Asotin takes last state ticket after all-out battle with Colfax

At left: Ben Ahmann charges for a Colfax TD to put the Bulldogs in the lead in the Asotin battle.

Colfax and Asotin locked up an all-out battle Friday on the Panthers’ field with Asotin again pulling out a win in the last quarter. Asotin will advance to the 16-team start of the state tournament this week after posting a 29-24 win, and the Bulldogs will pack it up after going into the crossover round with a 6-3 third place tie with the Panthers after the league campaign.

“I think we played a great game, and I think Asotin had a great game. It’s just too bad we had to lose,” Colfax Mike Morgan said.

Morgan rated Friday’s battle along the river as the best the Bulldogs have played all year.

Senior quarterback Brett Kincaid had his best game of the year. Kincaid hit seven of 14 passes for a total of 114 air yards. His top target for the night was Mason Miller, who snagged most of his four catches on the outside which the Bulldogs were sustaining a drive.

For most of the game, Colfax was able to move the ball against the Panthers’ defense. They actually out-gained the Panthers 317 yards to 288, and picked up more first downs, 18 to 13. They also came close to doubling Asotin in time of possession, 31:30 minutes compared to 16:24.

“Kincaid really had our option game working, and that opened up the passing game,” Morgan commented.

Asotin bagged the win with explosive plays when they needed to have them. Colton Ball, a force during the league campaign who was contained by Colfax in the Sept. 9 league game, totaled a 164 yards on 17 carries.

Ball scored all four of the Asotin TDs, two on pass receptions and two on passes.

Asotin took a 7-0 lead after recovering a fumbled Colfax punt reception deep in Bulldog territory. QB Josh Wilkinson hit the score on a 30-yard shot right at the end of the quarter.

Colfax came back to take the lead with four minutes left in the first half with Christopher Jones scoring on a plunger. Ben Ahmann ran in a two-point conversion and Colfax took an 8-7 lead going into the break.

Asotin took the lead with a score in the top of the second half on another 30-yard shot from Wilkinson to Ball, but Colfax came back in another sustained drive and Ben Ahmann put it in the end zone with 1:25 left in the third. Ahmann ran another two-point conversion, and Colfax had a 16-14 lead.

Asotin scored at the top of the last quarter in a short run by Ball for a fourth lead change of the game, then at 22-16.

Mason Miller, who had four catches for Colfax, stretches for this one-handed snag in the playoff game.

Colfax had a lot of time left in the fourth quarter and started their next drive with a strong punt return. The Bulldogs added a first down on a run by Kincaid, but they missed the next fourth-down conversion, and Asotin took over the ball and collected a TD to extend their lead to 29-16.

Colfax battled back and hit their last score of the game, and the season, with Ahmann again capping a drive with 1:34 on the clock.

Coach Morgan noted the last drive showed a lot about the character of this year’s team. Nine seniors and German exchange student Leo Huels closed out their grid careers.

“They’re a great bunch, and we’re going to miss them,” Morgan noted.

Last chapter for the Colfax season will be the Nov. 30 football banquet.

Morgan said he again will be curious about how far the three NE contenders will advance on the trail to state.

Asotin will play Tri-Cities Prep in the first round of the state playoffs this week. TC Prep is the top team out of District 6.

Undefeated Liberty, who posted a big win over LRS in Friday’s crossover round, will play Lyle/Wishram, and NE number-two Davenport, who stopped NWC in the crossover, will play Lake Roosevelt in a bracket slot opposite the Asotin game.

First-round wins would mean a quarter-final collision between the two NE contenders and an end to the playoffs for one of them.

Colfax stats: 317 total yards, 7-14 for 114 passing, 48-203 rushing, penalties 5-55, fumbles 1 and 1 lost, possession time 31:30, first downs 18; Passing Brett Kincaid 7-14 114; Receiving: Nick Klaveano 1-55, Mason Miller 4-45, Christopher Jones 1-10, Gabe Ahmann 1-4; Rushing: A Ahmann 23-77, Kincaid 9-74, Jones 12-41, Blake Bodey 4-11; Tackles Dane Hall 5, Jones 4, Bodey 4, Klaveano 3, G. Ahmann 3, Layne Gingrich 2, Riley Wuesteney 2.

Asotin stats: 288 total yards, 4-7 for 94 passing, 26 -194 rushing, fumbles 0, first downs 13, penalties 4-45, possession time 16:24, Passing Wilkinson 3-5 64, Tanner Berzett 1-2 30; Rushing Ball 17-164, Dylan Landrus 2-21, Berzett 4-10, Elliott Marks 3 minus 1; Receiving Ball 2-60, Hunter Landrus 1-27, Berzett 1-7; Tackles Marks 5, Mason Devorack 5, Ball 3, Berzett 3.