Wildcats face Cusick test

Colton Wildcats will face an undefeated Cusick in the quarterfinal round of the state-eights playoff after eliminating Columbia of Hunters 40-8 Friday in the SE-NE playoff round at Colton.

Colton will play Cusick, the NE power team which was derailed in last year’s playoff by the LWK Tigercats at Albi Stadium, Friday at 7 p.m. at Newport.

Colton Coach Clark Vining said the Wildcats expect to do the same thing they’ve been doing all season with an aim of advancing on the playoff grid.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good chance,” he noted.

One uptick indicator for the Wildcats was a close game between Cusick and Columbia two weeks ago. Last Friday, the ‘cats dominated Columbia, especially on defense, and Vining hopes that points to a solid night Friday.

Cusick goes into the quarter-final on an 11-0 record. They advanced last week with a 60-6 demolition of the Odessa Tigers at the Newport field.

The Panthers are led by Spencer Shanholtzer who threw five TD passes against the Tigers Friday. His total yards in the big win was 160.

Shanholtzer operates behind a good sized Panther line. His top receiver is Tyler Edwards who has had 43 catches this year and topped 1,000 yards. Josiah Rhodes, a transfer from the coast, is the top running back for the Panthers.

Colton and Columbia of Hunters faced off last Friday with three inches of snow on the grid at Colton. The Wildcat defense held the Lions scoreless until the middle of the last quarter.

Colton stacked up 456 yards against the Lions with Josh Straughan hitting Chase Druffel for three TD passes. Sam Robertson packed the ball 29 times for 235 yards. Robertson topped the 2,000-yard mark. He now stands at 167-2131 for the season.

Tri Cities Prep, the SE’s top contender, remained in the playoff hunt Friday with a 50-0 shutout of Wilbur-Creston, the number three team out of the NE. Will Hoppes hit three TD passes in the win.

The Jaguars now face Almira-Coulee-Hartline. The Warriors came out in the second half and scored three unanswered TDs to end Touchet’s season 36-20. All three of Touchet’s scores in the first half came off of passes by Jacob Hodenfield.