Odessa, Cusick Try To Forget Their First Impressions

Mass amnesia has stricken those associated with the Oct. 11 Odessa-Cusick game.

Odessa won the Northeast B-8 game 46-34 after leading 46-12.

Yet as he prepares his team for Saturday’s State B-8 semifinal against Cusick, 16-year Odessa coach Myron Kramer holds the past at arm’s length.

“The game is too important for where we want to go,” Kramer said of the noon contest at Albi Stadium. “We’re not taking into consideration that we’ve played them before.”

Where the top-ranked Tigers (10-0) “want to go” is to the Tacoma Dome next Friday for Gridiron Classic II, the state title game.

Odessa has played for three state titles and won two, in 1989 and ‘93. Cusick (7-3), in its 11th state playoff appearance, has never advanced beyond the semis.

To do so, said 31-year Cusick coach Fred Vogel, the Panthers must forget about their Oct. 11 game.

“We didn’t play that well … ” Vogel said. “I think we’re a little bit better defensive team than when we played Odessa the first time.”

Vogel figures his young team - four seniors on a roster of 22 - gained confidence after last week’s quarterfinal win over Colton.

“What I tell the kids is right now our record is 1-0 and Odessa’s is 1-0 (after beating LaCrosse-Washtucna),” Vogel said.

Given the strength of its senior class, Odessa figured to be in this position all along. Guards Joshua Pitts and Stephen Walter, quarterback Randy Carlson, running back/defensive back Lance Meise, defensive ends Joel Bell and Justin Starkel, and receiver Sean Moon are Tigers seniors named to the all-league first team.

Meise rushed for 199 and Carlson passed for 207 when Odessa beat Cusick on the strength of a 28-point second quarter. Meise has 145 carries for 1,067 yards and Carlson has passed for 1,339 yards this year.

Cusick’s seniors are a minority, but a loud minority. First-team all-leaguers were RB/ linebacker Justin Finley, LB Joe Akai and offensive lineman Clint Birchall. Sophomore defensive back Tell Hamilton, also the QB, and sophomore kicker Daniel Hills were other first-teamers.

Finley has rushed for 1,714 yards on 180 carries (9.5 per carry) and has scored 162 points. He had 40 carries for 254 yards against Colton.

Both teams have five players who start both ways. Both teams came out of quarterfinals injury-free.

Both teams are also in jeopardy of moving to B-11 next year unless the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association changes its method for calculating the B-8 enrollment cutoff.

Cusick’s previous state appearances came as a B-11. The Panthers were one of five B-8 teams that had never qualified for playoffs.

Cusick played its last semi in ‘83, against eventual champion Colton. Odessa has more state appearances (13) than any B-8 team.

The Tigers have allowed 16 points or less in seven games. Throw out the Cusick game and Odessa has allowed 10.2 points per game.

“This team reminds me a lot of the ‘93 team,” Kramer said. “There’s a lot more of, ‘Let’s play,’ rather than (absorbing) the technical aspects of the game.”

Today, Crescent (11-0) plays Touchet (9-1) at Kennewick in the other B-8 semifinal.

This will be Crescent’s first full game because the 45-point rule applied until now. Otto Mock has run for 1,158 yards and 21 TDs for Cresent, which may play without QB Ryan Sage. Clallam Bay’s Fran Michelena sent Sage to the hospital with a wicked hit during last week’s quarterfinal. Crescent is 32-2 since 1994; both losses came in semis.

Touchet won the state title two years ago and placed second last year. QB Jake Bussell has passed for 1,481 yards and 14 TDs. The Indians’ Beau Gosney has 89 tackles, including 13 sacks, from his tackle position.

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