The state playoffs are upon us, with four of the five Twin Harbor crossover football teams still alive beginning state play this weekend, while Taholah will need one more win in quad-district play to advance.

On Friday night, Montesano will cap a two-day road trip to Connell with a 6 p.m. state 1A football first-round game against the Eagles in a matchup of two state-title contenders. Also on Friday night, Taholah will host state 1B title contender Neah Bay in a quad-district game at 7 p.m. at Stewart Field.

On Saturday, Hoquiam will hit the road north to Bellingham to face Mount Baker in a 6 p.m. state 1A first-round game at Civic Stadium. Also on the road, Raymond will be at Sedro-Wooley High School to face La Conner in a 6 p.m. state 2B first-round game.

Closer to home on Saturday, Pe Ell-Willapa Valley will call Tiger Stadium in Centralia home when it takes on Mabton for a 2 p.m. state 2B first-round game.

Montesano-Connell

The last time Montesano and Connell faced each other in the state tournament, it was a state 1A semifinal contest in Pasco in 2007 — a 51-14 win for the Eagles. This time, it is a first-round contest between two highly ranked teams that some people believe should’ve met in the semifinals again.

Connell (9-1), which suffered its only loss of the season to the defending state 1A champion Royal in the regular season, rolled through Granger, 56-0, in a district crossover game last week. Jaxs Whitby ran for 173 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Eagles.

“Connell is a very good football team,” Montesano head coach Terry Jensen said. “It lost to Royal, but could have easily won that game. Royal hit some big plays. (The Eagles) spread it out and are balanced. They have a good quarterback — Brian Hawkins — and he spreads the ball around pretty well. Jaxs Whitby is their leading rusher, runs hard and has good speed. The closest team in our league to them would be Hoquiam.”

Jensen noted Hawkins’ favorite aerial targets are tight end Stven Kroontje and wide out Caleb Price. Price caught five passes for 72 yards and one score against Granger, while Hawkins threw for just 121 yards and two scores on 9-of-12 attempts.

“Defensively, they operate out of a 4-4 look as their base, but do all kinds of different things with their front and linebackers to confuse the blocking schemes,” Jensen added.

Montesano (10-0) came out of last week’s win over White Salmon-Columbia at Rottle Field without any significant injuries and will have a full roster for the trip.

Hoquiam- Mount Baker

Hoquiam head coach Rick Moore talked more about a history lesson than a state opponent when he describe the Grizzlies’ opponents for Saturday’s state 1A first round.

Mount Baker, ranked No. 2 in the last state AP/Media poll, resembles the old Aberdeen Bobcats of the 1990s under head coach Robbie Lonborg, who had Moore as his defensive coordinator in the late 90s.

“It is the traditional Wing-T,” Moore said. “It really reminds me of what Robbie Lonborg ran with Aberdeen. It is nice to know those schemes, because I’ve run them before at Aberdeen. It’ll come down to reacting and making them earn those yards. It is a throwback Wing-T offense and they are good at it.”

The Mountaineers’ main running back, Jed Schleimer, piled up 188 yards rushing and scored all six touchdowns in a 41-0 win over Sultan in a district crossover game last week. The Grizzlies have Schleimer marked in their defensive gameplan.

“There isn’t much else here — it is a Wing-T vs. spread offense matchup,” Moore said. “We’ll find out what will happen. The kids know this is a team they can beat, even if they haven’t lost yet. We’ve played some good competition this year. We knew we wouldn’t have the best of records overall because of the teams we’ve faced. But, that has helped us overall.”

PWV-Mabton

Pe Ell-Willapa Valley’s third consecutive trip to the state tournament will kick off on Saturday in Centralia with a visit from far-flung Mabton, which is located at the eastern edge of the Yakama Indian Reservation.

The Vikings (5-5) are led by multi-purpose quarterback Christian Mendoza, who ran for two touchdowns, threw for another and caught one more in their 41-22 win over Oroville in a district crossover game last Saturday. Mendoza finished with 205 all-purpose yards in the win.

Mabton also got a 65-yard touchdown run from Rocky Arriaga in the contest.

The Titans (8-2) have their own one-man wrecking crew in the backfield — senior Kaelin Jurek. The SWW 2B Coastal Division MVP, ran for 139 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s 36-6 win over Wahkiakum to get into the state tournament.

Raymond-LaConner

Following a last-second field goal win against Adna, Raymond is still feeling pretty good entering this Saturday evening matchup with La Conner.

“Last Saturday’s game showed us, and others, that when we put together four quarters of football, we can give ourselves a good opportunity to win football games,” Raymond head coach Luke Abbott said. “I was very happy with our defensive play last week, and the players understand that we need to play great football from here on out. The team that makes the most mistakes (both mentally and physically) and does not capitalize on great opportunities will lose. When you get to this point, all the teams are good, and you can’t afford to make many mistakes and expect to win.”

La Conner received a forfeit from Darrington to qualify for the state 2B playoffs. Against Concrete in a regular-season rivalry finale, the Braves ran away with a 62-21 win.

“They are a very talented football team,” Abbott said. “They remind me a lot of Adna in terms of athleticism and offensive scheme. We will have to make some adjustments, but our guys are excited for the opportunity to play another tough opponent.”

Taholah-Neah Bay

The week off for Taholah is a good thing for a squad that has played ironman football all season. The Chitwhins have relied upon Dylan James, Tom Anderson and others to lead and will need everyone against state 1B title contenders Neah Bay on Friday night.

The Red Devils (7-1), which lost to Lummi in a coin flip at the end of the regular season, showed their championship pedigree with an 82-8 win over Evergreen Lutheran last week. Neah Bay led 50-8 at the half and never let up.