High School Football: The Gridiron Grump gears up for the postseason
'Coolest Place in Town' – Laulainen Stadium and Longview Memorial to host Friday night playoff football; and what's become of the Astro Mart?
Gridiron Grump special to Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com
Prep Football / Grumblings
What’s going on with all these tiebreakers and pigtails? I mean, it’s hard for the average Joe to figure out when the playoffs actually begin.
None of it really seems to make much sense, either. Even if you do get the start time and location right.
Last week we saw Ilwaco win a homecoming game on a Thursday night, and then turn around to play a 3-way Kansas City Tiebreaker early on Saturday afternoon. Then Mark Morris hosted a pigtail game with Aberdeen on Tuesday, which left the winning Bobcats with just three days to prepare for a postseason trip to West Valley Spokane.
It seems like all the mandatory rest days and minimum turnaround times are all fine and dandy until crunch time hits, and then the rules are thrown out the window. Which is fine by me. I’m not much of a rule follower, and I’ve been throwing things out the window since before it was cool.
You know what’s really cool? There are three undefeated teams in the area at the end of the regular season for the first time this century. Wahkiakum and Clatskanie are both 9-0, while Toledo sits at 8-0. And if you’re wondering the last time any of those programs won a State championship then you’re the type of fan who asks good questions.
The answer for all three, of course, is never. So history is on the line in nearly every corner of The Blast Zone.
Speaking of State titles, remember when Jake Locker won one with Ferndale back in 2004? I know Kelso fans do because that’s the last time the Hilanders won nine games in a season, when they won 11 games in a row before being annihilated by Locker and Co. in the semifinals. Too soon? Sources from K-Town say yes. This year’s group of Scotties has eight wins, so far, and they’ll be looking for number nine tonight when they play Federal Way for the first time since November of 1973 (Federal Way 42-35).
But you know who won’t get a chance to set new records, make new memories, or simply play at all tonight? The Naselle Comets, that’s who. That’s because their assigned foe from Charles Wright Academy dialed in a late-breaking forfeit today, taking away a chance for Naselle to thrill its home fans once more this season. The Comets may get another home game next week, but that’s beside the point. The point is – everyone needs to stop all this quitting. I’m about as selfish as they come and I’m still left offended by this new crop of coaches who treat the cathedrals regularly scheduled services of high school football like the next substitute teacher job they don’t have to take.
There’s a few other things that have ruffled my feathers lately, too. Of course, there was election day, but we won’t get into that too much. The thing I did notice while walking to cast my ballot at the Civic Circle in Longview is that the trusty ol’ Astro Mart convenience store on 15th Ave. has changed owners, and names. I’m not sure if they got rid of the barley pop cave, otherwise known as “the coolest place in town,” but if I’m overheating with nowhere to find reprieve during next year’s preseason practices in the dog days of summer, you’ll know why.
But that’s a long time from now, so let’s make a two-minute drill and get a move on with this week’s predictions and notes from the files.
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