Strong Colfax finish stops Irish in opener

Colfax Bulldogs Friday at Walla Walla posted a first-half lead, saw most of it vanish in the third quarter and then booked 20 points in the last quarter to win their opener over DeSales. Final score was 38-19.

The win put the Bulldogs in gear for their home opener this Friday when Davenport arrives to start the league season. The Gorillas will make the trip to Colfax after posting a 21-14 win over Lake Roosevelt in their first game Friday.

Colfax Coach Mike Morgan said he really wasn’t sure what was going to happen when the 2010 Bulldogs rolled south Friday night. Colfax was venturing out on the new season with most of their powerhouse line from last year replaced.

DeSales started the game with a solid offensive drive, the kind of yard cruncher Morgan and his crew of coaches hoped they wouldn’t see when the new Bulldog defense was put to the test.

However, the Irish drive was stopped short of a TD, and they had to settle for a field goal by Victor Matta.

After that, the Bulldogs took over the ball for the start of an offensive blast. They rolled up a 12-3 lead at the break and scored once more early in the third quarter.

Tyler McNannay, who finished with 290 yards on 14 carries, hit the first of three long TD runs for 49 yards in the first quarter.

Coach Morgan said McNannay stacked up the yards because he and the Colfax down field blockers cashed in on a blitz-prone DeSales defense. The Irish were vacating parts of their secondary coverage, and McNannay was able to find a lot of open territory once he sprung through the line.

The game stayed at 6-3 until the final minute of the half when QB Alex Teade hit Damon Buck for the second Colfax score as the half-time clock ran out for a 12-3 Colfax lead at the half.

Colfax defense settled down. Coach Morgan said they kept calling for the blitz to pressurize Jeremiah Cox, the new Irish QB.

After the break, McNannay broke another TD escape for 65 yards for an 18-3 Bulldog lead.

DeSales, however, came back. Coach Morgan noted the Bulldogs backed off on the blitz, and Cox began to get the green club moving when allowed a little more execution time.

Kyle Lindgren, who stacked 170 yards last week for the Irish against LaSalle, hit the first Irish TD. They came back with a second score on a 17-yard shot from Cox to Ryan Baumgart.

That put the Irish within two points, 16-18.

“I think our seniors just decided they weren’t going to let it get away,” Coach Morgan said.

Lindgren packed the ball 30 times for the Irish and finished with 48 yards.

McNannay rolled out another 70 yards for a TD at the start of the last quarter. He also rolled another gain for 60 yards to set up a 20-yard TD pass play from Teade to Kellen Morgan.

Colfax ended it with a solid drive and a 37-yard run by Teade to cap a ball possession drive.

Coach Morgan puts a lot of credit on the Colfax defense. The starting rookies on defense improved as the game advanced.

“Our young guys just grew up,” Coach Morgan noted.

One of the keys was senior Lonny Ellis who has moved into the middle linebacker slot. Ellis, now about 165, picked up the reads and relished making the stops.

Friday, Davenport will arrive for their first trip to Colfax under Coach Craig McIntyre, a grad from the EWU grid ranks.

Colfax played test rounds against the Gorillas in the jamboree two weeks ago at Ritzville, but Coach Morgan said that’s not much of an indicator for the full league battle this week.

Gorilla back Justin Piper rates high on the Colfax defensive charts. Piper combines good breakout speed with a lot of open field ability. He and Ron Wilkie got the early score when the Gorillas won their opener at Davenport.