Have we met before?
Three seasons, three Tumwater-Archbishop Murphy playoff football games. The Thunderbirds won the 2010 title game (34-14) before the Wildcats returned the favor in the first round last season (41-6). Since last year, ATM has gone through three coaching changes. “The last two weeks, they’ve gone back to being a wing-T team,” Tumwater coach Sid Otton said.
Three-quarters empty
Since its season-opening 31-24 win over Trinity High (Texas), the Bellevue Wolverines (11-0) have not allowed a touchdown in the first three quarters in any of its subsequent 10 games – including six wins that ended in shutouts. In fact, the only scoring against Bellevue came on first-half field goals by Mount Si and Liberty.
Tough in the trenches
Like power-running football? Then head down to Ingersoll Stadium on Saturday where fifth-ranked Capital plays host to Burlington-Edison in a 2A quarterfinal. And the game clock will keep running if the Cougars rely on tailback Kai Van Sickle (51 rushes, 322 yards, six TDs last week) and the Tigers run Tyler Morrison (23 rushes, 211 yards, two TDs).
Southwest sweep
Last week, No. 1 King’s went to Southwest Washington regular-season champion Hoquiam and got three Billy Green-led second-half touchdown drives to put away the Grizzlies, 28-13. Now the Knights travel to SWW 1A powerhouse Montesano, which has made the state semifinals 10 times since 1983 – and won 1A titles in 1983 and 1994.
Thinking alike
Gordon Elliott and Sean Carty have worked a few football camps together. So a couple years ago, when Carty was looking to change the Mead offense, he adopted what his coaching friend from Auburn does – the jet-sweep, double-wing attack. “Everyone has their own way of doing it,” Elliott said. The two teams face off Saturday in the 4A quarterfinals.
todd.milles@ thenewstribune.com
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.