Montesano and Elma renew their East County Civil War rivalry as the final week of the prep football regular season is chock full of matchups with massive playoff implications on the line.
ELMA AT MONTESANO
When and where: 7 p.m. Friday at Jack Rottle Field, Montesano
Players to watch: Montesano — Mateo Sanchez C/LB, Jayden McElravy QB/LB, Kaleb Ames WR/DB, Gabe Bodwell RB/DL. Elma — Carter Studer QB/OLB, Gibson Cain WR/DB, Kyren Hackney WR/DB.
The prep football regular season on the Twin Harbors started with one great rivalry game and will end with another when Montesano and Elma will renew the East County Civil War on Friday in Montesano.
The Bulldogs (6-2 overall, 2-1 1A Evergreen) dropped to No. 9 in the current scorebooklive.com rankings after a bitter loss to Tenino and will need a win to lock up second place in the 1A Evergreen League.
When Monte is on its game it’s usually the defense leading the way as the Bulldogs have allowed just under nine points per game in its six wins.
In Monte’s two losses, the Bulldogs gave up 33 and 38 points.
Elma (2-5, 0-2) is in the midst of a four-game losing streak that included a forfeiture loss to Eatonville last week due to illness.
The Eagles (2-6, 0-3) have averaged 25 points a game this season, spearheaded by an air attack — led by junior quarterback Carter Studer — who has thrown for over 1,400 yards this season.
DAILY WORLD FILE PHOTO Elma quarterback Carter Studer has passed for 1,452 yards this season and will lead the Eagles into the East County Civil War against Montesano on Friday.
Elma’s defense has had trouble slowing down the opposition, yielding 33 points per game this season including 137 points over its last three games played.
Montesano has dominated the rivalry over the past two decades, winning the past 16 meetings between the two teams, including last season’s 31-6 victory at Davis Field.
ABERDEEN AT SHELTON
When and where: 7 p.m. Friday at Shelton High School
Players to watch: Aberdeen — Aidan Watkins RB/LB, Trey Anderson RB/LB, Jeremy Sawyer RB/LB. Shelton — Mason Goos QB, Dante Trickoff WR, Bradley Eleton RB/S.
Aberdeen enters the final week of the regular season in control of its own destiny.
The equation is simple for the Bobcats — a victory on Friday over Shelton and Aberdeen wins third place in the tough 2A Evergreen Conference and will play at Mark Morris in a 2A crossover game the following week.
A loss and the math begins to get a little fuzzy.
With Shelton falling 38-34 to Black Hills last week, an Aberdeen loss to the Highclimbers coupled with a Black Hills loss to Tumwater would create a three-way tie for third place in the conference.
If that were to happen, Aberdeen, Shelton and Black Hills would compete in a Kansas tie-breaker — the Bobcats’ third in four years — to determine the league’s final two playoff spots.
DAILY WORLD FILE PHOTO Aberdeen running back Aidan Watkins, left, and lineman Kenny Dawson are two key players to watch when the Bobcats take on Shelton this week with third-place in the 2A Evergreen Conference on the line.
Aberdeen (4-4, 3-2 2A Evergreen) is coming off a loss to league-champion WF West but is starting to get healthy and has seen the emergence of junior quarterback Grady Springer and junior running back Aidan Watkins, joining senior running backs Jeremy Sawyer and Trey Anderson in a talented backfield.
The Highclimbers are reeling a bit after dropping three of their last four games, including two straight league losses to Tumwater and Black Hills.
HOQUIAM AT EATONVILLE
When and where: 7 p.m. Thursday at Eatonville High School
Players to watch: Hoquiam — Zander Jump QB/LB, Owen McNeill WR/DB, Jake Templer RB/LB. Eatonville — Job Kralik QB, Dylan Norman RB.
Hoquiam faces a tough task on Friday as the Grizzlies take on a well-rested Eatonville Cruisers on the road Thursday.
The Grizzlies (4-4, 1-2 1A Evergreen) are coming off a non-league win over Centralia where the Grizzlies defense forced six turnovers.
They’ll need some of that magic against an Eatonville team that started off the season No. 1 in the scorebooklive.com and AP rankings but has fallen to No. 6 after a loss to Montesano earlier this season.
The Cruisers (6-1, 2-1) might be rusty as they have not hit the field since that upset loss to the Bulldogs back on Oct. 7 after a game against WF West was canceled followed by a forfeit by Elma last week.
If Hoquiam can somehow pulloff a massive upset, the Grizzlies will overtake the Cruisers for third place in the 1A Evergreen League.
MORTON-WHITE PASS AT RAYMOND-SOUTH BEND
When and where: 7 p.m. Friday at Millam Field, South Bend
Players to watch: RSB — Austin Snodgrass QB/DB, Ty Reidinger RB/LB, Ferrill Johnson RB. MWP — Brecken Pelletier RB, Judah Kelly QB, Carter Dantinne RB.
Two weeks ago, Raymond-South Bend was undefeated and thoughts of state-championship glory were swirling in Ravens circles.
But after back-to-back losses, RSB (6-2, 3-2 2B Central-North) is hoping to stave off Morton-White Pass for third place in the 2B Central-North League.
Like many an opponent before it, RSB was humbled by No. 1 Napavine last week in a 54-0 loss and needs a win over MWP to secure the No. 3 spot in league.
The Timberwolves (6-2, 3-2) are coming off a 42-0 blowout over Ilwaco in which T-Wolves running backs Brecken Pelletier and Carter Dantinne rushed for 204 and 155 yards, respectively.
NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN AT LAKE QUINAULT
When and where: 1 p.m. Saturday at Lake Quinault High School
Players to watch: Lake Quinault — Jesse Ferry QB/SS, Grady Fowler RB/CB, Charles Gumecindo WR/DB.
Five short years ago, Lake Quinault High School was without a football team.
On Saturday, the Elks will play for a championship.
Lake Quinault head coach Melvyn Houtz has built arguably the best 6-man football program in the state in his four seasons as Elks head coach after the program was resurrected in 2019. They’ll have a chance to prove it when the Elks host Northwest Christian in the 1B Coastal League 6-man championship at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The Elks (7-0, 4-0 1B Coastal 6-man) have dominated their opponents this season, averaging over 52 points per game.
The only opponent to come within 20 points of the Elks was Oakville, which lost to Lake Quinault 44-28 back in the season opener on Sept. 10.
The Elks scored their most points in a game this season against the Wolverines (3-3, 2-1) in a 73-32 win two weeks ago.
Lake Quinault has multiple weapons, with quarterback Jesse Ferry and running backs Grady Fowler and Charles Gumecindo being just a few players that have scored touchdowns for the Elks this season.
OTHER GAMES
North Beach at Ocosta (7 p.m. Friday) — First year Ocosta head coach Keith Beck has the Wildcats riding a four-game winning streak and will face North Beach in an 8-man contest on Friday.
Taholah at Wishkah Valley (1 p.m. Saturday) — Winless Taholah hopes to close out the season with a victory over Wishkah Valley, which picked up its second win of the season last week.
