Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The yellow grid of an 18-wheeler on the dark highway, the red and white markers of a car, the white backs of the cleats of Evan Weagraff.
The Gar-Pal quarterback repeatedly broke loose into open field Oct. 27 at Colton, running as if parallel with vehicles on Highway 195 passing the school.
In an 82-40 win, Weagraff ran for 343 yards on 26 carries with six touchdowns. Daniel Orfe added another 152 yards on 16 rushes.
For Colton, Parker Druffel had 14 carries for 169 yards and Reece Chadwick caught seven passes for 122 yards. Receiver/defensive back Luke Vining went out in the second quarter with an injured leg.
After a competitive first half, in which Colton scored late in the second quarter to cut Gar/Pal’s lead to 30-16, the Vikings scored again before halftime to set the tone for what was to come.
“We knew we had them outmanned,” said Garfield/Palouse coach Will Woltering. “We kind of just wore them down.”
The Viking line took control up front, made up of a group of mainly juniors; left guard Tanner Anderson, right guard Riley Pedersen, guard Tyson White, center Chad Hansen, a senior, and tight ends Caden Sanderson and Ely Hawkins.
“This is the best line we’ve had since the 2014 team,” Woltering said.
The Vikings (6-1, 3-0) are now set for a showdown with Sunnyside Christian (9-0, 3-0) Thursday night to decide the Southeast 1B league championship. Kickoff is 6 p.m in Palouse.
Colton (6-3, 1-2 league) will finish the regular season at Touchet, also Thursday, with a 2 p.m. kickoff.
The game
During a “quarters” running drill at practice Tuesday, Garfield/Palouse coach Woltering called out to his team.
“What was the score last year at the start of the fourth quarter?”
“40-20” answered Weagraff, a senior.
“40-24,” Woltering said.
“I’m pretty sure it was 40-20,” said Weagraff.
The wound remains, if not the detail. The Vikings led Sunnyside Christian by three touchdowns on the road in the last game of the 2016 season, and lost 42-40, keeping them out of the playoffs.
The Knights advanced to make the state 1B semifinals.
A year later, it is mostly the same two rosters. This time the game will decide the Southeast 1B league championship and its No. 1 and No. 2 seeds for the postseason.
Thursday’s game is a matchup foreseen in August.
“Most people figured this was going to be the game, and it is,” said Woltering. “They’re better than last year, I’m sure of it. But we’re better than last year too.”
The game will be played on Thursday to allow coaches to film their regional playoff opponent’s games Friday. In turn, coaches from first-round playoff opponents for the Southeast 1B will be at Palouse Thursday to film.
Touchet 64, St. John/Endicott/ LaCrosse 20
For St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse’s last game of the season, two winless Southeast 1B teams met at Touchet on Homecoming night and the Indians took the mark in the “W” column.
“Tough team, they are hard hitters,” said St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse coach Ken Gering.
Mixing up his quarterbacks, Gering started freshman Douglas Stach, who scored two running touchdowns – one on a long scramble – and threw for another to Dustin Fox. Sophomore Trey Fleming also took downs behind center.
The loss ended the Eagles’ season at 0-7, capping the careers of seniors Chase Schluneger, Levi Bailey and Dustin Fox.
Garfield/Palouse quarterback Evan Weagraff scores from short yardage in the second quarter against Colton.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
Reader Comments(0)