Scotties facing Knights in State quarterfinals Saturday

New names and faces dotted this year’s Freeman’s football roster, but the end result was the same – the Scotties’ third straight Northeast A League championship and third successive meeting with Royal in the State 1A playoffs.

Freeman and the Knights play Saturday, 1 p.m., at Central Valley in the state quarterfinals. Last year their game was in Tacoma for the championship.

“I’d rather be playing them in the Tacoma Dome,” first-year coach Jim Wood said. “You know what’s at stake. But looking back to the beginning of the season we couldn’t be set up better than we are.”

The state draw was already determined by season’s start, but the Scotties (8-2) had no idea at the time if they’d be still playing at this juncture.

Wood, Freeman’s defensive coordinator, took over as head coach. Graduated was most of a veteran line and All-State back Kevin Hatch.

Only the defensive backfield was intact. With four new offensive linemen, new people at linebacker and some of the skilled positions, who knew how far they’d go?

“We go in every year expecting to be there,” said Wood. “But losing that many seniors we had to fill in spots. The big surprise is how well they’ve come along.”

Dakota Childers, KC Cross, Ryan Horlen and Travis Hall joined veteran Chandler Edwards in the line. Christian Casto and sophomore Max Riggs moved in at linebacker.

Chris Davis emerged as a big-time runner with a 200-yard game in week three against Priest River. The last three games he’s gained 600 yards and scored 10 touchdowns.

Except for two regular season hiccups, Freeman is back in the State round of eight again.

“There isn’t anything better we could have accomplished other than a couple more wins,” said Wood.

The Scotties lost to Chewelah 22-20 in preseason and 16-10 to Colfax – a team they later manhandled when Davis gained 346 yards and scored five times to clinch the NEA title – on a 95-yard interception return and safety.

But they’ve won their last four games, including a 38-7 playoff win over Brewster last weekend and would like to make it five straight on Saturday.

Freeman and Royal were undefeated in 2003, the Knights winning 25-6 in the quarterfinals. Last year they met for the title, Royal winning 29-7 with two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

This will be Wood’s sixth defensive postseason match against the Knights. He spent nine years as a coordinator at Okanogan and had two wins in three games against Royal during his stay.

“If you want to be the best you have to beat the best. That’s where we are right now,” Wood said. “It’s always exciting when you’re in the playoffs.”

Tough end to EV year

East Valley’s State 3A football playoff season came to an end with a difficult loss.

The Knights (9-3) gave the state’s top-ranked team Ferndale (11-0) a good game, but, without suspended starters quarterback-defensive back Jye Lanphere, linebacker-fullback Brady Brunelle and defensive back Josh White, they were outgunned in a 34-0 loss.

“It wasn’t for lack of trying,” said coach Adam Fisher.

Ferndale’s defense stymied anything the Knights tried to accomplish and ultimately its offense wore down EV’s gallant defenders.

“Going into the game we thought we were going to run the football, but there weren’t any pops,” said Fisher. “We had only two or three plays over five yards.

Actually, Ryan Campbell, who gained 53 yards in 25 tries, did have six runs of six yards or more, and Anthony Laborin had and eight-yard gain, but three of those came late in the contest.

EV managed just 1.4 yards per attempt net in the game, finishing with 47 ground yards. Although junior quarterback Russell Woodworth did what was asked of him, EV only had another 25 through the air.

Still, the Knights held Ferndale, a team averaging 57 points per game, scoreless for a quarter and trailed just 14-0 at half.

Then Ferndale wore them out. The Golden Eagles line, including 285-pound Derek Altona, and linebackers were physical and exceptionally quick. When they were hit, EV’s backs went down immediately.

Quarterback Jake Locker, who has made an oral commitment to the University of Washington and is a highly regarded professional baseball prospect, didn’t need to use his strong arm, although he threw for two touchdowns.

He ran for 157 yards and often was his own blocker with some rattling hits that knocked EV defenders off their feet when he carried the ball.

The Golden Eagles had three other backs, who gained more than 600 yards rushing during the year. They accounted for 196 more against EV. Receiver Rocki Sandusky, who had 23 catches for 804 yards and 21 touchdowns during regular season, added two more scores against the Knights.

Fisher was pleased with his short-handed team’s effort and just as complimentary of Ferndale.

“Our plan was to come in and try to dominate the line of scrimmage, but their guys did an excellent job on both sides of the ball,” he said. “Ferndale won the battle up front. We battled, we battled great, but they were better than us.”