SE eights launch new football season

All four county entries in the SE Eight-man league will be part of the early start action this week. LaCrosse/Washtucna will host Odessa at Washtucna, Colton will host Wilbur/Creston, Garfield/Palouse will host Potlatch and St. John/Endicott will travel north to play Wellpinit in an afternoon game.

The SE Eights last year ended with three teams—- Pomeroy, Touchet and Colton—all tied with 5-1 records and went into the playoff on a coin flip.

The county playoff bid ended when Colton was stopped by Odessa, and Garfield/Palouse, the number-four qualifier was stopped at Wellpinit.

Pomeroy advanced one more round on the east side which eventually sent Almira/Coulee/Hartline to the title game. They bowed to Neah Bay for the state eight title.

COLTON

WILDCATS

Starting his seventh year as head coach of the Wildcats, Colton coach Clark Vining lost six seniors to graduation last year. Leading the list of grads was Josh Straughan, who anchored the ‘cats offense at quarterback for four years, a unusual feat in high school football. He is now playing at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa.

Another Wildcat grad, Jake Riedner, is now playing for the South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City.

Receivers Dustin Devorak and Matt Becker have also departed along with Tim Tilton and Bricyn Abdul.

Jake Straughan, who booked QB time last year as a sophomore, will take over the QB slot vacated by his brother. The Wildcats will have running back Nick Robertson back as a senior and Zach Devorak back as a receiver. Casey Jackson will be back at wide receiver as a junior, and Dillon Frank will be in the lineup as a junior receiver.

Carter Dahmen, who made the roster last year as an eighth grader, returns as a QB backup and defensive back.

Jordon Druffel and Levi Weber return as juniors, and Phil Niehenke and Austin Staley as sophomors.

Like other coaches in the league, Coach Vining anticipates Liberty Christian, which qualified for eight-man playoffs this year, will be a top factor in the league. The Patriots played league foes last year but the school was officially in the 2B division and couldn’t enter the eights playoffs.

LaCROSSE/WASHTUCNA

TIGERCATS

The Tigercats, who fell short of the playoff trail last year, could be billed as the coming of age team in the SE Eights for this season. Starting his 19th year as head of the Tigercats, Coach Jeff Nelson has 24 recruits out for the team action this year with a third of the turnout from the senior class.

The T-cats graduated just two seniors off last year’s team in Jake Aune, quarterback, and Caleb Hannas, lineman and defensive end.

Coach Nelson has Joey Guske, now a junior in at the QB slot where he has rolled up prior game time action. The ‘cats have three experienced running backs returning in Sawyer Hostetler, Johnathan Holdren and Matt Stubbs, all seniors.

Sam Harder, one of the league’s most experienced receivers, will be back for his senior year. Alec Fleming also returns as a senior and Graham BeDell as a junior in the receiving ranks.

The line also has experience with seniors Lane Hannas, Austin Summers and Jared Stark.

Nelson’s assistant coach this year is Justin Ziebel who commutes south from Ritzville to assist the Tigercats.

Coach Nelson also tags Liberty Christian as the new power in the league for the top spot. Garfield/Palouse, which also has a lot of power back, and possibly Pomeroy, could be among the top contenders in the league.

St. JOHN/ENDICOTT

EAGLES

A young Eagles team will take to the road early Friday for the long trip to Wellpinit for a non-league start on the season. Kickoff time for the Eagles will be at 3 p.m.

Steve Selk, who has coached middle school teams for the past five years, has moved into the head coaching job vacated by Bob Clements.

The Eagles have just two seniors among a turnout of 20 players. Friday, they will start the season with just 14 players on the active list. Six others need to get in more practice time under the WIAA rules. Most of that was due to harvest and the early start in league play.

The Eagles have also lost Caleb Hudson before the launch of the season. A sophomore, he was sidelined with an ankle injury.

The two seniors on the club are Gabe Daivs and Thomas Newton. Davis will be the starting linebacker, and Newton will play on the offensive line and at linebacker.

Running backs will be two of the six juniors in the club, Micah Selk and Wade West. Other juniors on the team are Matt Gonzalez, receiver and defensive end; Alex White, lineman, and Landon Hallenius, line and linebacker.

R.J. Baltierra is turning out for his first year of football as a junior. Coach Selk has seven sophomores on the roster in Cole Crider, nose guard; Skylar Smith, receiver; Dakota Gering, line; Jordan Morris, offensive line and defensive end; Wilson Lundberg, running back, and Luke Larson, receiver and defensive line.

Four freshmen on the roster a Tyler Anderson, Weston Whinery, Lucas Ellkins and Zakk Stein.

After the trip to Wellpinit, the Eagles will have a bye during fair week and then host Bridgeport in their home opener.

GARFIELD/PALOUSE

VIKINGS

The Vikings, a team which picked up steam at the end of last season, hit a rough finish in the tough playoff round at Wellpinit last year. Their top back, Riley Hodges, was knocked out of the action early and the Wellpinit hosts went on to a 62-40 win.

The Vikings earned the playoff entry with a 3-3 league record behind the three-way tie of the top eights finishers in the league.

Coach Scott Thompson will have most of the team back this year for another shot at the SE eights, and the Vikings have been tagged as a team to watch by other league contenders.

Viking grads included linemen Nathan Cocking and Jon Kuehner. Also graduating was Jesse Parkins, running back and linebacker.

Topping the list of returnees will be senior Anthony Floyd who will be one of the most experienced QBs in the league.

Hodges will also be back as a senior. He rolled up over 2,000 yards as a running back last year.

Kevin Knauff will return as junior in the middle linebacker spot and will also be a backup running back.

Zack Reiber and Joey Thomas will return as senior lineman, and Jesse Lopez, one of the league top DBs, will be back as a junior.

The Vikings open the season by hosting Potlatch. The Loggers will make the visit after crunching Deary 42-12 in the Idaho opener last week.

Potlatch QB David Amos rolled up 93 yards passing and hit two TDs in the opener, and Drew Magallon led the rushing roster with 82 yards.