Storm rattles playoff slate

The sudden blast of winter early this week left athletic directors with second thoughts about bookings for the state's semi-final football playoff round. Colfax and Waitsburg/ Prescott will collide as scheduled at 1 p.m. in WSU's Martin Stadium.

Coach Mike Morgan said he had checked out alternate sites as the snow and wind hit Monday, but conditions improved. WSU crews cleared off most of the Martin Stadium turf and are expected get the surface ready before Saturday's game. Morgan noted the WSU turf needs to remain cleared for the WSU-UW Apple Cup game next Saturday, Dec. 4.

Morgan said attempts to rebook the game at the UI Kibbie Dome stalled out when they discovered people in charge of the dome had departed for the Thanksgiving holiday. The dome hosted Idaho high school title games before the holiday break.

Another option was to move the game to the Tri-Cities, at Lampson Field or Edgar Brown Stadium, but the bookings there were uncertain because teams which had originally picked Albi Stadium in Spokane were also attempting to change sites at the start of the week.

The WIAA assigns selection of playoff sites according to where teams land in the playoff brackets. This year, Colfax picked the sites and opponents in the opposite bracket set the game times.