B Schools Once Again Provide Local Angle Late In Playoffs
You really have to extend the greater portion of the Greater Spokane area to find football teams still involved in the state playoffs.
About the only thing fans can count on, if they want to follow the season to the end, is that a B school or two will come through.
And they’re bringing the troops to Albi Stadium for Saturday’s semifinals. Odessa and Cusick play at noon in a B-8 game followed by Republic and DeSales at 3 p.m.
But even with the slim pickings locally, there are still a number of compelling stories across the state.
AA finish to remember
Late Saturday night, No. 3 West Valley-Yakima stunned No. 2 Prosser 14-10 in the AA quarterfinals.
The Mid-Valley rivals didn’t play in the regular season and were both 9-0 as they squared off in the quarters for the fifth time in six years.
Prosser was looking to put the game away with a third-and-goal from the WV 6 and less than 3 minutes to play. However, a pass to Shawn Van Winkle, a 6-foot-5 district high jump champ, was underthrown. Tyler Hinckley, a 5-9 cornerback, got his hand on the ball and Jess Saxton, in his first start at free safety, caught the ball and went 105 yards for the game-winning TD.
West Valley plays unranked Rainier Beach (9-2), which had never won a state playoff game before this year… . With star running back Anthony Griffin out with the flu, Dave Isaacson started and rushed for 191 yards and two TDs besides recovering two fumbles, intercepting a pass and deflecting a pass on defense as No. 7 Capital beat No. 5 Lynden 35-7… . Capital meets No. 9 Stanwood, in the playoffs for the first time since ‘73.
Runs with Wolves
Donovan Dashiell led No. 4 South Kitsap in rushing before a hamstring injury sidelined him before the AAA playoffs. He was still on the sidelines as No. 2 Woodinville rolled to a 17-0 lead.
Then, 8:46 before halftime, Dashiell entered the game and by the time it was over he had carried the ball 26 times for 297 yards and five touchdowns. The Wolves stunned the Falcons 41-29 to earn a place against Richland in the semifinals.
Ed Fisher, a 1967 Shadle Park graduate who has been at South Kitsap 23 years, said no player of his had matched the feat of the 5-8, 185-pound senior.
Defending champion Curtis entered the playoffs as the No. 3 seed out of the South Puget Sound League for the second straight year. The No. 8 Vikings meet No. 3 Tumwater, a team they beat 19-14 in the first round last year. Curtis kicker Nick Lentz has made 8 of 10 field goals, including a 49-yarder, and 41 of 41 PATs… . Tumwater won the state title in 1993, the Thunderbirds’ first year in AAA. They won AA titles in ‘87, ‘89 and ‘90.
A-mazing numbers
By knocking off No. 4 Chewelah, top-ranked Royal gets a crack at Carl Haberberger in the A semis.
Haberberger, a senior for No. 2 Cascade-Leavenworth, had 196 yards and two TDs on 13 carries in the Kodiaks’ 24-7 win over No. 9 Zillah. His first carry was an 82-yard romp, marking the third time in the last four games he’s scored a TD run of 60 or more yards on his first carry. For the year, Haberberger has 1,906 yards on 123 carries (15.5 yards a carry) and 37 TDs, 14 of 60-plus yards.
All the news
This information is provided by Newberry’s Prep Football Report. The weekly newsletter is the best thing to hit high school football in Washington. After providing quality information during the regular season, Ron Newberry has had notes on every playoff game as well as a preview of upcoming games.
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, DataTimes