Bulldogs to face Asotin in playoff round

After sustaining a 33-0 loss at Ritzville to the undefeated Broncos Friday, the Colfax football team will head to Asotin tomorrow night for the NE-SE crossover round. Colfax finished the NE league campaign in sixth place, a slot which puts them up against the SE champions. Asotin ran a 3-0 mark in the four-team SE.

"We expect them to be a tough, scappy team," Colfax coach Mike Morgan commented. "They have a lot of good athletes."

Asotin finished their 3-0 league run with a 28-7 win over DeSales on the Panthers' turf last Thursday. They blasted 21 points in the first quarter and held the Irish scoreless over the last three quarters.

Quarterback Blake Magnuson keys the Panther's offense. He ran for one score against the Irish and hit Josh Storey in a 42-yard pass play for another score.

"He can pass, and he likes to run," Morgan said, noting Magnuson packs the same type of offensive duel threat as the Bulldogs' Keith Gfeller.

Asotin has a big line, and runs the I-back formation which was previously used by the Bulldogs before they converted to the pistol offense. The Panthers also use the 4-3 defense which was formerly used by Colfax.

Coach for the Asotin club is Jim Holman.

Morgan credited the Bulldogs with putting up a solid game Friday in the last league round against the LRS team which figures to again peg out a large part of the state 2B playoff trail

Lind/Ritzville/Sprague has 15 seniors on their roster, and the team has stacked a 46-1 record over the four years those players have been in the lineup.

Colfax kept the Broncos out of the end zone through the first quarter at Ritzville Friday, but the Broncos ripped 20 points in the second quarter.

Most of the action in the first half saw the Bulldogs attempting to get out of their half of the field. Punter Galen McWhirter had the key assignment in fending off the Bronco offense.

The Broncos broke out with their first score when sophomore Mason Brausen took off for a 60-yard run with 10:21 showing on the clock in the second quarter. QB Jacob Saetre hit Andrew Witt with an 11-yard TD pass with 5:32 left in the quarter, and then hit Brausen for a 73-yard scoring play with 1:46 in the first half.

Coach Morgan said the Broncos line was probably the key factor for the hosts' breakout in the second quarter.

"They are just big, and eventually they wear people out," Morgan said.

After the break, Brausen scored on a short run with less than three minutes gone in the half, and Andrew Witt scored the last TD with 4:40 left in the third quarter on a two-yard grinder.

Colfax offense advanced over the 50-yard mark late in the quarter and then lost the ball on an interception.

In the top of the fourth quarter, Ben Ahmann broke out for a 38-yard run, but that Colfax threat ended with an end-zone interception by Bronco Payton Kiel.

The Broncos finished with 297 yards of offense compared to 140 for Colfax.

Gfeller finished with a 7-14 passing night for 41 yards and two interceptions. Saetre hit just four of 11 passing attempts for the Broncos and also gave up two interceptions.

Brausen rolled up 105 yards on 12 carries for an 8.8-yard average.