Colfax shuts down Kettle Falls

COLFAX - The Colfax Bulldogs are now 2-0 on the season under new head coach Dave Cofer after defeating the Kettle Falls Bulldogs, 33-0, on Friday, Sept. 13.

Colfax took advantage of a few Kettle Falls mistakes and the defense rarely faltered in the shutout.

"Hats off to the way (defensive coordinator) Jason Cooper gets these guys prepared and ready to go," Colfax Head Coach Dave Cofer said. "He was one of the biggest coaches I wanted to retain just from an experience standpoint. He makes my job a lot easier."

Colfax sophomore quarterback Ryker Reed opened the scoring with a 40-yard touchdown run. It would be his first of three touchdowns in the first half.

With Kettle Falls facing a third-and-long, Colfax senior defensive back Dillion Gassenberg sacked the quarterback, forcing Kettle Falls to punt.

On the first offensive play for Colfax, Kettle Falls sophomore Cooper McKern caught an interception. The Colfax defense held strong, forcing Kettle Falls to punt. Colfax was driving down the field to end the first quarter ahead, 6-0.

On the first play of the second quarter, the Colfax offense fumbled and Kettle Falls recovered, stifling the Colfax's advance, at least for the moment. Again, the Colfax defense held strong, forcing Kettle Falls to punt again.

"I was really proud of our defensive effort," Cofer said. "It kind of made our mistakes on offense not so costly. When you have a defense like that, things go well."

Reed scored his second touchdown of the game on a 32-yard run. With junior kicker Tyler Hough succeeding on the PAT, Colfax led, 13-0.

With 3:33 left in the first half, Reed punched in a 10-yard touchdown run to give Colfax a 20-0 advantage, which would be the halftime score.

"(Reed is) just a natural," Cofer said. "He'll take a broken play and make something happen. I thought he did a nice job this week on improving his patience. He was very patient in the running game and that allowed him to get out and move.

"I think that first touchdown he had really set the tone for us the rest of the game. He's an energetic guy and that's why he's a leader. He played a heck of a game."

Late in the third quarter, Colfax junior defensive lineman Grant Opitz, who was celebrating his birthday on the day of the game, caught an interception and ran the ball to the Kettle Falls 12-yard line.

On the next drive, Colfax senior running back John Largent scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to give Colfax a 27-0 lead.

"Opitz, man, to get that interception ... I don't think I've seen that in all my years coaching," Cofer said. "If he would have found a way to get into the end zone, I think I would have tackled him on the field. That would have made an all-time highlight tape. That was great."

With two seconds left in the third quarter, Opitz moved in to tackle a Kettle Falls Runner and knocked the ball loose, grabbed it and forced another turnover.

"I just took it and the first thing I thought was to just get upfield," Opitz said. "We were well-prepared for this game. We were going to come out here and take it to them."

The final score came when the Colfax defense held up a Kettle Falls runner and senior defensive back Layne Johnston grabbed the ball and ran in for a 30-yard touchdown.

The Colfax defense held strong for the final time, and got the ball back for a final drive. With 1:30 left in the game, Colfax got a first down at the 3-yard line, but instead of running up the score, decided to kneel and run out the clock for the 33-0 victory.

Next up for the Bulldogs will be the Homecoming game against Asotin at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20. With all the festivities surrounding Homecoming, Opitz said it's fun, but just another game.

"We have to prepare this week, then go out and take it to them on Friday," Opitz said.