Getting into the heart of November means the weather gets rainy and cold, but the games heat up with the state tournament finally getting underway with the Round of 16 in Classes 2A and 2B.
Six …
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Getting into the heart of November means the weather gets rainy and cold, but the games heat up with the state tournament finally getting underway with the Round of 16 in Classes 2A and 2B.
Six teams remain, over half in 2B, with games starting on Friday night and concluding Saturday afternoon. Here is a capsule glance at the six games.
2A Round of 16: #16 Cedarcrest (7-3) at #1 Tumwater (10-0), Friday 7 p.m.
The Thunderbirds were awarded with the top seed in the 2A bracket in a quest to get back to Husky Stadium. They begin bracket play with the Red Wolves out of the KingCo Lake league, the lone unbeaten in that six-team group. Tumwater’s four-game shutout streak ended in the crossover round, but still blew the doors off Renton 70-8. Quarterback Jaxon Budd had over 100 total yards in the air and ground. Cedarcrest upended Woodland by 20 points in the crossover round, snaring win No. 7 in a row after starting the year 0-3. The winner of this game will play in a quarterfinal against either Sehome or Othello.
2B Round of 16: #13 Newport (6-4) at #4 Onalaska (10-1), Friday 7 p.m.
From near the Idaho border to SW Washington, it will be a six-plus hour bus ride for the Grizzlies on a Friday night to face one of the premier teams in 2B, the Loggers. Ten straight victories since getting blown out in Week 1 for Onalaska, the last four have been clean sheets and six of the last seven contested games. Newport, out of the Northeast league, has had a rollercoaster season with a four-game losing streak sandwiched between a pair of three-game winning streaks. The Grizzlies have allowed at least 30 points in four of their last five matchups. The winner of this game plays either Freeman or Goldendale in the quarterfinals.
2A Round of 16: #11 Olympic (8-2) vs. #6 W.F. West (9-1) at Tiger Stadium, Saturday 1 p.m.
The Bearcats have answered the bell since getting shutout in Week 8, out-scoring their last two opponents 113-10. Now, they get a Trojans team that finished 5-1 in the Olympic league in a matinee contest. W.F. West quarterback and Eastern Washington commit scored seven touchdowns in the first half in the crossover round versus Sequim. The two teams share three common opponents, Sequim, North Kitsap and Aberdeen. W.F. West beat those three by an average 40.3 points while Olympic squeaked by the three by 16.6 points. The Trojans enter the playoffs on a five-game winning streak.
2B Round of 16: #11 Adna (7-3) at #6 Liberty Bell (8-1), Saturday 1 p.m.
It will be a multi-hour trek from Chehalis to Winthrop for the Pirates in attempting to reach the quarterfinals in Coach Aaron Cochran’s second season at the helm. Adna has won five consecutive games and done so without allowing an opponent to reach 20 points. Against Rainier in the crossover round, the Pirates had nine drives and scored nine touchdowns. Liberty Bell is playing up in 2B this fall after triumphing in the 1B state title at Husky Stadium a season ago. The Lions have lost just once all season and since the Week 2 setback to Okanogan, they have not allowed an opponent to hit double figures.
2B Round of 16: #9 Toledo (9-1) vs. #8 Tri-Cities Prep (8-2) at Richland HS, Saturday 2 p.m.
In what could be one of the closest opening round games, the Riverhawks and Jaguars are on a combined 10-game win streak heading into an afternoon showdown in Eastern Washington. Toledo is winning the rest battle after Week 8, getting a forfeit win in Week 9 and getting an extra day in between crossover and opening round contests. TCP, one of the best baseball teams in 2B, ran through the EWAC East with a perfect record. Its first two games were losses by a combined 13 points. The winner of this game gets either top-seeded Okanogan or 16th-seeded Friday Harbor.
2B Round of 16: #14 Columbia (Burbank) (5-5) vs. #3 Napavine (8-2) at Tiger Stadium, Saturday 4 p.m.
Since ending the non-league slate at .500, the Tigers have turned a corner and reeled off six straight wins, five of them by 35-plus points. In the crossover round last week, Morton-White Pass was the first team to score over 20 points since Week 4. Napavine, if it wins, will either get arch rival Adna or reigning 1B state champion Liberty Bell in the quarterfinals. Columbia (Burbank) finished as the EWAC East runner-up and beating Manson last week brought the Coyotes record to .500. Burbank and Napavine don’t share a common opponent this fall.