Prep Football Preview: Week 8 forces teams to put it on the line

Push Comes to Shove — Stakes of staggering girth dot the gridiron landscape

Toledo quarterback Eli Weeks fakes a handoff to Carter Swofford during a game against Toutle Lake earlier this season. The Riverhawks will take their undefeated record to Onalaska on Friday night for a de facto league championship tilt. — Matt Baide for Blast Zone Media

Jordan Nailon / blastzonenews@gmail.com

If you want to see a good old fashioned slobber knocker of a football game this week then you’d better get your buns headed north by northeast for a trip to the shadowy woods just shy of East Lewis County. The contest on the docket between Toledo and Onalaska promises to be a throwback affair that will essentially wrap up the Central 2B League (East Division) championship.

And if you think sports reporters are the only ones who remember games from yesteryear, you’re in for a big surprise. Football coaches, it turns out, are more like elephants than fruit flies when it comes to memories.

“The game that stands out to us the most was probably two years ago. Toledo was really physical up front and they really dominated us,” Onalaska coach Mazen Saade said.

And it’s safe to say the Loggers will be doing their darndest to keep that from happening again tonight. Both teams are undefeated in league play and ranked in the top-5 spots in the statewide polls.

And the town of Onalaska, home of Apple Fest and Old Mill Pond, has a special way of bringing the mojo for big games. In year’s past I’ve seen opposing players try to fight the entire town of Onalaska in the aftermath of a feisty contest. I’ve seen kids puke at midfield after taking one too many hits. I’ve seen local law enforcement look the other way at more than a few things, and I’ve seen farmers set up round bales along the chain link fence in order to get a pastoral view of the gridiron.

And there’s sure to be a game of similar significance near to you if you know where to look. Whether it’s Kelso at Mountain View, or Woodland at Mark Morris, or Castle Rock at King’s Way; the penultimate week of the regular season is sure to deliver the goods for prep football fans both to and fro.

Just ask Maz what makes the spectacle of Friday night lights in the late fall so special out in Ony and he’ll have you feeling as American as apple pie.

“Any opportunity we get to play at home, we love it. People around her elike football,” Saade said, while promising a playoff-like atmosphere for anyone brave enough to venture beyond Stinky’s Corner. “They like coming out to support the program. You’ve got little kid games going on the sideline and people lining the track… Small town American football is special, and we tell our guys that all the time.”