Jordan Nailon for BlastZoneMedia.com / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / New Coach Alert

There will be no need for the new head coach of R.A. Long football to relocate, but in true lumber town fashion he will need to utilize a bridge to get to work in The Planned City.

On Monday the powers that be at R.A. Long High School announced Eric Boswell as the next head coach of the program, wrapping up a four month long search for the right candidate. Boswell has previously served as head coach at three high schools in the region, and was an assistant coach with Kelso as recently as last fall.

“I think there’s a lot of good things about him,” RAL athletic director DeWayne McCabe said. “We had a pretty good group of candidates that applied and he had an impressive resume. He interviewed really well, came super prepared, and had everything dialed in.”

Boswell will take over for Jon Barker, who resigned as head coach after six seasons at the helm for the Lumberjacks. He final campaign came and went without a win to show for the effort.

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Jordan Nailon for BlastZoneMedia.com / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / Offseason Report

The recent offseason battle between the 2A Greater St. Helens League and the 2A Evergreen Conference reached its seemingly predetermined conclusion on Thursday, and as a result prep football in Southwest Washington is set to look much different for at least the next two years.

This week the WIAA District Directors denied an appeal by the 2A GSHL, moving a forced merger between the GSHL and the EvCo for football one step closer to the goal line. Reading the tea leaves, the Greater St. Helens League has elected not to appeal to the WIAA directly and will instead put its efforts into finding a palatable solution for all 12 teams involved.

“The GSHL will not be appealing the decision at the next level with the WIAA Executive Board,” noted a press release from 2A GSHL president, and Ridgefield athletic director, Brynan Shipley. “We will move forward by working collaboratively with the EVCO to sort out scheduling details and postseason pathways.”

The 2A Greater St. Helens League voted on the proposed merger earlier this month, with the plan failing 8-0. But the 2A Evergreen Conference appealed that vote to the powers that be with District IV and the proposal was subsequently passed.

“They denied our appeal and then we decided as a league not to appeal to the WIAA,” R.A. Long athletic director DeWayne McCabe said. “Essentially that’s our way of saying enough is enough, because we feel that there’s a very small likelihood that the WIAA would take our side at this point.”

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media / blastzonews@gmail.com

Prep Football / Offseason Report

Despite the declarations of Tumwater football the 2A Evergreen Conference and its assorted boosters, the future of football in Southwest Washington is not yet written in stone.

As it turns out, this is not some Week 6 matchup for the T-Birds where nothing will stand in there way. Rather, this is a bitter offseason battle that’s moved from the gridiron to the boardroom.

Last week Tumwater head coach Willie Garrow stoked the hot stoves in the world of 2A football in Washington when he went against a gentleman’s gag order and leaked word of the possible merger between the 2A Greater St. Helens League and the 2A Evergreen Conference. That story declared that the 2A GSHL and 2A EvCo would be joining forces, for football only, for the next two years.

The T-Birds, and the other three teams in the 2A EvCo, promptly went into victory formation, declaring it a win for everyone involved.

But less than 24-hours after that story broke, the 2A GSHL struck back when it announced its decision to appeal the merger it never wanted to be a part of in the first place.

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / Realignment

Local high school football fans are waking up and saying goodbye to the old 2A Greater St. Helens League after news broke overnight that big changes are coming to the gridiron next fall. According to The Tacoma News Tribune, the 2A Evergreen Conference and the 2A GSHL are set to merge next season, but it was not a mutual decision.

The News Tribune story quotes Tumwater head coach Willie Garrow on the issue, but local coaches and athletic directors noted there is currently a gag order on the matter and declined to provide comment or context until the dust has settled.

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / Report

HUSKY STADIUM – It wasn’t supposed to end like this.

Toledo had already paid its penance to the football gods nearly 30 years ago, suffering a blowout loss in the program’s only other state championship appearance. So when the Riverhawks entered the 2B title tilt undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the state, everyone from the old mayor in his overalls to members of that 1996 State runner-up team showed up to the gridiron on Montlake with visions of the gold trophy dancing in their heads.

And when Toledo raced out to a 14-0 in the first quarter, everyone in black and red began to feel a certain way. Not that they said it out loud. They just made eyes at one another – saying the thing that everyone was thinking while still leaving it unspoken.

The Toledo Riverhawks were going to be the State champions, and the town’s decades old wounds were set to be healed.
Except they weren’t.

Instead, an unimaginable second half collapse left Toledo holding the little trophy once again after a 47-34 loss to Tri-Cities Prep, Saturday, at Husky Stadium.

And instead of a parade all the way from Seattle to South Lewis County, the day ended with head coach Mike Christensen standing in front of the Toledo fans in the grandest of stands to say two things: Thank you, and I’m sorry.

Christensen, who was a member of the 1996 Toledo team that lost 70-0 to Royal, knows all too well the heartache that comes with a loss in the championship game. And if losing in a blowout in the title tilt was bad, losing a game your team seemed destined to win somehow felt even worse.

“You want it so bad. You want it for your kids and you want it for the town. Everyone that you grew up with and you idolized and then you don’t have the success. You don’t do it. You don’t accomplish it. It hurts. Obviously somebody wins and somebody loses, but you push and you push and you push and you want that storybook ending and it doesn’t happen sometimes. It’s hard. It’s tough. You just feel like you let everybody down.”

Read more

Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / State Championship Preview

It would be easy to look at the No.1 ranked and undefeated Toledo football team and assume that things have gone perfectly this season, and entirely according to plan. But to make that assumption would be both foolish and a disservice to the work going on behind the scenes.

Let’s take Thanksgiving Day for example. It’s a day where only four prep teams (per classification) across the state of Washington are still practicing on the gridiron, and it has long been considered an honor to have earned the right to sacrifice time with family in order to put in some more work with the boys. But that doesn’t mean the Toledo boys had a particularly good time while they were there.

To the contrary, Toledo head coach Mike Christensen bemoaned his team’s effort and attention to detail in the days leading up to last week’s semifinal affair with Okanogan. That practice ended early, but not before extra conditioning and a challenge to be better the next day.

And if you just look at the final score from last Saturday, when the Riverhawks dispatched the two-time defending State champion Bulldogs 24-8 at Laulainen Stadium in Kelso, then you might be inclined to believe that the Cheese Town gang learned all of its lessons and heard everything the coaching staff had to throw at them.

But once again, you’d be mistaken.

“I think our Friday practice was awesome, but I don’t know. Probably not,” Christensen said. “As a coach you’re always telling kids stuff and they’re going to be themselves. That’s kind of what these guys are. They love to piss me off and push me until I gotta yell at them, and then we all laugh about it.”

And to be sure, that dynamic is part of the charm for this historic Toledo squad, which is now just hours away from the school’s first appearance in a State championship football game since 1996.

“We talk about brotherhood, we talk about a family, and this is a family. Brothers piss each other off. Kids piss parents off. And that’s what this is,” Christensen said. “If I’m not getting annoyed by them then something’s wrong with our practice. So, they’re doing exactly what close groups do. You get get annoyed with each other. You spend a lot of time with each other. And you love each other and you defend each other until the end.”

And for the seniors on this year’s team, the end is near. The only question is if it will be the sort of finale you find in storybooks.

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Josh Kirshenbaum special to Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / History

The area has seen 11 state champions in football since the WIAA introduced state tournaments in 1973. (Oregon introduced state tournaments in 1940, but neither area Oregon school made a title game until Rainier in 1983.) Here’s how each Blast Zone area team won its crown:

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / All-League

With just one game remaining on the Blast Zone Media football docket this fall it’s time to release the full slate of All-League lists.

Toledo is still undefeated and will play for a State championship on Saturday at Husky Stadium. Wahkiakum and Clatskanie also kept perfect records intact on the way to league titles and State playoff runs, while Kelso completed an unblemished run in 3A GSHL competition to snare a league championship in the first year under the direction of head coach Darin Gardner.

Subscribe and keep scrolling to find out which local players were selected as the best of the best in their respective leagues.

Read more

Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

SID OTTON FIELD — For the first time since 1996 the Toledo football team will be playing until the final week of the season. The No. 1 ranked and undefeated Riverhawks guaranteed at least that much with a 24-8 win over No. 5 Okanogan, Saturday, at Tumwater Stadium in the 2B State semifinals.

The Bulldogs were big , and strong, and fast, and they got off the bus in western Washington having won the previous two State championship games, while having played in the last three. And none of that mattered much at all to Toledo. After a short adjustment period early on, the Riverhawks went on to assert their dominance in convincing fashion.

“Their quarterback is good… and they have good receivers so that’s always a little bit scary,” Toledo head coach Mike Christensen said. “The fact that we can have faith in our guys to kind of cover one-on-one every once in a while really puts us in a good situation.”

It wasn’t easy though. In fact, the first 21 minutes of the contest were played almost entirely between the 35-yard lines, with neither team able to sustain an offensive drive. But Toledo was simply waiting out its opponent, and just before halftime the Riverhawks were able to post a pair of scores in just over two minutes to seize the momentum for good.

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / Report

The Wahkiakum football team was 25 minutes away from clinching a spot in the 1B State championship game. With an undefeated record and a lead after one quarter on Saturday the Mules seemed destined to keep right on rolling into the next round.

But that lead, and that unblemished record, both expired in a 36-18 loss on the road to Liberty Christian in an 8-man semifinal affair at Fran Rish Stadium in Richland.

The Patriots’ roster is both deep and skilled, and with home field advantage in their back pocket they proved to be too much for Wahkiakum to handle. And it’s safe to assume that the school all of Wahkiakum County is now calling Life Christian College made an impression on their guests.

“Any time you’ve got 43 kids on your roster playing 1B football I think it’s a little… I don’t even know how to explain it. That’s insane to me,” Wahkiakum head coach Ryan Lorenzo said. “Every position was fast. Every position was athletic. Every position was big… and when they switched to offense from defense, four or five new dudes came on who were just as good.”

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Gridiron Grump special to Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / Grumblings

I’ve had plenty of time to lounge around and gestate in recent days thanks to our national recess from reality otherwise known as Thanksgiving. And you’re not going to believe this but the more I sit and ponder, especially on a full stomach that was not assisted by half-priced concession stand grub, the more my mind comes into focus and the more the things that make me grumpy begin to crystalize like drippings at the bottom of the bird baking pan.

Speaking of the bottom of the pan, it makes me grumpy when people make their gravy without putting the turkey neck and assorted innards to work. Heck, most of you still get your turkeys in shrink-wrap sack at the store and all those goodies have been pre-plucked and pre-scooped with their giblets and other assorted delicacies placed in a bag and jammed up inside your delicious dead bird for ease of access. It’s honestly an insult to the ghost of John Madden to do anything but savor every single morsel of these great gobblers.

Turkeys – they’re just like the rich; The president can’t pardon them all, so it’s our duty to eat them.

You know what else makes me grumpy? True home games for the State semifinals. What in the wide world of Tom Foolery are we doing here WIAA? It’s the penultimate round of the playoffs and we’ve got teams playing in the same stadiums where they kicked off the season and later hosted their homecomings.

For instance, today you’ll have Tumwater hosting East Valley (Spokane) at Tumwater Stadium, where the Red Devils will have to walk through the T-Birds wall of fame and past their absurd collection of State trophies. And since Okanogan threw a tissy-fit about being asked to play in Kelso at Laulainen Stadium, you can watch undefeated Toledo “host” the Bulldogs in Tumwater at noon as the undercard to the day’s doubleheader.

Meanwhile, undefeated Wahkiakum had to trek all the way across the mountains and then some in order to play Liberty Christian in Richland. Yes, that counts as a home game for the Patriots who have a loss on their record while the unblemished Mules are forced to fend for themselves out on the road on enemy turf for the biggest game the program’s played in more than two decades.

I will say that the WIAA has done a fine job upgrading the final site to Husky Stadium, but the semifinals could use a little more pomp and circumstance – or at least a true neutral site for ever team (and its fans!) that have managed to make it this far. However, if you’re just a fan of Southwest Washington football in general, no matter the colors on the helmet, be sure to stick around after the Wahkiakum game to watch No. 7 Adna take on No. 3 Tri-Cities Prep in the 2B semifinals at Fran Rish Stadium.

It may surprise you to learn that, unlike my penchant for counterfeit goods and false promises, I do love me some real cranberries. Maybe that’s from my bygone days hitchhiking off the Long Beach Peninsula after the ol’ Winnebago broke down more than a few years ago. The only thing that liked those sour crimson pods more than me were the spiders swimming in the flooded bog on harvest day and the black bears that would bumble into the bog in the days before the great gathering began. But as juicy as a fresh cooked bowl of cranberries can be, I still feel better when there’s at least one jiggling saucer of gelatinous pink goo that still wears the curves of the can on its sleeve.

I’ve got to be honest with you again, and you know I loathe to do that , but I don’t like coaches who angrily toss around the names of other coaches (who aren’t even present!) in order to insult the coach standing directly in front of them. I could be more specific, but I won’t. If you were anywhere within shouting distance of the near sideline at Laulainen Stadium last Saturday night then you probably already know. But let me just put it to you like this – let he who has not allowed his big dogs to have seconds under the table cast the first stone. They say history is written by the victors, but I can tell you for a fact that losers have a much longer memory.

Speaking of which, I don’t like politics at the dinner table – unless they’re my own. In which case, they just make me grumpy, which of course is actually my happy place. And I don’t approve of post-meal naps on the couch at somebody else’s abode unless it’s me doing the napping. Otherwise, quit all your snoring and move over so The Grump can elbow in and get to the real work of dissecting each NFL moment that’s broadcast across the airwaves and into your homes each holiday.

Which reminds me – back in my day it seemed the Cowboys were always beating the Washington REDACTEDS on Thanksgiving Day. But these days the REDACTEDS don’t even exist, let alone have a seat at the table. I won’t tell you how I feel about the new world, or the new world order in general, but I’ll let you guess how the entire town of Toledo feels about it.

I don’t know how Naselle feels about much, but I do know the Comets were a blast to watch this season and it made me sad to say goodbye last week. Coach McNulty’s crew played Almira-Coulee-Hartline in the quarterfinals last week for their sixth matchup since 2016. After a season-ending loss the Comets’ record in those contests now stands at just 2-4, with wins in 2019 (70-44) and 2022 (64-6). I’m not grumpy that the Comets have burned out, but it does make me my eyes water a bit that there will be one less local shooting star to twinkle in the crisp late autumn skies this week. Naselle fans can take solace knowing that the only two teams to beat their Comets this season could feasibly meet up in the State title game. But considering one of those teams is their archival from Wahkiakum on the other side of Km Mountain, that’s probably like water on the deep fried turkey grease fire — it only makes things worse.

In closing, it makes me grumpy when folks don’t even know about Alice’s Restaurant, let along understand its true significance. Not only is Alro Guthrie’s great ramble the greatest Thanksgiving Day soundtrack this side of the NFL intro theme song, it is perhaps the most important protest song of our time. No, it’s not about Alice… or her restaurant. So if you see me down at the end of the Group W bench someday soon, just remember that if they come for me in the night they’ll be back to take you away in the morning. But if we all stand up and sing at the top of our lungs, they just might think it’s a movement.

And while I’m thinking about it, it makes me grumpy that the dump is closed on Thanksgiving.

Now let me put aside these rakes and shovels and other implements of destruction so we can get on with prognosticating for Week 13.

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / Semifinal Preview

The Riverhawks have heard all the slander and taken everyone’s best shot week in and week out, and every step of the way they’ve replied emphatically. So it’s not surprising that at least a few feelings have been hurt on the way to an 11-0 record, a No. 1 ranking, and a spot in the 2B State football semifinals.

Those ruffled feathers were most apparent at the end of last week’s 42-0 shutout of No. 8 Napavine at Laulainen Stadium, which included a short rushing touchdown by Carter Swofford as time expired. A heated conversation ensued between members of each coaching staff at the end of the handshake line. The accusations and insults were swift and full-throated from the Tigers’ side in the shadow of their season-ending loss. Conversely, the explanation was viciously succinct from the Riverhawks in the light of their season-extending victory.

“We tried not to score at the end, but Eli (Weeks) got horse-collared (on the second-to-last-play) and I don’t know,” Toledo head coach Mike Christensen said. “I get why they’re upset. But I think our guys have a right to be upset, too. And that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

It was the first time Toledo has defeated Napavine since 2015, and just its second victory over the Tigers since dropping down to the 2B ranks. The victory also served as redemption for the Riverhawks, who had been eliminated by Napavine four times at the state tournament over that same span.

And it certainly didn’t help that someone with access to orange and black paint had made their way over to Toledo High School the night before quarterfinal matchup and painted – let’s call them specific and vulgar – phrases that called out at least one Riverhawk by name. Add it all up, and it’s obvious the Tigers managed to wake whatever part may have still been sleeping in the Cheese Town giants.

“That’s what a little bit of that there at the end was… We scored on them at the end and their coaches were pissed, and they had a right to be,” Christensen explained. “But the stuff they wrote on our rock was really personal and inappropriate, I felt. I know that it’s a bunch of kids out here playing, but what they wrote about our guys was unacceptable…. So that’s a little bit about what the end was like.”

Anyway, the Riverhawks haven’t been concerned about any of that since they walked off Schroeder Field with their 11th straight victory last Saturday. Now that they’ve snapped a pesky four-game losing streak in quarterfinal affairs dating back to 2018, the ‘Hawks have bigger fish to fry.

Next up for Toledo is a date with No. 5 ranked Okanogan in the 2B State semifinals, but Toledo fans will have to travel to Tumwater for the season’s final “home” game.

“I feel good. We’ve got athletes at every position and as long as we stay healthy I think I feel good about what we can do offensively,” Christensen said.

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / Semifinal Preview

OCEAN BEACH HIGHWAY – The Wahkiakum Mules could have had an easier path to the State title game, but it’s not their fault. It’s just that an undefeated run through the regular season, with a 44-point win over a Top-6 team, wasn’t enough to convince the WIAA seeding committee that the kids from Wa-Ki-Hi were worthy of a Top-2 slot.

Now the Mules have to go on the road to play No. 2 ranked Liberty Christian to earn a spot in the State championship game, and to prove wrong the powers that be in the process. If you’ve seen Wahkiakum up close lately, you’ve got to like its chances.

Wahkiakum is now 11-0 for the first time since 2004, which is also the last season it qualified for the semifinals. The Mules have also won 17 of their last 18 games, and have generally been making themselves right at home after joining the world of 8-man football in the 1B ranks last season.

And all of Wahkiakum County is putting its weight behind these Mules in their big push before the penultimate game on the State docket.

“We got a police escort out of town and had a little parade this morning that was kind of impromptu,” Lorenzo said as the bus rolled through Longview on its way over the mountains on Friday. “I think that was an eye opener for them that this is important to their community and important to their town.”

It’s just a shame most of those home fans won’t be able to watch the semifinals like they would have if the Mules had been given a Top-2 spot and another “home” game at Schroder Field in Kelso.

Maybe the seeding committee is full of history buffs? And if that’s true then they know that Wahkiakum has lost five straight semifinal contests dating back to 1999, and six of seven semifinal games since 1991.

• 2004 lost to Lind-Ritzville

• 2003 lost to DeSales

• 2002 lost to Lind-Ritzville

• 2000 lost to Ritzville (OT)

• 1999 lost to Mossyrock

• 1992 won vs. Raymond

• 1991 lost to Rainier

A win on Saturday against would put the Mules into their second-ever State title game, with their first ending in a 27-0 defeat to Liberty (Spangle) in 1992. But this bunch of Beasts of Burden believe they’ve got what it takes to get all the way to the top of the mountain, regardless of where they play this week.

But first, they were headed to Texas Roadhouse for a big pregame dinner courtesy of the Mules’ unofficial booster club.

“We’ll have them eat good and get fat and happy and tired and then we’ll take them back to the hotel and make them go to sleep,” Lorenzo said. “We’re going to try to make winning the new tradition.”

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / Report

The Naselle Comets entered this season with a roster full of question marks and a desire to “surprise some people.” And after 12 weeks of football it’s safe to say those Comets succeeded in making a name for themselves while surprising all but two of their foes on the schedule this season.

But Naselle’s playoff run came to an end on Saturday with a 61-26 loss to No. 4 ranked Almira-Coulee-Hartline at Lion’s Field in Moses Lake.

“We didn’t play our best and we played a good team,” Naselle head coach Kevin McNulty said.

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / Photo Gallery

LAULAINEN STADIUM — For the second week in a row the Mules were forced to ponder in real time what it feels like to play from behind. And for the second week in a row Wahkiakum found its footing and pulled away in a hurry.

This time the Mules brought the greatest-show-on-natural-grass to the synthetic threads at Schroeder Field and made themselves at home over the final three quarters for a 66-34 win over No. 6 ranked Pomeroy in the 1B State quarterfinals.

Wahkiakum trailed early, though, and any hopes of a shutout were erased in the first minute of action. That less than ideal start saw the Mules’ fail to recover an onside kick to open the contest. Then the insane-paced Pirates needed just 48 seconds to cover roughly 50 yards, with a short touchdown run by Kyzer Herres to cap that race to the end zone.

It was a shocking start against a Pomeroy side that averaged one player every 14 seconds during both of their first-quarter scoring drives. But that pace proved to be unsustainable for the visitors against a bunch of Mules who only seem to get stronger the they longer they work.

“They’re just hard to stop and you’ve got to know that you’re going to give up touchdowns,” Wahkiakum head coach Ryan Lorenzo said. “We went into this game going, ‘If we can hold them under 40, we’ll win… That’s what we’re looking for when we play. We don’t need to stop you every time. We just need to stop you once or twice, and that will be enough.”

And if that sounds like a low standard for the Mules’ defense, it would be more accurate to read it as a salute to their high-powered and multifaceted offense.

— Wahkiakum quarterback Jayden Stoddard (6) tosses the ball to Cooper Carlson (11) with a shovel pass and Carlson does the rest for an18-yard touchdown during a win over Pomeroy in the 1B quarterfinals at Schroeder Field. / Video by Ben Hendrickson for Blast Zone Media —

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Prep Football / Photo Gallery

LAULAINEN STADIUM — Toledo dominated both sides of the ball and looked good doing it on Saturday in a 42-0 win over Napavine in the 2B State football quarterfinals in Kelso at Schroeder Field.

The shutout was the first for the Riverhawks in a postseason contest since 2017. More importantly, the resounding victory over their old foes in black and orange propelled the No. 1 ranked Cheese Town gang into the State semifinal round.

“We had to kind of poke and prod, poke and prod, and stop getting in our own way with penalties — and that’s what we did,” Toledo head coach Mike Christensen said. “We eventually found some stuff that worked, but they made it really tough for us.”

— Toledo quarterback Eli Weeks tip-toes into the end zone for a touchdown during a 42-0 win over Napavine, Saturday, in the 2B State quarterfinals. / Video by Ben Hendrickson for Blast Zone Media —

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

High School Football

• Toledo 42, Napavine 0

• Wahkiakum 66, Pomeroy 34

• Almira-Coulee-Hartline 61, Naselle 26

This Day In History

• Nov. 23, 1979: Mark Morris quarterback Sam Tilton only throws the ball four times on a 25-degree day at Zaepfel Stadium in Yakima, but three of his passes go for touchdowns to lead the Monarchs to a 34-21 win over Pullman in the 2A state semifinals, sending MM to its only state championship appearance in program history. With the Greyhounds loading up to stop star tailback Alan Peterson, Tilton took the lid off the defense with a 51-yard scoring strike to Rob Poole on the second play of the game, and added touchdown passes to Kevin Bogner and Ted Campbell.
  “The receivers were open and my hands were warm,” Tilton said.
  Peterson made his mark in the second half, taking the kickoff to begin the third quarter back 80 yards for a touchdown, and added a 12-yard rushing touchdown.

Share Blast Zone Media

In Case You Missed It

The Giridiron Grump special to Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / Grumblings

This time of year can be hard on the heart. And I know what you’re thinking.

What else could be expected after 12 straight weeks of concession stand hot dogs and gas station energy drinks to fuel my annual prep football tour around the greater Blast Zone area? Well, indigestion is one thing. But it’s the explosively high stakes on the line each week, combined with the lahar-like repercussions that ripple throughout the valleys in the mid-week aftermath, that have really been making my lava chamber burble lately.

After all these years of returning uninvited, you faithful readers already know I’m no good at goodbyes. But once we reach the final regular season contest it’s like a funeral every week. I see seniors lingering on the sidelines, masking tears behind bear hugs and stiff-arming against the inevitable – it’s time to turn in the helmet and shoulder pads.

Players are rarely ready to be done playing, even (or perhaps especially) after tough losses or bad seasons. There’s a flame inside that never burns out when something you love is taken away before you’re ready to stop loving it.

But coaches are also going through it like magma in the cauldron this time of year. The only difference is that the big brains between the headset on the sideline are stuck in a pressurized fissure between the proverbial rock and a hard place. That is to say — they’ve got to figure out when it’s time to leave on good terms, or risk being unapologetically ejected like basalt out of the eruption crater.

In the last two weeks we’ve seen R.A. Long head coach Jon Barker and Kalama head coach Mike Phelps each step down from their positions after drastically different final seasons at the helm. And while we may have had our differences over the years (that just comes with the job in Grump Territory), I’m not here to dance on their graves.

As a person who has nothing to do except lurk outside high school football facilities, watching practices and making sharp judgments about everything I observe while dropping eves and casting aspersions, I know just how much time these guys spend at the field and in the film room. The only time I followed either of them home was that time I tried to box one of Phelps’ pet kangaroos to win a bet with the N2 Media Guy, but I can promise you they don’t leave that work behind in the locker room.

Coaches always bring the game home with them. Even if they try to ignore it, the game is there when it’s time to muck the marsupial barn, and it’s there when it’s time to prep your next podcast, and it’s there when it’s time to read bedtime stories. Because when you’re football crazy, you’re always a volcano inside, even if you’ve tricked some people into thinking you’re just a sleepy mountain.

One coach who promised to stick around for another trip up and down the Richter scale is Sean Gorley at Clatskanie. His Tigers suffered their first loss of the season last week on the road against the defending State champions from St. Paul, and that defeat ended their playoff run on the spot. But the Clatskanie kids shouldn’t let their heads hang too long, because they put Tiger Town back on the map this season.

Kelso was also wiped out last week in a State playoff contest on the road at Bellevue. The score was tough to look at, but this year’s crop of Scotties will not be remembered for how they finished – they’ll be remembered for what they started. Or maybe more accurately, what they kept rolling.

In a season of change in K-Town the Golden Domers made sure things felt familiar at home this season. Those comforts of home started with a bruising running game and a brass knuckle defense, and continued with a whole bunch of wins at Laulainen Stadium during an undefeated 3A GSHL campaign. Head coach Darin Gardner passed the sniff test in Year 1 and appears to have things locked in place for the foreseeable future.

I’d be remiss to move along without mentioning Onalaska, which lost at home last week by two points to Liberty Bell. The Loggers swear they notched a safety that the referees didn’t count, but they were also flagged 20 times. But when it comes right down to the nitty gritty, it was blocking and tackling that left the most to be desired for Ony. And you can bet the contents of Pastor Wayne Nelson’s offering plate that head coach Mazen Saade has already rededicated himself to making his Loggers better at the little things during the big gap between yesterday and next fall.

Speaking of blocking and tackling, it would appear that Napavine has gotten a lot better at those facets of the game since taking an L against Ony in Week 2. But Josh Fay’s Tigers will still have their hands full this week against No. 1 ranked Toledo.

Last week the Cheese Towners scorched Burbank (Columbia) at Schroeder Field and this week they’re returning to the scene of the crime. Eli Weeks threw for 279 yards last week, which is the most by a Toledo quarterback in a State contest since at least 1990, and it’s not particularly close (Bryce Marcil, 130 yards vs Kalama in the 2018 semifinals). Oh, and Adam Kruger’s 205 receiving yards for the Riverhawks is also a high water mark for a State level affair in at least a quarter century.

Toledo and Napavine will be the main attraction on Saturday at Laulaien Stadium at 5 p.m. Wahkiakum and Pomeroy will act as the matinee on Schroeder Field at 1 p.m., while Naselle will kickoff at the same time but way over yonder at Lion’s Field in Moses Lake.

With that out of the way, and without further delay, let’s get on with this week’s prognosticating and other essential nuggets.

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for the gas funds and hot dog money so we can stay on the trail of all local athletes. —

Read more

Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / Roundup

Mules motor by Moses Lake-Christian Covenant

Sometimes it’s good to get smacked in the mouth, especially when you’re undefeated entering the State Tournament and trying to stay that way.

Such was the case for No. 3 ranked Wahkiakum last Friday when it recovered from an early two-touchdown deficit on its home turf in Cathlamet to dispatch No. 14 Moses Lake-Covenant Christian by a score of 78-38 in the opening round of the 1B State Tournament.

The Mules were unable to recover an onside kick by MLCC to open the game and almost immediately surrendered a touchdown. Then the exact same scenario repeated itself to put the hosts down by a pair of scores for the first time all season.

“It’s playoff football and turnovers matter… I’m including onside kicks in turnovers because those matter,” Wahkiakum head coach Ryan Lorenzo said. “Their No. 25 (Kevin Jorgensen) is an athlete. Our D-ends were getting sucked in a little bit and his athleticism beat us a couple of times.”

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for helping sustain Blast Zone Media. We depend on your support in order to continue reporting on local athletics. Consider showing your support today. —

Read more

Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Football / Report

LAULAINEN STADIUM — Toledo took another small step in the 2B State playoff bracket on Friday night, but its 45-14 win over Burbank (Columbia) at Schroeder Field in Kelso felt more like a giant leap for the No. 1 ranked Riverhawks.

The Riverhawks put up 30 unanswered points in the first quarter, and led 37-0 at halftime. By the time Burbank found the end zone in the fourth quarter, Toledo had added another touchdown to push the game into running clock territory.

And all of that was precisely what Toledo head coach Mike Christensen was hoping to see after a slightly disjointed blowout over Forks last week left plenty to be desired from the undefeated C2BL East champions.

“We executed really well. The first quarter was exactly how you write it up, besides our one fumble,” Christensen noted. “Our guys executed their blocks well and the game plan both offensively and defensively. It was the complete opposite of last week.”

— Toledo quarterback Eli Weeks (2) scores a 15-yard rushing touchdown on the Riverhawks’ opening drive of a 45-14 win over Burbank in the opening round of the 2B State Tournament, Friday, Nov. 14, at Schroeder Field. / Video by Ben Hendrickson for Blast Zone Media —

— Content below this line is reserved for paid subscribers. Thank you for supporting Blast Zone Media and all local athletes with your subscription. —

Read more