SE Eights title on line in Jaguars visit to Colton

Top slot in the SE Eights race will be on the line Friday night when the Tri-Cities Prep Jaguars arrive at Colton with a 3-0 league mark. The Wildcats will aim at stretching their overall record to 8-0.

“I look at them, and it’s almost like looking in a mirror,” Wildcat Coach Clark Vining noted.

Both title contenders have a lot of talent and speed which works well in the eight-man grid. Neither has a lot of size.

TCP will arrive after dropping the ailing LWK Tigercats with a 46-point crunch in the first half last week at Pasco. Colton will host after traveling all the way to Lyle and winning a 34-28 decision on the last play of the game.

The other league matchup will see the SJE Eagles travel to Washtucna to play the Tigercats in what could be a battle.

COLTON’S Sam Robertson intercepted a pass in the last six seconds of the game and ran it into the end zone for the last TD with all the time off the clock. Robertson’s theft and score came after the Wildcats, tied 28-28, campaigned down the field over the last three minutes until they were stopped at the 11-yard line on a fourth down play.

Lyle/Klicktat/Wishram gambled with a pass to the corner and Robertson picked it off.

SE EIGHT STANDINGS

Colton 5-0 7-0 385-164

Tri Cites Prep 3-0 5-2 346-180

L/W 1-3 4-3 268-190

Touchet 3-1 4-3 192-264

SJE 0-3 3-4 168-238

S. Christian 0-3 1-6 106-328

“They are a pretty solid team,” Vining commented on LKW.

The two clubs traded TDs all night to get to the 28-28 before Robertson pulled off the dramatic finish.

Robertson finished with 234 yards in 26 carries and scored the first three Wildcat TDs. Nate Jacobs, who had three catches for 85 yards, reeled in a snag for a 35-yard TD play for a Wildcat lead, but LKW came back with a TD and two-point conversion to knot it at 28-28.

Colton took the ball with 3:20 left and drove all the way from the 20 to the 11-yard line before they were stopped with six seconds left. LKW’s last play wound up in Robertson’s hands.

Against TCP, the Wildcats will face veteran QB Will Hoppes and his number one receiver, Troy Redman, who has 52 catches to date. The Jags also have a top runner in Kevin Rautiste, Vining noted.

ST. JOHN/ENDICOTT will go into Friday’s battle at Washtucna after sustaining an 18-26 loss at Touchet Friday. The Eagles marked a slow start, came to life at the end of the half and actually out-scored the Chiefs in the second half.

“They jumped to a 20-0 lead, and all of a sudden we decided to play. It was like a light bulb came on,” Coach Bob Clements commented. In the last 45 seconds of the first half the Eagles drove the length of the field on four plays and scored on an aerial hookup from Kyle Raynor to Evan Raynor that covered 30 yards.

In the second half, the Eagles scored on a plunger by Cole McCanna in the third quarter and closed it out with an 80-yard screen pass from Kyle Raynor to power back Trevor Johnson.

LaCROSSE/WASHTUCHNA/KAHLOTUS will host the Eagles after sustaining a 0-46 loss to the TCP Jaguars at Pasco last week. The Tigercats arrived with their top back, Garrett Blauert, and Justin Alridge sidelined with injuries. Early the Pasco game, Garrett Whitney and Gary Marmes were also stopped by injuries.

The injury list took the core, including all the seniors, out of the LWK lineup. Coach Jeff Nelson noted the Tigercats finished with five freshman on the field.

Blauert expects to get back in the action Friday night at Washtucna, and Whitney and Marmes also could see action.

“Some of our kids are just going to have to step up,” Coach Nelson noted.

He expects SJE will come straight ahead on offense with Trevor Johnson getting a lot of carries.

“They like to run the power game, and they do it pretty well,” Nelson commented.