Battle Of The Big Boys Linemen Should Be The Key In 4a Title Game Between CV And South Kitsap

This game is for those who remember leather helmets and identify more with Washington State’s first Rose Bowl team rather than the latest.

The game is the State 4A football championship between the sixth-ranked Central Valley Bears (12-1) and the No. 2 South Kitsap Wolves (13-0).

The televised matchup Saturday at 7:30 p.m. from the Tacoma Dome is the finale of the two-day, six-game Gridiron Classic.

CV and South K have that old-fashioned football look - big, strong linemen, stout defenses and capable, run-first offenses.

“It’s going to be a classic war in the trenches,” Central Valley coach Rick Giampietri said.

“I believe it will really come down to the final quarter,” South Kitsap coach D.J. Sigurdson said.

If there is a difference, it is similar to the upcoming Rose Bowl between perennial power Michigan and a WSU team headed to Pasadena for the first time in 67 years.

South Kitsap is in the playoffs for the 18th straight year, although the Wolves’ only championship was 1994. CV had never won a playoff game before this year.

“We’re very excited to be where we are. Because the kids have been tested (semifinals last year, quarterfinals the year before), they’re tempered,” Sigurdson said. “I guess there’s kind of a confidence, an understanding of what the payoffs are. They’re excited but their primary objective is to win.”

To do that the Wolves have to be able to run and stop the run, a combination only one team has managed this year.

Gonzaga Prep, with quarterback Kevin O’Connell going off for 200 yards, is the only team to run effectively against CV and then get it done on defense. In four playoff games the Bears have allowed minus 37 yards, with 10 sacks in the last two games.

Prep held CV’s Tyree Clowe, who has 1,980 yards this season, to 9 yards and the team to 13.

The Bears have been dominating since then but South Kitsap provides problems they have yet to face: near equal size, talent and balance.

The Wolves’ big-play guy is Tim Sams, a 5-9, 175-pound wide receiver/free safety. Sams has 26 catches for 496 yards and seven touchdowns and is third on the team with 71 tackles.

Quarterback Rob Minnitti, a 6-1, 174-pound senior, has completed 90 of 158 passes for 1,584 yards and 14 touchdowns with six interceptions. Junior Dustin Booth has 29 catches for 561 yards, a 19.4 average.

Running backs Riah Martin, Elkanah Montgomery and Ed Marceau have combined for impressive numbers and that doesn’t count 204-pound fullback Ty Selfridge. Martin (5-10, 185) has 100 carries for 841 yards and 20 TDs. Montgomery (5-7, 163) has 603 yards and nine TDs on 102 carries but missed four games with injuries. Marceau (5-11-1/2, 189) has 77 carries for 749 yards and 13 TDs.

“This is going to be the biggest challenge we’ve had to stop the run,” Giampietri said.

South Kitsap, starting with 6-foot-6 left tackle Nick Lemalu, a major-college prospect, goes 271, 238, 232, 244 and 234 across the front with a 215-pound tight end.

CV stuffed Puyallup’s run in the semifinals and then proceeded to bury the Vikings’ vaunted passing game with a relentless rush.

“The big difference is when you have to load up to take away a power running attack you can’t go after the quarterback,” Giampietri said. “If we get them into a throwing game, we know what we can do. But from what we’ve seen, they’re likely to throw on first and run on third-and-10. They’re pretty proud of their offensive line and they should be.”

Sigurdson, who played linebacker at Eastern Washington from 1985-89, was on Ed Fisher’s staff at SK for four years before replacing Fisher this fall.

“I think we have a balanced offense. We don’t have the statistical state leaders but we have some very good players in the right spots,” he said. “On defense our strength has been pursuit, get a lot of kids around the ball. We’re not real physical but we run real well.”

The best matchups involve Central Valley’s Wil Beck. Long a defensive standout, he became a punishing offensive guard after the loss to Prep.

When he’s on offense, the 6-foot, 296-pound Beck must move Garrett McFarland, a 6-foot, 233-pound defensive tackle, who has 81 tackles.

On defense, Beck, who has 73 tackles, including seven sacks, has to get past Lemalu.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Prep capsules 4A championship No. 6 Central Valley (12-1) vs. No. 2 South Kitsap (13-0), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. (KIRO-TV, TCI channel 20, radio KTRW 970-AM): The Bears won their first playoff game in school history this year. Their 12 wins match the most of any top-classification Spokane school. Gonzaga Prep, the only other GSL team to make the finals, was 12-0 when it won its second state title in 1986. The Wolves are in the playoffs for the 18th straight year but only title was ‘94, beating Walla Walla 15-10.

3A championship No. 8 Ferndale (11-1) vs. No. 2 Lakes (12-0), today, 7:30 p.m. (FSN-TV, TCI channel 24): A pair of first-time finalists. Ferndale is led by Matthias Wilson, who had 199 yards in a semifinal win to become the single-season rushing leader for state. Wilson has 2,474 yards and 22 TDs. Lakes is led by junior Travis Kirby, who has thrown for 2,975 yards and 41 TDs (fifth-best season all-time) with only six interceptions.

2A championship No. 5 Pullman (11-1) vs. No. 3 Elma (11-1), Saturday, 10 a.m.: Greyhounds lost 1978 title game to Peninsula 35-34; Elma’s first appearance. Eagles’ quarterback Ben Dougherty (6-3, 210) has hit 194 of 337 passes for 3,153 yards, 39 TDs and 15 interceptions. Elma has three all-league linemen, Brant Estes (5-9, 230), Rollie Finch (6-2, 260) and Travis Rowland (5-11, 220). “They throw the ball a lot, that’s something we haven’t seen a whole lot of this year,” Pullman coach Bill Christie said. “You have to contain and put a lot of pressure on the passer and be sound in the secondary, don’t get out of position. They’ll have 3-4 receivers out.” The Eagles will also run the ball behind a 210-pound fullback. “We have to make sure we get there and wrap him up, make sure he doesn’t get big gainers,” Christie said. “If they get balanced, that puts pressure on the defense. If the secondary gets up to stop the run, that’s when somebody runs by them.”

1A championship No. 9 Lynden Christian (9-3) vs. No. 2 Colfax (11-0), Saturday, 1 p.m.: Colfax won title with 6-0 win over Montesano in 1981. The Lyncs made their third title game (last was OT loss to Riverside in ‘93) by edging Concrete 21-14. Concrete, which didn’t punt, moved the ball inside the Lyncs’ 16 four times in the second half, but was intercepted twice and gave up the ball twice on downs. LC’s Rob Dykstra had two picks inside the 10. “Dykstra’s an exceptional athlete,” Colfax coach Doug Curtis said. “They’re really good. They play a really tough schedule in a 2A league so their record is deceiving.” Dykstra (6-2, 185) has thrown for more than 1,400 yards and run for more than 700. His favorite target is Rob Dykstra (6-4, 195), no relation. “The key to stopping the offense is stopping the quarterback. He runs the option well and throws well,” Curtis said. “They run the same kind of offense as us but they throw the ball more. We haven’t faced the option all year. The fact they’re one of the final two teams in the state means they run it pretty well.” The LC defense is aggressive and plays close to the line. “We have to hit the hole quick,” Curtis said. “If you break the line of scrimmage against these guys there’s not too many guys left.”

B-11 championship No. 2 Mossyrock (12-0) vs. No. 1 DeSales (11-1), Saturday, 4 p.m.: DeSales lost title game to Willapa Valley 27-20 last year. They won the 1991 title 46-16 over Rainier but lost to Concrete 42-21 in 1985. Mossyrock is living a dream and doesn’t want to wake up. The Vikings were 1-8 in each of the last three years. They’ll have their hands full with the record-setting Irish duo of junior quarterback Brian Lindgren and senior wide receiver Joe Levens. Levens has a state-record 208 receptions in his career for 3,825 yards and 39 touchdowns. He is 63 yards short of the yardage record held by Republic’s Mark Rickard, who finished last year. He is also second on the single season list with 20 TDs and is fourth with 1,502 yards. Lindgren has thrown for 7,973 yards, third-best in history. He has also thrown for 46 TDs this year (third) and 3,584 yards (third) on 212 completions (fifth).

B-8 championship No. 5 Colton (8-3) vs. No. 4 Tahola (9-1), today, 4 p.m.: The Wildcats’ sixth appearance in the finals breaks a tie with G-Prep. They won B-11 titles in 1975, 76 and 77, knocking off Brewster 56-21 and 38-14 the first two years and Morton 36-22 20 years ago. Their last B-11 title was a 7-0 win over Pe Ell in 1983 and in 1990 the Wildcats lost to Almira/Coulee-Hartline 48-36 in the B-8 final. Nick Bates goes into the final game with 2,607 yards and 37 touchdowns on just 190 carries for Colton. Taholah is on the Taholah Indian Reservation, 30 miles north of Ocean Shores.