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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Colfax falls to Waitsburg-Prescott in State 2B football semis

Bruce Blizard Special to The Spokesman-Review

PASCO – Colfax High School football coach Mike Morgan thought he might have the Waitsburg-Prescott offense figured out.

“We thought we had a pretty good game plan for them,” Morgan said after his previously undefeated team lost its State 2B semifinal 42-13 to Waitsburg-Prescott at Pasco’s Edgar Brown Stadium Saturday. “But there’s one thing a great game plan can’t do. It can’t keep a great athlete from making great plays.”

The “great athlete” in this instance is Waitsburg-Prescott quarterback Zack Bartlow.

“We knew we had to contain Zack to have any shot at them,” Morgan said. “How many times did we have him bottled up, then he’d just get away and be 6 or 7 yards up the field. But that’s what great athletes do. They make plays.”

Bartlow was involved in all six of the Cardinals’ touchdowns. He completed 13 of 18 passes for 231 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 107 yards and two more scores

No one was more surprised by the one-sided nature of the game than Waitsburg- Prescott coach Jeff Bartlow.

“I thought it was going to be a fist fight of a game,” Bartlow said. “And it was early on. But we got a couple of stops and Billy (Brown) just stole the ball from their guy on one play. Our offense was really tough today.”

Waitsburg took a quick 14-0 lead on a 4-yard run by Bartlow and a 30-yard TD pass from Bartlow to Dalton Estes, the latter coming with 9:28 left in the first half.

Colfax closed the gap to 14-7 when Justin Zuger scored from 3 yards out with 7:35 reaming in the second quarter. But then the Cardinals broke the game open with two touchdowns in less than five minutes, the first on a 46-yard pass from Bartlow to freshman Devion Acevedo with 4:41 left before halftime.

Bartlow then hooked up with Estes on an 18-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left before the break. Bartlow’s 49-yard touchdown run and an 8-yard pass to Riley Stevens finished off the scoring for the Cardinals.

Colfax got one final score when Brady Ellis hauled in a 27-yard pass from Justin Berarducci with 7:02 left in the game.

“Look, if you were to tell me at the beginning of the year that this team would be undefeated and playing in the state semifinals, I’d have thought you’re crazy,” Morgan said. “I’m really proud of our seniors. They went 46-4 the last four years. Two of those losses were in the state championship game.”