High School Football: The N2/BZM Power Rankings VII
Pound For Pound – Area teams stretching for regular season finish line and league titles
By Nick Sisson (N2 Media) and Jordan Nailon (Blast Zone Media) / blastzonenews@gmail.com
Prep Football / Rankings
Seven weeks of high school football gamesare in the books (for most), except for those that continue to miss out on opportunities to take the field. More and more forfeits continue to be an issue on what is certainly now a weekly common occurrence.
This week Taholah backed out on Winlock, but he Cardinals managed to find a replacement foe by signing up for a trip north to play Muckleshoot Tribal.
Last week Onalaska lost out for an opportunity to tackle hard against long-time rival Mossyrock, due in large part (see: exclusively) to the Vikings’ decision to forfeit the rivalry game.
Just when it looked like Onalaska might be without an opponent in Week 7, Asotin stepped up and extended the invitation for the Loggers to test themselves in Northeast Bi-County 2B football. Heck, it was even homecoming for Asotin. Ony had no problem with the terms, and in fact, the Loggers really made themselves right at home while playing so far away from Gritville, USA, leaving town only after completing a 54-0 romp over the Panthers. Asotin won’t be ranked anywhere in any of our rankings this week, but kudos to the entire town and their forefathers for being willing to step up and give Onalaska an opponent to play ahead of our upcoming Game of The Year between the Loggers and Toledo on Friday.
Speaking of Toledo, the Aquahawks had no problems whatsoever last week and notched their first shutout win of the season after clobbering Morton-White Pass 47-0 way out in East Lewis County. That all sounds like a pretty impressive result, doesn’t it? Not everyone agrees. The state coach’s poll that had Toledo ranked at No. 1 just last week now have the undefeated Cheese Town gang ranked two spots lower this week.
Have no fear though folks, we don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye with the coaches on this one. If Toledo did enough to impress and earn that respect, what can you take away after a shutout and 47 points of its own on the road? What, exactly, would warrant them dropping? That sort of insight is way above our pay grade apparently, so that’s why we continue to keep undefeated Toledo on top of every category they’re eligible for in the N2/BZM rankings — just make sure us and us alone can say we were tooting the Riverhawks’ horn from the start.
So, there is all of that to consider before Onalaska and Toledo lock up in Week 8 at Hippi Stadium to determine the Central 2B League / East title. The Loggers have been sneakily creeping up the rankings but we’re not sure yet if they’re quite ready for the bright lights of the Top-Five pound-for-pound rankings. A road win over the Riverhawks would definitely solidify Onalaska as a State title contender, while the exact same can be said from the Toledo perspective. And that’s just one of the many reasons we find the Cheese Days vs Apple Festival rivalry to be so interesting year after year.
And thank goodness we finally have some meaningful games in the area for some of the bigger schools in The Blast Zone this week. If it feels like all of the focus has been on the smaller schools this season, you’re mostly correct. And that’s primarily because the mid-majors have been, well, mostly middling.
Some of that changed last week after Mark Morris defeated Hockinson 25-7. The Monarchs picked up their second win of the season thanks to the efforts of Deker Bartell, Avery Elliot, and undefeated Mark Morris head coach Larry Peck.
It wasn’t the way the elder Coach Peck imagined making his debut as head coach for Mark Morris, but it was a special night for him and the rest of the Monarchs nonetheless. The win also gave the Monarchs a sliver of hope and a narrow path to the postseason, but all that talk will go out of the window if they can’t go on the road this week and beat Woodland in the Forest City.
Woodland had no problem winning again last week, beating Hudson’s Bay 35-7, and setting themselves up to remain in the conversation for a league championship for at least another week. What’s funny about the Beavers’ potential third straight league title run is what the opposite side of that coin could look like if they wind up unsuccessful in their last league two games.
Instead of possibly sharing another league title (the Beavers still need Columbia River to beat Washougal), Woodland could potentially see a scenario where it would be outside the playoff picture all-together. Yes, the Beavers could take anywhere from first to fifth. As head coach Glen Flanagan said, “That’s crazy.”
Like we said, it’s nice to see Blast Zone teams playing a meaningful game against one another.
The biggest school in the area continues to be a heart-warming story this season, even when the plot turned a bit macabre last week. That’s just how well Kelso has performed so far in league play. The Hilanders are now 6-1 overall and have a perfect 3-0 record in Greater St. Helens League 3A play.
The flip side of the good news, however, is the bad news that arrived last Friday on the way to a 28-0 win over a historically good Heritage team. Kelso quarterback Anders Dahl exited the game with a gruesome injury to his non-throwing elbow, and lineman Parker Stewart also left the game with a leg injury and did not return.
The status of both Dahl and Stewart remains unknown, but the emotional toll was undeniable for a close-knit group of Steel Kiltsmen. Now, the Hilanders will turn to sophomore, and younger brother to Anders, Owen Dahl to fill in at quarterback during the stretch run. The younger Dahl tossed a touchdown pass in emergency relief last week, which should be viewed as a positive sign. Kelso will play the final two weeks of the regular season against the bottom two teams in the league standings, and that could serve as a useful opportunity for the Scots to try to figure out how to get back up to top speed with replacement parts.
It was another successful week for the likes of Wahkiakum, Clatskanie, and Naselle, continuing the trend of dominate small schools with the misfortune of being from outside The Blast Zone. In fact, the Mules and Tigers remain just as undefeated as Toledo entering Week 8.
Wahkiakum actually turned the ball over a few times early in their 72-6 win at Chief Leschi, but the Mules eventually opened up the reigns of the offense and ran wild for a little while. More accurately, they threw the ball with wild precision for their seventh straight win.
Rumor from The Rat Trap says this week we might see star quarterback Jayden Stoddard play blindfolded and with one arm tied behind his back in an attempt to even the playing field a little for the opposition. In all seriousness, people aren’t talking about Wahkiakum nearly enough. Cathlamet continues to be a tough place to play, and people forget that.
Clatskanie maintained their perfect 7-0 record on the season after beating Neah-Kah-Nie 55-26. The win sets up a huge showdown Thursday night when No. 10 Clatskanie hosts undefeated and No. 4 ranked Knappa in a showdown that figures to decide the (Not COWAPA) League championship. We’ve done the research, and the transitive properties between teams indicate this game could be closer on the scoreboard than the drive between the towns. Either way, The County Line Clash will certainly be worth the price of admission.
We can briefly touch on some other important games as we move this train further down the tracks, but it’s time to get these wheels rolling to Rank City. All aboard!
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