Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Colfax junior, Mason Gilchrist, ran 137 yards.
REARDAN - Colfax football ran over the Reardan Indians with two players rushing for more than 100 yards each in their 42-19 victory on Friday.
The Bulldogs racked up 274 yards rushing on 43 plays. Mason Gilchrist ran 17 times for 137 yards and scored four touchdowns. Teammate Trentin Ensley ran 15 times for 103 yards.
"The offense line just did their jobs and made the running backs' jobs easy," said Colfax Coach Mike Morgan.
Colfax started the game differently by taking the ball to the air and scoring their first touchdown on a 16-yard pass from Damian Demler to Braydin Heilsberg. Ensely made the 2-point conversion afterward.
Reardan scored on a 55-yard run with a successful point-after kick.
The second quarter started 8-7 with the Bulldogs leading.
The Indians scored again on a 2-yard run for a touchdown but failed to gain points after the score.
Colfax had a long 48-yard run to get in the red zone, but they fumbled and recovered it. They were able to add another touchdown. Ensley ran it in for the 2-point conversion.
The last score of the first half was the Bulldogs' Gilchrist running 24 yards for another touchdown. A 2-point conversion pass from Demler to Heilsberg was successful to add 2 more points.
The Bulldogs led 22-13.
"If you look at the first two quarters it was a tough game," Morgan said. "They lined up in the double wishbone and hit us in the chops. They ran us over ... We got things turned around with the running."
The Bulldogs were the only team to score in the third quarter with Gilchrist running 15 yards for a touchdown. Demler threw to Heilsberg for another successful 2-point conversion.
Gilchrist's fourth touchdown came in the fourth quarter as he ran 15 yards. Another successful 2-point conversion moved the Bulldogs' score to 42 points.
Reardan scored one more touchdown on a 70-yard pass. The point-after kick was blocked by Colfax.
"Special teams had a good night," said Morgan.
Credit for the win went to Colfax's defense. Eight players were noted for solo tackles with Ryan Henning having 4 tackles. Henning and Gilchrist both had interceptions.
"A good defense makes it better for everybody," Morgan said. "Our defense settled in after (Reardan's) first score of the game."
Morgan predicted a tough game with Reardan and was pleased with how the Bulldogs adjusted and succeeded on both sides of the ball.
"We're very happy with the efforts of our kids," he said.
On Thursday the Bulldogs face the Lind-Ritzville-Sprague Broncos (7-0) coached by Gregg Whitmore. He has led two teams to state championships. The game was rescheduled to Thursday due to a lack of officials.
"I've been watching the film on them ... they're a really, really solid ball club," said Morgan. "We're going to have to play our best ball on Thursday night."
The Broncos have a 6-foot, 4-inch, 280-pound quarterback in Chase Galbreath, who "throws the ball so well. He only had two interceptions for the year." Add Brody Boness as their running back and the Broncos have a strong offense.
"(Boness) may be faster than anyone on our team ... when he gets the ball nobody can tackle him," said Morgan.
Colfax needs to win and Chewelah has to beat Northwest Christian for the Bulldogs to take fourth place to make the playoffs. Colfax is 4-3 for the league and 5-3 overall.
District 6 and 7 crossover with the top four teams playing each other as part of the state playoffs
"We're excited to take on the fifth-ranked team in the state and see what we can do against them," said Morgan.
Bill Stevenson is the former editor of the Whitman County Gazette, Colfax Daily Bulletin and Franklin Connection. He has nearly 30 years of journalism experience covering news in Eastern Washington.
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