| Tacoma, WA - // Thursday, November 29, 2007 |
State football finals State title shots nice consolation for five runners-upDOUG PACEY; The News Tribune Lewis and Clark, Burlington-Edison, Royal, Toutle Lake and Almira/Coulee-Hartline all failed to win their respective leagues, but they could end their seasons with the ultimate in bragging rights: a state championship. “It would punctuate the season,” Burlington-Edison coach Bruce Shearer said. Lynden did it last season, winning the Class 2A crown after finishing second behind 3A Ferndale in the multiclassification Northwest Conference. Two title games feature teams from the same league. In 1A, South Central Athletic Conference rivals Connell (13-0) and Royal (12-1) face off for the second time this season. Connell edged the Knights, 23-20, in the regular season, winning on a last-minute field goal and giving Royal its only loss. It’s the same scenario in the 1B Northeast League, where conference champ Odessa (12-0) takes on Almira/Coulee-Hartline (12-1). The teams met in Week 4 of the regular season, with the Tigers whipping the Warriors, 56-6. Class 3A’s Skyline-O’Dea matchup at 7:30 p.m. Friday is the only one that pits league champions. The Spartans (13-0) won the KingCo 3A conference, and the Fighting Irish (13-0) ran through the Metro League. Hello again Eleven of the 12 teams playing for state championships this weekend have been in the title game before. Six of these teams have been in the finals since 2005, including last year’s participants Connell and Bothell. Of the teams with a previous appearance, Burlington-Edison has been gone the longest. The Tigers last played for a title in 1986. Almira/Coulee-Hartline is next with a championship from 1990, and Toutle Lake last played for the title in 1994. Here’s a special welcome to Lewis and Clark. The Spokane school that had lost 12 straight postseason games before this year has won four in a row to get to the Tacoma Dome, where the Tigers will share the spotlight with Bothell in the 4A final Saturday. Prosser star headed to UW Prosser’s speedy and sticky-fingered senior Cody Bruns has given a verbal commitment to play football at the University of Washington, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported Tuesday. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound receiver and defensive back has caught 304 passes at Prosser. Bruns has 90 catches for 1,524 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. Last fall, he led the nation with 109 receptions and set the state’s single-season record with 1,891 yards. Can’t get to the Dome? The 3A and 4A title games will be televised live on Fox Sports Northwest. Also, play-by-play from all six championships will be available to listen to at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s Web site by clicking on the “Listen Now” button. Live game updates will be posted on The News Tribune’s Prep Blog at blogs.thenewstribune.com/preps. Semis attendance falls Attendance at the Tacoma Dome for the semifinals was down slightly from last year. According to Darin Hanson, WIAA director of communication, 19,603 attended the semifinals at the Dome last week. That is down slightly from last year, when the games attracted 20,803 fans. The figures do not include semifinals played in Eastern Washington. Many fans were frustrated with the WIAA’s decision to schedule both Class 3A semifinals – the marquee games at the Dome – for 9 a.m. kickoffs Friday and Saturday. Doug Pacey: 253-597-8271 blogs.thenewstribune.com/preps Friday
Class 1B: Odessa (12-0) vs. Almira/Coulee-Hartline (12-1), 4 p.m. Class 3A: O’Dea (13-0) vs. Skyline (13-0), 7:30 p.m.* Saturday Class 2A: Burlington-Edison (12-1) vs. Prosser (13-0), 10 a.m. Class 1A: Royal (13-1) vs. Connell (12-0), 1 p.m. Class 2B: DeSales (12-0) vs. Toutle Lake (11-2), 4 p.m. Class 4A: Bothell (13-0) vs. Lewis and Clark (10-2), 7:30 p.m.* *Televised live on Fox Sports Northwest Preps.thenewstribune.com Visit our new high school sports Web site for the latest news on this weekend’s finals at the Tacoma Dome. For more information from our beat reporters, visit blogs.thenewstribune.com/preps Originally published: November 28th, 2007 01:23 AM (PST) |