Surprise Colfax foe emerges

Next foe for Colfax on the football playoff trail will be a surprise foe from the far opposite side of the state. South Bend will travel all the way from the Willapa Bay area in the southwest corner of the state to play the Bulldogs in the quarter-final round at Gonzaga Prep Saturday at 1 p.m.

South Bend upset Kittitas 43-29 in the first round last week to go up against a Colfax squad which shut out Waitsburg/Prescott 39-0 Saturday in the last grid game of the season at Schmuck Park.

“We didn’t expect to be playing South Bend, and I don’t think they expected to be playing Colfax,” Coach Mike Morgan said. At the start of the week he and South Bend Coach Tom Sanchez were on the phone trying to line up scouting videos to exchange for Saturday’s game.

Before checking out the South Bend video, Morgan had to put aside a collection from the now sidelined Kittitas team.

South Bend runs an offense which is close to what Colfax runs. The Indians like to use split backs and the veer. The close matchup has made the prep task for the Colfax scouting team a breeze this week. Morgan noted South Bend is a young team and very quick. They have just one senior on the squad.

The quarter-final Saturday has been booked at Gonzaga Prep, a site which has been added to the playoff scene this year because the Bullpups have installed a turf playing field.

Colfax goes into the quarter-final round after booking a quick start last Saturday against Waitsburg /Prescott on the way to the 39-0 shutout at Colfax. Morgan said the strategy was to get a quick start on the Cardinals who arrived in Colfax after fighting out a three-way playoff five days earlier at Dayton.

“They were playing for the third time in eight days, and that can take a lot out of a team,” Morgan noted. “We’ve been there and done that in the past.”

Morgan noted the Cardinals have been a team which can put up a bunch of points in a hurry. Their ability to do that knocked Asotin out of the running at Dayton.

Colfax stopped WP in three plays Friday after the opening kickoff. On the first Bulldog possession, QB Alex Teade called an audible and hit Justin Berarducci down the left side for a TD play that covered 47 yards.

The Bulldogs then dropped an on-side kick on the Cards and regained the ball. Another zap pass, this time to Will Hatley, went for a 52-yard TD.

That put the score at 13-0 in the first five minutes, and the Cards began to feel the load from all the football they rolled up during the previous week.

Colfax defense forced three more WP punts in the first half, and the offense bumped the lead to 25-0 for the half with Teade scoring on a short run and Kellen Morgan running out 22 yards for a score on another Teade pass.

Hatley finished with 100 yards receiving and Stetson Steiger finished with 103 yards. Alvin Li, who booked the last score of the day, finished with 62 yards rushing.

Colfax also had Tyler McNannay back with his kicking game and on the defense. McNannay, who plays a key part in pinning opponents offense deep in their own zone, missed three weeks of action.

Saturday’s winner at Gonzaga Prep will go up against the winner of the DeSales-LaSalle game in the semi-final.

DeSales, the other SE entrant out of the three-way playoff last week at Dayton, advanced to the quarter-final in a 48-7 win over White Swan. LaSalle eliminated Reardan 48-6 in the first round.

LaSalle shut out DeSales 20-0 in a non-leaguer at the start of the season.