Bulldogs, Nighthawks will collide in playoff tilt
November 1, 2012
Colfax Bulldogs and the TOR Nighthawks will collide Friday night at Schmuck Park in the NE-SE football crossover for a ticket to the first round of the state 2B football playoffs. The cross-county matchup surfaced when both teams finished in third place in their respective leagues.
After dominating the NE side for their first four years in the league, Colfax placed third in the NE with a 3-2 mark after losses to Reardan and the LRS Broncos.
The ‘hawks landed in third after the SE finished with three 4-1 teams. TOR drew the number-three card in a tie breaking draw, but the ‘hawks actually finished 7-1 with their lone loss to DeSales.
Waitsburg/Prescott, the defending champs who were stopped at Oakesdale, landed back in the top SE slot via their draw card.
“We’re a number-three team, but we’re really going up against a number-one team,” Colfax Coach Mike Morgan noted. He credited Coach Kaleb Madison with building up the TOR program to be a force in the tough SE conference.
Coach Morgan said TOR junior Craig Nelson rates as number-one talent on the Colfax scouting charts. Nelson’s running skills behind the big ‘hawk line make him a constant threat on offense, and his ability to find the ball on defense has taken a toll on most teams.
Another Colfax concern is the Nighthawk line.
“They’re big. They remind me of the LRS line,” Morgan commented.
Friday in their league closer at Davenport, the Bulldogs shelved most of their passing game in favor of a ground grinder because of the steady downpour for the league closer. Colfax finisher out with a 20-8 win after leading 14-0 at the half.
“We totaled about 300 yards and 260 of that came off running plays,” Morgan noted.
Levi Hardy again led the Colfax offense with a 13-98 rushing game against the Gorillas.
Kellen McNannay and Brandon Arneson scored the first two TDs in the opening half to stake a 14-0 lead for the Bulldogs at the break. They added one more in the last quarter on a 15-yarder by McNannay.
Davenport, which had problems sustaining a drive against the Colfax defense, put one together at the end of the game and ended it with a one-yard plunge by Max Mielke with seconds left.
Lind/Ritzville/Sprague finished their win string in the NE with a 48-6 crunch of Liberty, and Reardan finished in the number-two slot with a 40-20 win over Springdale.
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