Colton, Tigercats win big in final non-league rounds

Colton’s Wildcats and the LW Tigercats rolled up the miles and points Friday to post big wins on non-league football action. Clubs in the SE Eights league will match up for the first round of league play this Friday with Garfield/Palouse traveling to Colton for the lone county contest.

The Tigercats will roll to Zillah, a revised site, to play a big Sunnyside Christian team, and St. John/Endicott will host Pomeroy.

COLTON Friday traveled north to Mullan and posted a 74-28 win over their Idaho hosts. The Wildcats scored 16 in the first quarter and then added 38 in the second quarter for a 54-16 edge at the half.

Jake Straughan was credited with 409 passing yards and six TDs. He hit 17 of 21 passes. Zach Devorak booked a 5-149 night for receptions and Dillon Frank had three TD catches.

Nick Robertson finished 7-149 on the rushing chart.

The win puts the ‘cats at 2-1 going into league play.

GARFIELD/ Palouse will make the trip to Colton after sustaining a 32-14 loss to Genesee Friday in the UI Kibbie Dome. The Vikings rolled to the dome after Genesee, the host team, called Palouse Friday morning and said they had landed a slot in the busy dome schedule to avoid the smoke hazard which had locked up the lower Palouse country.

“It was great that we had that opportunity to play in there,” Viking Coach Scott Thompson noted.

The Vikings went up against a tough Bulldog team with their top running back, Riley Hodges, out of the lineup because of an ankle injury sustained during a practice session. That led to some assignment changes which took a toll.

Coach Thompson noted he and others would have relished hitting the turf with a full lineup, particularly to see what Hodges might have turned out on the Kibbie carpet.

Genesee and GP battled 0-0 in a penalty bedecked first quarter, and the Vikings broke the ice with QB Anthony Floyd hitting Jesse Lopez, a 6-2 junior, on the fly for the first TD of the game. Floyd pushed in a two-point conversion.

After that, Genesee rolled out 20 points in the second quarter with Ben Druffel scoring the first two on runs. The Vikings didn’t get back into the end zone until the fourth quarter when hit on a short pass.

Coach Thompson said he wasn’t sure at mid week whether Hodges will be able to play against the Wildcats. He noted the key will be to have Hodges at full capacity when he does returns to increase his chances for being in the lineup for the balance of the campaign.

LaCROSEE/ Washtucna will travel to Zillah for face SC after posting a 54-14 win over the Wilbur-Creston Wildcats at Wilbur. Coach Jeff Nelson said the Tigercats used a balanced offense and a much-improved defense to defeat the Wildcats on their own turn.

LW posted a 38-8 lead at the break and allowed the hosts one more score in the second half.

Tigercats QB Joey Guske finished 13-18 passing for 201 yards. He hit TD shots to Sam Harder and Alec Fleming.

John Holdren and Sawyer Hostetler each had two TDs. Hostetler booked a 13-121 night rushing, and Holdren booked a 13-91 in the balanced attack.

The Tigercats will take their 2-1 record south to face Sunnyside Christian in the first league game. The game has been moved to Zillah from its scheduled site.

Sunnyside will host after sustaining a 56-76 loss to Wellpinit in non-league action last week.

ST. JOHN/ Endicott will travel to Pomeroy after sustaining a 40-58 loss to Northport in another non-leaguer at St. John. The guests rolled up 28 points in the first quarter, but the Eagles came back to score 26 in the next quarter and trailed by just two points at the break.

Northport iced it with three more scores in the second half.

Wade West escaped for TD runs for 79, 53 and 35 yards for the Eagles, and Gabe Davis hit a 45-yard pass to Matt Gonzales for the Eagles charge.

The Eagles, who had a bye the previous week, will host Pomeroy in the first league game Friday.

Pomeroy will visit after sustaining a tough 26-28 loss to Clearwater Valley last week on the Pirates home turf. The Rams scored the win with 40 seconds left in the game.

In another non-league test, Touchet rolled out a 60-42 win over Odessa/Harrington to post a 2-0 non-league record.