5 takeaways from the high school football state semifinals
The final two South Sound teams remaining endured season-ending losses, the longest active winning streak in the nation came to an end, and four title games will feature teams from the same league.
Here are five takeaways from the high school football state semifinals.
1. South Sound misses out
For the second time in three years, more than 60 football programs that play in the South Sound came up short of an appearance in a state championship game.
Puyallup, which was the No. 5 seed in Class 4A, and Fife, the No. 7 seed in 2A, both lost in Saturday’s semifinal round. The two local programs were the final two from the West Central District vying for a spot in the Tacoma Dome.
The Vikings, who won back-to-back undefeated 4A SPSL titles, lost a late lead and dropped their semifinal to top-seeded Union, 35-28, in Vancouver.
Fife, the 2A SPSL champion, hosted third-seeded Lynden at Sparks Stadium, but lost in a 31-0 shutout in its first-ever appearance in the semifinals.
With Puyallup (11-2) and Fife (11-2) being eliminated the WCD is the only district in western Washington that will not be represented in the finals this year. Districts 1 and 2 each pushed four teams through, and District 4 has four teams in the finals.
On the eastern side of the state, District 7 is the only district with representation, sending four teams. Schools from Districts 5, 6, 8 and 9 have all been knocked out.
Bellarmine Prep, Tumwater and Cascade Christian are the only South Sound teams to appear in a title game in more than a decade.
Tumwater has appeared most frequently — advancing to the 2A championship game five times in the past nine seasons — but has lost four in a row to Hockinson (2017), Prosser (2015) and Lynden (2013 and 2012).
The T-Birds’ most recent title win came against Archbishop Murphy in 2010, under Sid Otton, who remains the all-time winningest high school football coach in state history.
Cascade Christian is the most recent winner from the South Sound, edging Colville for the 1A title in 2014 under coach Randy Davis, who is now at Orting. The Cougars also appeared in the championship game in 2011, 2009 and 2008.
Bellarmine Prep made one appearance in the 4A title game in 2012, but lost to Skyline.
Those three South Sound programs combined for a string of eight consecutive seasons a local advanced to a title game, but the streak ended in 2016.
Before Tumwater’s win in 2010, Kentwood’s back-to-back 4A titles in 2001-02 under Tom Ingles are the most recent titles for a South Sound program.
2. Colville ends Royal’s streak
Royal, which has won the past three 1A state titles, hadn’t lost a game since 2014 — until Saturday.
In one of the biggest upsets in state tournament history, Colville, which has now won 10 consecutive games since dropping its first two to begin the season, ended a much longer winning streak with a 31-28 win over the Knights.
Before Saturday’s loss at Lions Field in Moses Lake, Royal had won 53 games in a row, which was tied with Caledonia of Minnesota for the longest active streak in the nation. Caledonia won its state title game Friday, and is now alone atop the national chart with 54 consecutive wins.
Interestingly, Royal’s most recent loss before Saturday’s was also against Colville. The Indians ended the Knights’ season then, too, at the same location in the 1A quarterfinals on Nov. 22, 2014.
Royal’s mark of 53 consecutive wins is the longest in state history. The Knights passed Toledo (which had 48 straight wins between 1965-70) earlier this season.
Bellevue had a longer streak, winning 67 games between 2010-14 — and at one time held the longest active streak in the nation — but many of its wins during that span have been vacated.
Last year, the WIAA announced it would strip Bellevue of all playoff results from the 2012-2014 — including state titles in 2012 and 2013 — due to recruiting and out-of-season coaching violations.
3. League opponents battle again
For the first time in state tournament history, in the six-classification setup or otherwise, four of the championship games will feature teams that play in the same league.
In 3A, Eastside Catholic and O’Dea, which finished first and second in the 3A Metro League Mountain, will face each other at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Tacoma Dome.
Eastside Catholic, which is the top-ranked team in the state in any classification, won its regular-season meeting against the Fighting Irish, 31-13.
Newport and Colville, which both play in the 1A Northeast League, will play at 10 a.m. Saturday. Colville won the league with an undefeated run, and Newport’s only league loss was to the Indians, 28-7, in October.
Kalama and Napavine, which are both members of the 2B Central League, though they play in different divisions, will meet at 4 p.m. Friday. Kalama won the earlier meeting between these two programs, 20-13, in September.
And, in the eight-man bracket, 1B Northeast League powers Almira-Coulee-Hartline and Odessa will battle at 4 p.m. Saturday. Odessa routed ACH, 56-22, in October and won an undefeated league title.
4. Four for the repeat?
Four teams that will play for state titles Friday and Saturday were in the Tacoma Dome a year ago.
O’Dea routed another 3A Metro League opponent, Rainier Beach, 38-11 for the 3A title in 2017. The title was the fourth state title for the Irish under longtime coach Monte Kohler.
In 2A, Hockinson won its first state championship by upending Tumwater, 35-22.
Kalama is back for a chance at another 2B title after the Chinooks edged Liberty of Spangle, 28-27, in 2017 for their first title since 1992.
And, Almira-Coulee-Hartline will look to defend its 1B title. The Warriors topped Sunnyside Christian, 84-60, last year.
Hockinson, a No. 1 seed, and Kalama, a No. 2 seed, are the only two defending champions favored to win it all again. O’Dea and Almira-Coulee-Hartline are both seeded below their opponents.
5. How’d the seeding committees do?
Did the WIAA seeding committees, in their inaugural year, put together a better bracket than the old system would have? You be the judge.
A main objective of the committees was to make sure the top four teams in each classification would end up in the semifinals, and, hopefully, the top two would play in the Tacoma Dome.
Two top seeds — Royal in 1A and Adna in 2B — lost in last weekend’s semifinals, but the other four will play for state titles.
In 4A, the No. 1, 2, 3 and 5 seeds made it through to the final four, with No. 1 Union and No. 3 Lake Stevens set to play in the title game.
Three seeding upsets have occurred in the 4A bracket — when No. 9 Bothell beat No. 8 Chiawana in the opening round, when No. 5 Puyallup beat No. 4 Mount Si in the quarterfinals, and when No. 3 Lake Stevens beat No. 2 Woodinville in the semifinals.
In 3A, the No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds all advanced to the semifinals, and No. 1 Eastside Catholic and No. 2 O’Dea will play for the championship.
Two seeding upsets have occurred in the 3A bracket — when No. 11 Rainier Beach beat No. 6 Lincoln in the opening round, and when No. 12 Yelm beat No. 5 Lakes in the opening round.
In 2A, the No. 1, 3, 4 and 7 seeds made the semifinals, with No. 3 Lynden and No. 1 Hockinson slated for a championship showdown.
Three seeding upsets have occurred in the 2A bracket — when No. 12 Ellensburg beat No. 5 West Valley of Spokane in the opening round, when No. 9 Steilacoom beat No. 8 Sequim in the opening round and when No. 7 Fife beat No. 2 Black Hills in the quarterfinals.
In 1A, the No. 1, 5, 6 and 10 seeds advanced to the semifinals, and No. 10 Newport and No. 5 Colville advanced to the final. There have been six seeding upsets in the 1A bracket — the most of any classification.
In 2B, the No. 1, 2, 4 and 6 seeds made the semifinals, with No. 2 Kalama and No. 4 Napavine advancing to the title game. The 1A bracket has had three seeding upsets.
In 1B, the No. 1, 2, 3 and 5 seeds advanced to the quarterfinals, and No. 1 Odessa and No. 2 Almira-Coulee-Hartline will play for the title. There was one seeding upset in the eight-man bracket.
This story was originally published November 25, 2018 at 5:28 PM.
