Clarkston, East Valley ready to go
East Valley coach Adam Fisher and Clarkston coach Dave Curtis both agree. The weekly rigors of Greater Spokane League football have readied their teams for what to expect tonight in playoff games against storied Mid-Valley state perennials.
“I think it’s helping us as 3A teams because we’re playing at a higher level week in and week out than other teams across the state,” said Fisher.
Added Curtis, “I thought the teams we played in the GSL were really good. Hopefully it has prepared us for this level of play.”
The Bantams (5-5) are at unbeaten Prosser (10-0), a team that qualified for post-season play 13 years in a row before missing twice. They’ve been back the last two years.
GSL top-seeded EV (7-3) hosts West Valley-Yakima (9-1), another playoff regular that is making its fifth straight appearance.
In some respects when these two games kick off it will be as if the opposing teams are looking into a mirror.
Both EV and the WV Rams have hung their helmets on defense.
The Knights’ is their best in memory. They allowed an average of 11.1 points per game, and surrendered just 1,587 yards of total offense, nearly 400 fewer than No. 2 Ferris, and was the only GSL school to allow fewer than 1,000 rushing and passing yards in league.
“We’re not big into stats,” said Fisher, “but I expected the defense to play well. I knew we had a good group of guys who fit well together. We had very good team speed.”
And EV has gotten better as the players became more familiar with a newly instituted scheme.
“Now we don’t have the mental mistakes,” he said.
Only twice this year has West Valley-Yakima allowed more than 14 points in a game. One was a 27-21 overtime victory over Ellensburg, a team North Central outscored 44-0 en route to a 51-28 season-opening win. The other was its 17-14 loss to Prosser.
“Defense is definitely our strong point,” said coach Bob Asthuler, who has spent 28 years at WV, the last five as head coach.
When Clarkston plays at Prosser, both field generals will be the sons of the respective coaches.
Dave Curtis’s son, Jason, has quarterbacked Clarkston for three years and became the fourth most prolific passer in GSL history. And he did so with two ankle sprains and with two of his most experienced receivers sidelined at varying times.
“It’s kind of neat he did that without our two top receivers for most of the year,” said the elder Curtis. “Losing Peter (Leonard) was a real thing because he is so fast. It limited us vertically and affected our play selection a bit.”
Plus, an immobile Jason Curtis created further problems.
“We couldn’t run him at all or roll out,” said coach Curtis.
Prosser’s Kellen Moore is the sophomore son of Tom Moore, the Mustangs coach since 1987 and architect of those 15 playoff appearances. Kellen passed for 1,855 yards and 29 touchdowns.
“They run a balanced offense,” Curtis said of Prosser. “They try to run and throw. Kellen’s been doing pretty well.”
Of the seven players who missed games because of injuries, Clarkston is as healthy as it’s been since early in the season except for Leonard. He separated his shoulder last Thursday after coming back from a broken leg.
“I think the teams we played helped us a lot,” Curtis said of Clarkston’s regular season. “There’s little room for error in the GSL and playing them made our inexperienced kids better.”
The Knights face an opportunistic team that will run just about anything during a game, from Wing T to five wide receivers. The Rams were second in the league in total offense and scoring.
The Knights, he said, have seen it all in the GSL.
“Obviously we’re excited to be here and everyone is just pumped up,” he said. “We’re home which is wonderful. I think our league has seasoned us and hopefully it will take effect tonight.”
1A: In tonight’s other play-in game, Newport hosts Columbia (Burbank). The Grizzlies (4-5) were second in the Northeast A League. Columbia (4-6) is the sixth of six South Central Athletic Conference District 5 teams attempting to play into the eight-team state playoffs through Districts 6 and 7.