State football preview: Trio of local EWAC West teams head east for first round
La Salle, Goldendale and Cle Elum were all rewarded for their Class 2B winner-to-state crossover victories with trips toward the Idaho border against well-rested opponents.
The No. 10 Lightning will face No. 7 Northwest Christian (Colbert) at Spokane's Union Stadium, No. 12 Goldendale will travel to No. 5 Freeman, and No. 15 Cle Elum will head to the state's southeast corner to play No. 2 Asotin.
All three host teams are members of the Northeast 2B and did not have to play a crossover to clinch a state berth.
La Salle coach Cody Lamb is impressed by the offensive balance Northwest Christian shows on film. The Crusaders (7-2) were state semifinalists last year, but Lamb is excited for his players to get their first state action. According to Lamb, many were kids playing behind the end zone at Marquette Stadium during the 2019 season, the last time La Salle (9-1) made the state playoffs.
The Crusaders, the third-place team out of their league, have only lost to Freeman and Asotin and have only allowed one other team to score more than 20 points against them.
The Lightning dominated the league awards, with Lamb earning coach of the year recognition, quarterback Johan Valladares sharing offensive player of the year and senior linebacker Kai Hanrahan winning defensive player of the year honors.
Goldendale coach Blake Lesko has the Timberwolves (7-2) back at state for the fourth time in row. They'll will have to pass a tough test to reach their second quarterfinal in a row.
Freeman, a 2B newcomer after making state three years in a row as a 1A team, shut out its last two opponents and has not allowed a point since Oct. 18.
The Timberwolves have shared the love on offense more this year after riding Matthew Gray to an All-State selection last fall. But that hasn't lessened the EWAC West's co-offensive player of the year;s effectiveness: He needed just six carries to reach 100 yards in a 56-6 state clinching rout of Lake Roosevelt to clinch a state bid.
The Warriors (7-3) will make the four-hour trek to Asotin hoping to hand the Panthers (9-0) their first loss of the season.
"They line up and smack you in the mouth," Cle Elum coach Mike Cameron said. "And they've done that pretty well."
As stout as the Panthers appear, Cameron did point out River View scored 47 points in a shootout loss to Asotin in September. Cle Elum beat the Panthers 35-13 in an EWAC crossover two weeks ago as it rallied for a state berth after lopsided losses to Goldendale and La Salle.
Coach Mike Cameron says his team is much healthier now then it was during that two-game slide, when at times they were down to 13 healthy players.
Senoirs JJ Beiter and Cole Dunham have been key parts of the Warriors' first state trip since a quarterfinal appearance in 2012. Beiter, a tight end and linebacker, and Dunham, an offensive and defensive lineman, were first-team all-league picks on both sides of the ball.
