Prep Football: The Grump gets fooled by a decoy in playoff season

Misdirection Madness — Seeding committee less popular than locked gates in the woods

The Gridiron Grump / Prep Football Pontificator

Gridiron Grump / Special to Blast Zone Media

Did I ever tell you about the time I almost got arrested for petting an elk? Well, it wasn’t a real wapiti, mind you, but I didn’t know that at the time.

You see, I was out for a walk in the woods somewhere between Vader and KM Mountain recently right about the time the sun was thinking about sinking into the ocean over yonder. And as the golden hour turned dark, I saw a pair of eyes looking back at me from the brush on a big bend in the road. So I got a little closer and the eyes didn’t move, and then I got a little closer and whatever it was didn’t run away, which was even more curious. And when I managed to get right up next to it I marveled at my luck to find such a friendly elk who didn’t mind having its nose scratched by an old grump who was just out looking for open gates.

Well, imagine my surprise when I was greeted by a chorus of hollering fish and wildlife cops telling me to back away from my newfound friend and to put my hands in the air. Turns out, I hadn’t made a friend at all. My stroll in nature had turned out much like all my adventures online — I’d been conned by a robot again.

But instead of taking my money, this robot led me to a chance encounter with WDFW Sergeant Dan Chadwick, otherwise known as the father of Naselle quarterback Leith Chadwick.

According to Chadwick, I was out of line for approaching the critter in the first place. Which I guess make sense. I mean, I remember when the WDFW executed a herd of rehabilitated deer for being too friendly. However, I didn’t get to model the silver bracelets in the end because they were trying to catch poachers, not elk huggers.

So with the fog settling in we got to talking about the Comets, of course, and how things have been going in South Pacific County since his strong-armed son took over the signal calling early in the season. In his first appearance of the season Leith threw three passes and all of them went for touchdowns. Since then it’s been a lot more of the same, and Naselle has yet to lose.

Chadwick almost went so far as to say it’s been like shooting fish in a barrel for the Comets, or maybe I’m putting words into his mouth. It’s hard to say which, but that’s probably a frowned upon activity, too.

One thing everyone can agree on is that the WIAA seeding committee continues to be a dependable lightning rod in the world of high school football. The Comets aren’t complaining after receiving the No. 3 seed overall, but there’s plenty to get grumpy about in all of the brackets, if one were so inclined.

Take for instance the Toledo Riverhawks were given the No. 9 seed in the 2B ranks and will have to travel over them there mountains to open the state tournament yet again. That seems weird since Toledo defeated the No. 11 seed by 30 points but No. 2 seeded Asotin only beat the No. 13 seed by two touchdowns. Surely there’s nothing shady afoot on the top of the bracket where Napavine seems to have avoided the heaviest hitters in the tournament.

Speaking of heavy hitters, many experts seem to agree that Onalaska actually got the dirtier end of the stick. After losing just one game all season (to a 1A team playoff team, mind you) the Loggers were given the No. 4 seed, which puts them on the same side of the bracket as both Toledo, Freeman and the No. 1 seeded Okanogan Bulldogs, but opposite of those orange and black Tigers from Lewis County’s little hamlet on the hill.

Did I mention that Napavine head coach Josh Fay is on the seeding committee. Oh, and so were coaches from Tri-Cities Prep and Asotin. Just saying.

But as cathartic as all the bellyaching can be (and trust me, I do love a grumbling chorus of disgruntled prep football fans as much as anyone), it’s also true that complaining about it now is about as effective as milking water from a stone.

But don’t let anyone tell you petting elk in the forest is a waste of time. After all, there’s some lessons you can only learn one way.

Now, let’s look at the Blast Zone playoff matchups for Week 11.