Football players start early practice grind

In his pre-season letter to the players, Coach Mike Morgan planted “one last thought” for players to consider before they hit the practice grind for the first time Wednesday.

Morgan noted the Bulldogs last year had five games where they won or lost by a single touchdown.

“Our goal is to win the games we won last year and win the games where we got beat last year,” Morgan commented.

Colfax last year finished up with a 4-5 overall record and one win short of getting into the state 2B playoff grid.

Under the new format with Chewelah dropping down to the 2B division, the NE split into north and south divisions for the season run. The two sides played a round of league games plus a variety on non-league games. The non-leaguers contrasted with previous full NE campaigns which left no dates for non-leaguers and the season played out.

In the newly-designated south side division, the Bulldogs rolled 2-2 in the campaign. They defeated Lind/Ritzville/Sprague and Liberty, but lost to Asotin and Chewelah.

The south side finish left them in the number-three slot for the crossover with Chewelah as the foe from the north side.

The Cougars, who dropped down from the A division, shut out Colfax 35-0 in a matchup of teams who at one time were foes in the NE-A division.

Coach Morgan noted the NE has changed again this year with Springdale and Wilbur-Creston opting out of the league. The two north side teams have elected to play independent schedules against eight-man schools.

That will leave four teams in the NE north side and the same five teams on the NE south side.

Another WIAA count and classification breakout is set for next year, and Morgan anticipates the NE will go back to one league, possibly with eight schools.

That would again limit the non-league bookings which hit the league last year and again this year.

Colfax and Liberty will start the season with a doubleheader date against Napavine and Wahkiakum. The Lancers and Bulldogs made the trip to the southeast corner of the state last year, and the two SE teams will travel here with game day set for Friday, Sept. 6, on the Lancers’ field. Colfax will play a rematch with Wahkiakum at 3:30 and the Liberty-Napavine game will follow.

The double card was originally set for Saturday, Sept. 7, however that date conflicted with the Junior Market stock sale day at the Palouse Empire Fair.

Coach Morgan Wednesday anticipated a turnout of 30 players with seven in each of the senior and junior classes.

Morgan noted many of the upper class players logged a lot of time on the field last year and will return with that experience.

“They are a pretty cohesive group,” he noted.

The sophomore and freshmen contingents each have eight grid recruits.

Last year the Bulldog jayvees rolled out an undefeated record, and that bodes well when things crank up this year.

Coach Morgan noted practice sessions around the state this year all start Aug. 21 under a new WIAA mandate.

The Aug. 21 start is approximately a week later than previous launches for the team.

With this year’s late harvest, some of the Bulldogs will not be able to make the scene for the early practice sessions.

“Their families need them to help get the job done, and we’re not going to get in the way of that,” Morgan said.

Colfax was set to have two-a-day practices Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 3 to 8 p.m. with a one-hour film break in the middle.

Saturday will be the first full-pad practice beginning at 6:45 a.m. It will end at noon, and a family/team barbecue will follow at 12:30 p.m. in the JES cafeteria.

First action for the team will be the league jamboree at Ritzville next Friday, Aug. 30, and that will be followed by the Sept. 6 doublebill at Liberty against Wahkiakum.