Undefeated 'cats, Indians set for clash

Colton’s Wildcats will take a 5-0 win string south to Touchet Friday afternoon for a battle of the undefeateds in the SE Eights League race. The Wildcats head for Touchet after prevailing 52-40 on their home turf against a tough LW Tigercat team last week.

Touchet again posted a strong showing with a 40-0 shutout of a young SJE Eagles team.

In other league matchups, Pomeroy will travel to Washtucna to play the Tigercats for homecoming, and the Garfield/Palouse will travel to St. John. Both the Eagles and the Vikings sustained defeats in last Friday’s round.

COLTON Friday bounced back for four straight TDs after the Tigercats scored first on the Wildcat turf Friday. LaCrosse/Washtucna shook Sam Harder loose on a 52-yard end reverse play to get an early lead on their first possession and set the tone for the wide open battle.

After that Colton took control to post a 30-14 lead at the break on the way to a 52-40 win.

The Tigercats roared back after the half with three straight TDs before Colton capped it.

Facing a tough LW pass defense, the Wildcats cooked a lot of their yards on the ground. Nick Robertson scored four times, including 72-yard and 18-yard scoring plays in the last quarter when Colton fended off the LW rally. At one point in the last quarter, the Tigercats were within four points.

LW Coach Jeff Nelson credited his defense with holding down the Colton passing game, butcredited the Wildcats with going to the ground with success.

Robertson booked 224 yards on 10 carries. QB Josh Straughan, the league leader in passing, actually made more yards on the ground than in the air against the Tigercats. He booked 142 yards on the ground on 10 carries and 137 in passing on 17 attempts.

Top tacklers for the Wildcats were Jake Reidner with 12, Dalton Patchen 8 and Justin Meyer 7.

Sawyer Hostetler had a 24-108 night rushing for LW, and Johnathon Holdren booked a 17-68 night for the Tigercats and had three TDs, all of them in a row during the LW charge in the second half.

Quarterback Jake Aune had a 10-14-177 night passing and booked 84 yards rushing.

Wildcat Coach Clark Vining said one big challenge for the Wildcats at Touchet Friday afternoon will be stopping Vince Flores, a receiver who also winds up packing the ball in the Indians’ offense.

POMEROY, which canned Sunnyside Christian 40-14 on the Pirates’ field Friday, is expected to bring their ground power game to Washtucna to face the Tigercats Friday at homecoming.

Coach Nelson expects the Pirates to run Troy Knebel and Austin Riensdorph at the Tigercats for most of the night.

The Pirates last week pegged a big boost in the win over SC with two kick returns for TDs by Jacob Moore. His second scamper in the last quarter went for 75 yards.

GARFIELD/ Palouse will travel to St. John after a 54-46 offensive endurance game with Liberty Christian at the Vikings’ field. The Patriots took the eight-point win with a better success mark in extra point conversions. Each team scored seven TDs.

The Vikings hit one two-point conversion after the opening TD when Anthony Floyd ran in a two-pointer. They then failed to convert after four more TDs, and finally hit it again with Nathan Cocking reeling in a two-point sling from Floyd.

The Pats converted points after six of their TDs, all for two points.

Riley Hodges scored three of the TDs for the Vikings and finished with 248 yards.

Kevin Knauff and Floyd each had two of the GP scores.

Friday’s trip to St. John will be the first of a five-game league run for the Vikes who remain in contention for the Eights’ top spot. The Vikes are 1-0 in league play after edging LW last week.