Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
A rousing finish sends Colton, Pomeroy and Sunnyside Christian into the 1B football playoffs.
Friday's matchups – which will lead to the final-eight state 1B brackets – include Colton vs. Inchelium, Pomeroy vs. Almira/Coulee/Hartline and Sunnyside Christian vs. Touchet.
Colton 34,
Touchet 30
Playing at home last Thursday night, Nov. 3, Colton had to win to make the playoffs.
They delivered, beating Touchet to finish the regular season at 7-3 (4-2 in league).
Quarterback Brady Chadwick went 36-for-51 for 449 yards while Grant Kinzer caught 17 passes for 222 yards. Cameron Bean had 11 catches and Luke Vining five.
A 62-yard touchdown play from Chadwick to Kinzer with 8:42 remaining gave Colton its final lead, 34-30. The Wildcats stopped Touchet on downs on their next possesssion followed by an interception by sophomore Vining to seal the game.
Colton had not beaten Touchet since 2010.
“It was a great game,” said coach Clark Vining. “We kind of clawed our way back.”
With the win, Colton (7-3, 3-2 league) took the third seed from the Southeast 1B entering the playoffs. Unbeaten Sunnyside Christian is No. 1 followed by Pomeroy at No. 2.
Colton will play Inchelium at neutral-site Kettle Falls Friday at 7 p.m.
“I think we're playing good football at the right time,” said Vining.
Sunnyside Christian 44, Garfield/Palouse 40
The fourth quarter included a lost fumble, a recovered onside kick by the opponent and an interception to end Garfield/Palouse's valiant bid to upset Sunnyside Christian.
The Knights trailed 40-20 at the start of the fourth.
Gar/Pal drove, and quarterback Evan Weagraff took the ball on an option play, reached the first down but fumbled.
Sunnyside Christian took over, and the Vikings defense, which held tough through three quarters – much of it without Travis Knauff, who went down in the second with a knee injury – began to fray. Aside from Knauff, defensive back Cameron Springstead only played offense after separating his shoulder in the second quarter.
“We were just kind of hanging in there somehow on defense,” said Gar/Pal coach Will Woltering.
Later in the fourth quarter, Sunnyside Christian put together a 99-yard drive, and in the end, matched the number of touchdowns Gar/Pal scored in the game. The Knights converted two more two-point conversions.
“All in all, I was happy with the way our kids played,” said Woltering. “I honestly thought we were going to win the football game.”
The Vikings season ended at 2:50 a.m. when the bus pulled back up to the high school in Palouse.
Springstead carried the ball 25 times for 177 yards and three touchdowns. He scored twice more on screen passes from Weagraff, who went 8-for-15 for 185 yards and three touchdowns. On the ground, he ran for 131 yards on 17 carries.
Sunnyside Christian remains unbeaten, entering the playoffs with the No. 1 seed of the Southeast 1B league. A Garfield/Palouse win would have forced a tie-breaker with Pomeroy and Colton.
“Somebody has to stay home,” Woltering said.
Pomeroy 86, St. John/Endicott 18
The Eagles concluded their season with an 86-18 loss at Pomeroy Nov. 3.
Touchdowns were scored by Justin Fox, Reagan Harrison and Hunter Gingras while coach Ken Gering praised “top shelf” work from freshman lineman Jonathan Logan and Brady Pitts.
Seniors finishing their careers for S.J.E. are Harrison, Wyatt “The Tank” Willson, Terell Webb and Zach Williams. The Eagles finished 0-8 on the year.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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