Eight-man powers book strong league launch

Three of the pre-season “teams to watch” picked up power wins Friday in the first round of league action in the SE eights. Liberty Christian, the team picked by many league coaches to be the power club in the fall race, moved their record to 4-0 with 54-14 blistering of Touchet, a team which had a strong start in non-league action.

LaCrosse/Washtucna dominated Sunnyside Christian 50-6 for their third win of the year, and Pomeroy topped the SJE Vikings 64-28.

In a smoke-delayed game at Colton Monday, Garfield Palouse Viking weighed into the league with a 68-40 marathon win over the Wildcats.

LaCROSSE/WASHTUCNA this week will host Colton in a battle which will match up the Tigercats balanced offense with Colton’s air game. Coach Jeff Nelson said his crew will aim to control the ball and burn up possession time to keep the Wildcats from igniting their passing game.

In their 50-6 win over Sunnyside Christian at Zillah last week, the T-Cats booked a strong defensive game and a balanced offense to take the 50-6 win.

Quarterback Joey Guske hit 12 of 17 passes for 237 yards the three TDs. Sam Harder had four snags for 70 yards and Bo Rice had three for 92.

Rice had 12 tackles on defense, and Jon Holdren had a fumble recovery and a sack. Austin Summers was credited with a sack, and a safety and a fumble recovery.

Coach Nelson said they expect Colton to again throw the ball with Jake Straughan at QB.

GARFIELD/ Palouse and Colton matched up at Colton Monday night in an offensive battle that stretched to marathon length.

The Vikings had Riley Hodges, who missed last week’s action against Genesee in the Kibbie Dome, back in action. Hodges packed the ball 24 times over 258 yards with three TDs for the Vikings at Colton.

Coach Scott Thompson pulled him out in the third quarter to get more rest time on Hodges angle.

The Vikings Monday booked the first three scores of the game to stack a 16-0 shutout in the first quarter.

Wildcat Nick Robertson ignited Colton’s offense early in the second quarter with an 80 yard kickoff return into the end zone.

Garfield/Palouse scored their first TD on a 16-yard shot from QB Anthony Floyd to Joey Lopez. That turned out to be their lone pass of the night when they rolled up 576 yards rushing. Kevin Knauff added 20-158 rushing, and Floyd booked 18-118 rushing.

Colton’s Jake Straughan broke out for two long TD runs for the Wildcats. Straughan also hit five shots each to Zach Devorak and Dillon Frank.

The Vikings this week will travel to the Tri-Cities and play Liberty Christian at Hanford High. Coach Thompson also wants his Vikings to work for ball control to shut down the Pats’ offense.

POMEROY and the SJE Eagles broke out a 14-14 tie after the first quarter at St. John, but the Pirates stacked up a 14-point lead before the break and expanded it with another two scores in the third quarter. They scored the last three TDs of the game and kept the Eagles out of the end zone in the last quarter.

Wade West scored twice for the Eagles. He returned a kickoff 85 yards for the second score which put SJE on top for a short time in the first quarter.

Thomas Newton scored the first TD for the Eagles on a plunger, and Matt Gonzalez broke for 56 yards and a score.

The Pirates’ Ryan Smith booked a 13-196 night running the ball and scored five times for the Pirates.

Both teams will hit the road this week with Pomeroy visiting Sunnyside Christian, and the Eagles rolling south to play Touchet.