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State football preview: Led by Gonzaga Prep, seven area teams remain in four classifications

Gonzaga Prep’s Tommy Camp, right, congratulates William Alexander-Durr on his interception return for a touchdown during Saturday’s State 4A first-round game. (CHERYL NICHOLS/For The Spokesman-Review)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

Seven area football teams remain in the state playoffs across four classifications. Here’s a look at the matchups in the quarterfinal round for each.

4A

(10) Gonzaga Prep at (2) Lake Stevens: Saturday 4 p.m. The Bullpups (9-2) are the lowest seed left in the 4A bracket, but that’s hardly an indication of their potential. The defense is stout and with a stable of five backs – any of whom could have a 100-yard day – they are a “tough out” at this point of the tourney.

G-Prep faces the team that knocked them out last year. Lake Stevens (8-2) is led by Notre Dame running back commit Jayden Limar. He totaled 246 yards with four touchdowns in the Vikings’ 42-27 win over 15th-seeded North Creek in their first-round matchup.

1A

(10) Mount Baker at (2) Lakeside: Saturday 4 p.m., Union Stadium. The Northeast A champion Eagles (10-0) are the last undefeated team in 1A, led by standout QB Kole Hunsaker, an all-state candidate. Hunsaker threw four TD passes in Lakeside’s 33-6 win over Bellevue Christian in the first round and drew a relative home game Saturday.

The Mountaineers (6-4) survived a three-way tiebreaker in the Northwest Conference, in which the top-ranked team in 1A, Lynden Christian, was eliminated. Senior RB Marcques George had more than 750 rushing yards with 13 TDs in his past three games, including a 37-26 win over Tenino in round one.

(12) Freeman at Eatonville (4): Saturday 2 p.m., Art Crate Field, Spanaway. The Scotties (8-2) pulled off one of the deepest upsets – at least on paper – in any classification as Boen Phleps accounted for four touchdowns knocking off fifth-seeded King’s last week. King’s owned the best RPI rating in 1A entering the matchup.

Freeman faces the new RPI leader in Eatonville (8-2). The Cruisers toppled 13th-seeded Zillah 28-0 in the first round.

2B

(5) Toledo at (4) Chewelah: Saturday 3 p.m., Lions Field, Moses Lake. The Cougars (7-2) got last week off with a bye into the quarters. They’ll take on the Riverhawks (10-1), a 48-21 winner over 12th-seeded Kittitas last week.

(8) Liberty at (1) Napavine: Saturday 1 p.m., Tumwater Stadium. The Lancers (8-2) got two rushing touchdowns and a TD pass from Jake Jeske in a 28-14 round one win over ninth-seeded River View last week. For their effort, they draw the rested, top-seeded Tigers (10-0) on the road.

1B

(8) Naselle at (1) Odessa: Saturday 12 p.m., Lions Field, Moses Lake. As the classification’s top seed, the Tigers (8-0) got last week off. They’ll host the eighth-seeded Comets (9-2), 64-6 winners over Almira/Coulee-Hartline, last year’s champs, in the first round.

(7) Wellpinit at (2) Neah Bay: Saturday 1 p.m., Forks HS. Wellpinit (10-1) won its first state playoff game in program history last week and faces the Red Devils (8-0), coming off a bye.