Vikings post lone win for locals in SE round

Garfield /Palouse Vikings posted the lone win among the Whitman teams in a rough round for the locals in SE Eights Friday football. The Vikings, now 3-1 in league play, booked a solid night at Pomeroy with a 48-20 win to move into a three-way tie behind Liberty Christian in the league race.

Other league rounds saw Touchet and Liberty Christian bolster with top slots in league competition and the expense of the LWK Tigercats and Colton.

The LC Patriots remain on top of the league race and undefeated at 7-0 on the season.

GARFIELD/PALOUSE Friday broke out a 24-point lead in the first quarter to launch a 48-20 win over the Pirates at Pomeroy. Riley Hodges, who scored two of the first three TDs in the quarter, finished with a four TDs on the night.

“I think we did a good job of controlling the ball,” Coach Scott Thompson said. He noted GP scored on all of its possessions except one.

The Vikings also did a solid job of controlling Pirate QB Ryan Smith who has developed a reputation of being one of the league’s best scramblers.

Smith was held to 49 ground yards for the Pirates.

The Vikings this week face a the long trip to Touchet for a day game which could shake out the standings at the top of the league.

Coach Thompson said the Touchet trip can be a challenge, but GP plans to be prepared for a day game duel.

LaCROSSE/WASHTUCNA Friday was on the verge of stopping the Touchet revival, but the game got out of hand for the Tigercats who had an eight point lead with about six minutes left in the first half.

Touchet tied it in the final two minutes of the half on a fourth-and-12 play and a two-point conversion.

Coach Jeff Nelson said the Tigercats attempted to restore the lead in the final seconds of the half, and fumbled. The Indians recovered and went 40 yards for another score.

“They scored twice within 40 seconds and that turned the game around,” Nelson noted.

Touchet drove the final spike after the break when Vincente Flores intercepted an LW pass and went all the way to the end zone, about 70 yards.

That put the Tigercats in a 16-point hole, and they never got back on track after that.

QB Joey Guske booked a solid start with nine straight completions. He totaled 129 yards passing.

Johnathan Holdren led the LW tacklers with 10.

The Tigercats Friday will host neighboring St. John/Endicott which is still in search of a win.

SUNNYSIDE CHRISTIAN took out the Eagles 64-16 in the grid at St. John Friday night. The Eagles scored their first points on a safety after Thomas Newton recovered a fumble.

The safety came after Sunnyside stopped an Eagles score attempt at the one yard line.

LIBERTY CHRISTIAN pegged the other power win in the Friday round with a 56-8 crunch on the Wildcats at Colton. The Pats pegged a 32-0 shutout in the first half after scoring three times in the last half of the second quarter. They added two more scores in the third.

Colton’s lone TD was a 34 pass play from Jake Straughan to Zach Devorak in the third quarter.

Nick Robertson was credited with 10 receptions to top the Wildcats passing game.

The undefeated Patriots brought the state’s top rating for the eight-man to the Wildcat grid Friday.