Story Photos
 Castle Rock's Chris Tinney gets loose from an Orting defender and runs for a long gain in the Rockets' 34-21 victory in the first round of the Class 1A State Football Playoffs on Saturday. Greg Ebersole / The Daily News
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State quarters have familiar foes
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 8:06 AM PST
By Ben Zimmerman
Printable version
E-mail this articleThe state football quarterfinals will serve up reunions for the area’s two remaining playoff teams on Saturday. Don’t expect a lot of barbecue, badminton or family fun.
Naselle will look to avenge its only league loss of the season when it takes on Pacific 2B League champion Willapa Valley at noon on Saturday in Tumwater in a Class 2B quarterfinal. The Comets are seeking the first state semifinal berth in school history, after losing in the quarters last season.
Later Saturday evening, Castle Rock travels to Puyallup for a 1A quarterfinal showdown against Cascade Christian, a team the Rockets defeated 24-21 on a last-second touchdown pass in the first round of the 2006 state playoffs.
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Sparks Stadium.
Castle Rock (9-2) last advanced to the semifinals in 2000, as a Class 2A team. The Rockets lost in the quarterfinals in ‘04, ‘05 and ‘06 and were knocked out in the first round last year.
Naselle (6-4) did not play well in its first meeting with the fourth-ranked Vikings (11-0), committing five turnovers.
The Comets have already tasted vengeance in the playoffs. Naselle exploded for 402 rushing yards on Saturday in a first-round 34-7 blowout of Seattle Lutheran, which beat the Comets 22-19 on Oct. 18.
Naselle struggled through a series of injuries to key players this year but finished league play strong, with three consecutive victories, as its health improved.
Willapa Valley has also improved. In destroying Tacoma Baptist 33-7 in a first-round playoff game on Saturday, the Vikings flaunted a new-found versatility in their offense. After completing zero passes — aside from two-point conversion plays — in Pacific League wins over Naselle and South Bend in early October, Valley quarterback Matt Friese was 8-for-11 for 236 yards and four touchdowns against TB.
Three of Friese’s scoring strikes went to Jon Pulsifer, who did not play in the first meeting with Naselle.
The Vikings are making their 10th straight state playoff tour but had lost in the first round in three of their previous four appearances.
While Naselle looks for revenge, Castle Rock will seek to deny Cascade Christian that pleasure. After the Cougars dismantled Kalama 38-0 in a first-round game on Saturday, CC head coach Randy Davis told The Tacoma News Tribune that his team was anxious to “exorcise some demons” against the Rockets.
“Castle Rock got us three years ago on a last-second play,” he said.
Few Rockets fans will ever forget the 30-yard bomb from Clint Burgoyne to Lucas Myers with five seconds remaining in that ‘06 classic. Obviously, the Cougars haven’t forgotten either.
Cascade Christian is ranked fourth in the state, and can count among its more impressive victories a 28-6 whipping of the same sixth-ranked Orting team that Castle Rock beat 34-21 in a first-rounder Saturday.
Kalama coach Mark Buchanan called the Cougars “probably one of the top three or four teams I’ve ever coached against in my career” after the Chinooks were shut out by CC on Saturday.
“They’re solid in every aspect,” he added. “They’re a senior-laden team with good players at every position. We would’ve had to play our best and hope for some breaks.”
Castle Rock beat Kalama 43-0 in October.
The Rockets will have their hands full with the Cougars’ aerial duo of quarterback Ben Johnson and Austin Mulcahey. In two playoff victories, Johnson has passed for 458 yards, 316 to fellow senior Mulcahey.
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