Tigercats roll to Coulee

LaCrosse/Washtucna, back on the state playoff trail for the first time since 2008, will roll north Friday to play the ACH Warriors at Coulee City. The Nighthawks will make the trip north after defeating the GP Vikings at Palouse for the number three berth out of the SE league.

Liberty/Christian and Touchet, first and second place teams, will also be in the first round.

The Patriots, who dominated the SE Eights league this year, will play Odessa/Harrington at Chiawana in the first round, and Touchet, number two, will host Wellpinit.

Sawyer Hostetler of the Tigercats escapes Viking Kevin Knauff in the league showdown at Palouse Thursday. night.

LaCrosse/Washtucna posted a 20-point lead on the Vikings after the first two quarters Thursday at Palouse and kept their ground control game in gear against the host Vikings in the second half.

It finished with the same 20-point margin, bumped to 58-38, in favor of the Tigercats.

LW Coach Jeff Nelson said Tigercats’ ground attack worked on the Palouse grid which had been hit by rain before the game started.

Sawyer Hostetler, who has been hampered with a quad pull, packed the ball 39 times for 312 yards.

QB Joey Guske finished with 174 yards in five carries.

The Tigercats opened the big lead at the first half with two break-away runs by Guske. One went for 74 yards and the other for 68 yards.

Overall, the T-cats ran 60 plays at the Viking defense, a number which reflects the possession time. Guske scored the first two TDs off a triple option play which caught the GP line going for a dive back.

LW moved the lead to 46-20 with three minutes left in the third quarter with Sam Harder going up the middle.

The gap went back to 20 points, 46-26 with 1:18 left in the quarters when the Vikings Jesse Lopez snagged a Hunter Woltering pass and went into the end zone.

Hostetler and GP’s Riley Hodges each added TD to bump the tally to 52-32 in the final seconds of the third. The two power backs each scored again with Hodges hitting the last Viking score after a long pass play from Hunter Woltering to Anthony Floyd.

ACH hosts the T-cats Friday after sustaining a 70-6 pounding in the NE crossover round.

Coach Nelson said ACH Quarterback Drew Issac keys the offense for the Warriors, now 8-2 on the season. He said Issac’s combined passing skills and the ability to scramble remind him of Colton QB Jake Staughan.

Colton wrapped up the league run with a 50-32 win over Pomeroy in the last league round. The Wildcats led 38-18 at the half and Pomeroy didn’t hit the end zone again until the last quarter.

The Wildcats signed off on the seasons at 5-5 overall after winning their last three game. Nick Robertson finished with as 16-48 rushing night, and Jack Straughan hit 16 passes for 148 yards.

Sophomore Cody Meyer booked 21 Pirate tackles.

Colton list just two seniors on the roster this year, Robertson and receiver Zack Devorak.

LW Coach Nelson credits the LC Patriots with dominating the SE campaign this year. The Patriots stacked a 76-0 win at St. John in the last league round.

Nelson believes the Pats and Cusick, the big winner over ACH in last week’s play-in game, top the list of qualifiers in the state action for eights.

Winners of this week’s rounds will advance to next week’s quarter-final round.