Northeast 1B South: Defending state champ ACH has new Isaak at QB and lot of returning talent elsewhere

While most coaches expected Odessa-Harrington to run away with the Northeast 1B South last year, the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors battled all the way to a state title.

And while ACH lost starting quarterback Dallas Isaak to graduation, the Warriors will replace him with … of course … another Isaak: first-cousin sophomore Maguire Isaak.

“If Maguire develops like we hope he will, we will get better as we go on,” coach Brandon Walsh said. “We feel like we are ahead of where we were a year ago.”

Many in the state agree. ACH was ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press preseason poll, while conference rival Odessa-Harrington was No. 5.

Other than replacing the departed Isaak for the newer Isaak, virtually the entire state championship team returns.

“Granted, coming into the season last year, we didn’t expect to win a state title,” Walsh said.

“It’s cool to be on the other side of it, to have the high expectations and see how the kids respond to that.”

Forgive Odessa-Harrington coach Jeff Nelson if he doesn’t share the same enthusiasm about Walsh finding another Isaak to lead his team.

Dallas Isaak “was one of the better athletes I’ve ever seen in eight-man football,” Nelson said.

“It seems like they have an Isaak every year. They will be able to make up for (Dallas’) loss. They are going to be better this year than last.”

Odessa-Harrington

As for the Titans, Nelson returns six starters, including all-league performers Gaven Elder, a junior; and senior lineman John DeWulf. He also returns senior Colby Sooy, junior quarterback Colton Hunt, senior Chance Messer, senior Caleb Behrens and junior Jayd Jennings.

“We are going to have to stay healthy, that’s for sure,” Nelson said. “Right now we have 20 kids. It always comes down to whether you can avoid key injuries.

Nelson said he’s focusing more on defense this preseason.

“We were one of the worst tackling teams I saw last year. That’s one of the reasons we had to score 80 points half the time,” he said. “You can’t miss tackles in eight-man football.”

Almira/Coulee-Hartline

ACH returns seniors Charles Hunt and Damian Maes-Leander at running back and most of its offensive line including Tim Hahn, Kameron Goetz and Tommy Millwood. On defense, the Warriors bring back Payton Nielson, Chris Christopherson, Parker Zappone, Alex Dye and Hayden Loomis.

The Warriors and Titans play on Oct. 28 at Coulee City.

“That will be a big game for us,” Walsh said. “It’s always kind of a rivalry game. But that will be a fun one.”

Around the league

Both coaches expect Entiat to be young. Neither had any information about newcomer Yakama Tribal or Pateros, which canceled several games last season. … “Wellpinit is going to be tough. They always have good athletes,” Nelson said. “Clearly ACH is the top dog, but anybody can beat anybody on a given night.”