. But if they win that one, they get to host a crossover playoff game. Not bad for a team that still is a work in progress under first-year coach Scott Biglin.

Another first-year coach, Prosser's Benji Sonnichsen, is going through a rough patch after the Mustangs got physically dominated by Ellensburg. The Bulldogs dominated on the line of scrimmage, and while Prosser moved the ball between the 30s through the air, it stalled out four times and failed to score.

Ellensburg reminded me a bit of the Prosser teams of the mid-2000s, with Ethan Sterkel starring in the role of Kellen Moore ... Kramer Ferrell as Cody Bruns or Kirby Moore (take your pick) ... and a defense that rallies to the ball and hits ... hard.

Yes, it'd be interesting to see these teams meet again in the playoffs, with Prosser's O-line at full strength. But I still think E-burg wins a rematch, because it just has more big-play athletes across the field this year.

How about Sunnyside's 21-20 win over Davis? The Pirates take the lead in the final 3 minutes and think they're about to break their long league losing streak, only to watch Israel Manzo return the ensuing kickoff on them. Then Davis marches down the field and gets into scoring position, only to have a last-second interception dash its hopes again.

Sounds like Wenatchee-Pasco redux.

Finally, River View's win over Wahluke, delayed a day because there were no officials scheduled for Friday night. Oops! I can understand when refs are forgotten for a middle-school B game. But a varsity game? Someone dropped the ball there.

The Panthers virtually clinched a playoff berth with that win, and now they have a shot at the SCAC East's No. 2 seed if they can beat Royal on Friday night. That is a tall order, but when the Panthers are playing to their full capability, they can at least compete with the Knights. The question is whether they can get past the Royal factor -- the Knights are one of the programs whose reputations proceed them.

OK, that's enough for a Monday night off.

Til next time ...