Dogs renew rivalry with big Bears

After prevailing in an extended ground-vs.-air battle with the Coeur d’Alene jayvee team, the Colfax football team will travel to the Bears’ den in Moscow Friday night to face an extra hungry team of Bears. The Bulldogs will travel to Moscow on a 2-0 record after a 56-32 win over the talented group of Viking sophomores Friday at Schmuck park.

Moscow will host with an 0-4 record after sustaining a 28-42 loss to Pullman in a battle of the border rivals. Moscow took the loss after stacking a 21-6 lead over the `hounds early in the game.

Added to the Bears incentives for Friday will be their homecoming night.

“I expect them to really be loaded for us,” Coach Mike Morgan noted. He rates the Bears as probably the best 0-4 team the Bulldogs have ever faced. That includes factoring in the difference in the school sizes.

The Colfax-Moscow matchup this year is a throwback to the days when the Bulldogs, then with a much larger student enrollment, used to book their college town neighbors annually.

Colfax Friday at Schmuck Park took a narrow half-time lead, expanded it early after the break and then allowed the junior Vikings to come back and tie it up at 26-26 in a marathon third quarter.

“I really didn’t know which way it was going to go after they tied it at 26-26,” Morgan confessed.

The Bulldogs offense put it back in gear and again jumped in front of the Vikings.

Colfax bounced back for two more scores for a 42-32 lead, allowed the Viking one more score and then shut the Vikings down for rest of the quarter.

The final score came when the Colfax defense pressured the Vikings QB on a pass attempt, and he wound up tossing it backwards with Judd Thompson picking it up and heading for the end zone.

Coach Morgan noted the battle turned out a lot closer on the stats sheet with Colfax totaling 491 yards of offense, and the Vikings finishing with 482.

Colfax booked a 49-355 rushing night with QB Brady Ellis, Brandon Arneson, and Levi Hardy stacking up the yards behind an experience Colfax line.

“Our line continued to execute. They just did a fantastic job,” Morgan commented.

In addition to grinding up possession time with the ground game, the Bulldogs also marked an edge in the veteran factor. The Colfax seniors didn’t get rattled when the Vikes put that 26-26 tie on the board in the third quarter, and the steady ground attack eventually paid off.

Senior QB Brady Ellis finished with a 10-14-136 night passing with one interception. Morgan credited Ellis with putting together an excellent option game which baffled the younger CDA team at several key times during the game.

Brandon Arneson topped the Colfax rushing attack with 141 yards on 17 carries. Ellis finished 120 on 10, and Hardy, who had the grinder role against the Vikings, finished at 22-93.

After the 26-26 tie with 4:48 left in the third, the Bulldogs came right back with two big gains by Arneson. Ellis scored on another option keeper and added two points with a pass to Arneson.

The quarter ended with CDA’s quarterback throwing four shots to keep the ball at the end of the third quarter which could have set a Schmuck Park record for duration.

Colfax then bumped it to 42-26 on a catch by Nate Klaveano who went into the end zone with a Viking tackler hooked on his shirttail.

The Vikings score their last TD at 7:53 to cut the Colfax lead to 10 points, but Colfax scored twice more, once on a pass to Klaveano and then on Thompson’s unique interception of a misplaced Viking toss.