Willms, Kootenai ready to go
Never mind the gaudy rushing numbers Kootenai quarterback Kolten Willms put up on Saturday against Clark Fork in a 58-54 victory in the first round of the 1A Division II 8-man state football playoffs.
Willms, a junior who rushed for 241 yards and five touchdowns on 12 carries against the Wampus Cats, is going to have to do it all over again Saturday in Riggins against Salmon River.
In Salmon River, the Warriors face almost a carbon copy of themselves – a big, physical quarterback and a tandem of talented running backs.
“Our defense is really solid in that area – we can stop the run pretty well,” Willms said. “It’s going to be a really good football game, because Salmon has two really good running backs, just like we do, and their quarterback used to be lineman, so he’s pretty big and they say he can run, too.”
In preparation for the task ahead, he said his team is going back to the basics in practice this week.
“I don’t want to give away too much, but we’re scrapping a lot of our playbook,” said Willms, who, along with many of his teammates is also sporting a bleach-blond hairdo as a sign of solidarity. “It’s a lot more of the inside running game we started out the season with.”
Willms and the Warriors are also hoping that Salmon River’s huge margins of victory this season will be a detriment in the second half.
“We’re the underdogs,” he said. “But Salmon River has only played half-games all season, because they’ve forty-fived almost everybody at halftime.
“We’ve had the full four quarters all year, so we should be in a lot better shape than they are, and that could work in our favor late in the game.”
Having been tested late against Clark Fork – the Wampus Cats put up 40 points in the fourth quarter – should prepare Kootenai for almost anything Salmon River can throw – or run – at them.
At least that’s how Willms and the Warriors plan for it to play out.
“We’ve always been a really close team, and a game like that one against Clark Fork was the perfect thing for us heading into Saturday,” he said.
“It brought us even closer together.”