Warriors get second chance at Odessa
Four years ago, Brandon Walsh was terminated as the Almira/Coulee-Hartline football coach.
The Warriors had endured a series of losing seasons at the Class 2B level (11-man football) and the coach was the logical target.
Walsh was hired back halfway through the following season. Last year, ACH dropped to the 1B 8-man game and the man once fired has the Warriors in today’s Gridiron Classic as part of an all-Northeast 1B championship final.
“The bottom line is we weren’t winning,” said Walsh, who was initially hired to coach in 1999. “People were looking for a different direction and as tough as that was to go through, it’s the reality in coaching.”
ACH (12-1) plays top-ranked Odessa (12-0) for the title in a rematch of their Sept. 21 league game, won by the Tigers 56-6.
“We did pretty much anything we wanted to,” said Odessa coach Bruce Todd, whose team, like ACH, has yo-yoed between 11-man and 8-man football in recent years. “We ran the ball well, passed well and defensively pretty much shut them down.”
Warriors tailback Jordan Hughes, who has gained 1,160 yards rushing and 561 receiving with 30 touchdowns, didn’t crack 50 yards against Odessa’s unyielding defense. Quarterback Josh Goodwin, who has thrown for 1,557 yards and 29 TDs and rushed for 999 yards and nine scores, managed one completion.
“I told our team that they’ve improved a whole lot and are playing well,” said Todd. “They need to be prepared and focused because it will not be an easy game just because we beat them easy in the season.”
Since that loss, ACH has won 10 straight games. Critical was the 30-22 overtime win at Columbia (Hunters) that assured second place in league. The Warriors also won in overtime against Touchet in the playoffs and in the semifinals outran Lummi 80-50 with a 38-14 second-half outburst.
“Historically, we’ve been a second-half team and kind of knew it would be a case of weathering the storm,” said Walsh. “We were a little quicker than Lummi and I was worried about that being the other way around.”
Walsh was a senior lineman on the last ACH B-8 finalist in 1990. He wrestled in community college, finished his education at Central Washington and was hired by his alma mater.
“It’s been great to change back to 8-man football,” he said. “I’m more comfortable there.”
Today’s game is the first time since 2000 that two Northeast 1B teams have met for the state championship. Odessa lost 34-30 to Inchelium in that game, Todd’s second year as coach.
“This is only my fourth year as an 8-man coach,” said Todd. “We’ve been jumping back and forth.”
The Tigers’ goal after last year’s 92-68 playoff loss to eventual champion St. John-Endicott was to be playing this weekend.
“I don’t want to say it was disappointing,” said Todd. “But it was shorter than we wanted to get.”
It will be Odessa’s size and power against a more spread-out look that ACH has refined over the past few weeks.
“Defense wins championships and I think that will be a big key for us,” said Todd. “With Travis (his son) at middle linebacker, not too many guys have run up inside on us effectively all year long. We’ll be pounding at them, which will hopefully open up the passing game and runs to the corner.”
How does ACH erase the memory of the 50-point defeat two months ago?
“We got behind early and were steamrolled,” said Walsh. “We were kind of searching for our identity early in the year. The guys know their roles better now.”
He said the Warriors must do a better defensive job of containing back Jacob Schmidt, Travis Todd and quarterback Ryan King. They’ll spread the field and throw the ball a lot.
“This is a cool thing for our league,” he said.
“Just getting there is great,” said Todd. “But the ultimate prize is winning this thing.”