L-W Tigercats roll Columbia for 3rd straight

The mantra for Bellevue all year was “the first to five,” as in state football titles.

But the Wolverines quietly had to add “among big schools,” because there was already a B-8 school with that mantle: the LaCrosse-Washtucna Tigercats.

You can now make it six.

The Tigercats fell behind to Columbia (Hunters) in the Tacoma Dome early, made some big hits and big plays, and roared back for a 60-12 victory. It was their third consecutive title and 35th consecutive win, the longest streak in Washington B-8 history.

It was also only the second game to be ended early since the 45-point mercy rule was adopted in the B-8 ranks in 1996. This one was stopped with 1 minute, 41 seconds left in the third quarter.

The L-W dynasty started in Washtucna during the 1970s, when it won two titles, but has been perfected in the past three years under coach Jeff Nelson.

“We finally have it,” said Tigercats quarterback Justin McKenzie, who has been part of the three-year run. “That’s been our goal all season, to get the record and bring the golden ball home again.”

Any chance the Lions (10-2) had of ending the streak was knocked out with 1:56 left in the first quarter. That’s when quarterback Nick Kegel was hammered on a clean hit by Dirk Wigen, fumbled and Craig Koller recovered. The turnover didn’t hurt as much as losing Kegel, who threw for more than 1,500 yards and 23 touchdowns this season.

“We weren’t able to move the ball after that,” Columbia coach Chuck Wyborney said. “Like a lot of B-8 teams, we don’t give our backup a lot of reps in practice.”

“That was everything,” Nelson said. “Kegel is one of the best players in the state.”

The Lions took the opening kickoff, scored on Miles St. John’s 8-yard run, recovered an onside kick, and then scored again on Kegel’s 37-yard touchdown to Tyson Dashiell.

But with Kegel standing on the sideline watching the rest of the half, the Tigercats began doing what they do best.

On defense, they bottled up the one-dimensional Columbia offense, limiting the Lions to 14 yards after Kegel’s injury.

The Tigercats were unstoppable on offense, scoring the next six times they touched the ball. The only stop the Lions recorded came against L-W’s second unit.

“We just needed to get the ball on offense,” Nelson said. “Once we got the ball and got that first score we took charge.”

The LaCrosse-Washtucna running back by committee, chaired by Kevin Dainty, rushed for 277 yards. Dainty had 186 (on 13 carries), Josh Chastain added 77 and five other backs contributed.

But it was McKenzie, the senior who has been the quarterback for all three of the Tigercats’ titles in their current streak, who ignited the win.

McKenzie hit on 6 of 8 passes for 140 yards, including three touchdown passes in the first 13 minutes of the game, all on similar plays, but to three different receivers. The game-ender also came on a pass, a 30-yard screen from backup Jared Ayers-Stamper to Hans Guske, two sophomores.

Kegel returned at the start of the second half – and made a touchdown-saving tackle on a Dainty 49-yard run – but by then it was 38-12.

Small-town football also means small-town intimacy, and both teams were playing with heavy hearts.

LaCrosse-Washtucna had been touched by the death of former football player Blain Ebert recently in Iraq, a death that touched the Tigercats enough to wear his former number, 81, on their helmets.

Columbia’s tragedy was more recent, when David Mendoza, a member of the Lions basketball team, was killed Friday night in an auto accident. The WIAA recognized the loss with a moment of silence before the B-8 game.

“It had an effect on us,” linebacker and fullback Mitchell Hammond said. “I know I was thinking about it. It just hit pretty deep to everybody.”

4A: Evergreen (Van) 28, Skyline 14

With workhorse Taylor Rank running for three touchdowns, the Plainsmen (14-0) overcame a 14-0, second-quarter deficit to defeat the Spartans of Issaquah (12-2) for the Vancouver school’s first state football title in any classification.

2A: Othello 31, EV-Yakima 21

Wally Cantu passed for four touchdowns, two to Parker Roylance, leading his Huskies (10-4) to a win over the Red Devils (13-1).