The golden right arm of Heritage quarterback Garrett Grayson slowed the Kelso Hilanders’ march toward a playoff berth in Greater St. Helens 4A League football last week. Slowed, yes. Ended, no.

The Hilanders (5-2, 2-1 league) take on Skyview (5-2, 3-0 league) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Kiggins Bowl in Vancouver, with the winner having the inside track to at least the No. 2 berth to the playoffs from the GSHL 2A.

Kelso can earn the No. 1 berth with a win over Skyview, a win over Battle Ground on Oct. 30 and a Heritage loss to Skyview on Oct. 30.

If the Hilanders hadn’t lost to Heritage 30-29 in overtime last Friday at Schroeder Field, Thursday night’s game would have been for the GSHL 4A crown.

Skyview can secure a playoff spot and a share of the league title with a win against the Hilanders. The Storm can secure the outright title with a win over Kelso and a Mountain View win over Heritage.

If Kelso loses Thursday, it could still back into the No. 2 spot if Heritage loses to Mountain View on Friday and to Skyview on Oct. 30.

Thursday night’s game can be heard live on KLOG (1490).

Six local athletes garner WIAA/Times state honors

A half-dozen area prep standouts have been honored in recent weeks as State Athletes of the Week by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association and the Seattle Times.

In Class 2A, Meagan Hollis of R.A. Long and Danielle Gilchrist of Mark Morris were honored in successive weeks. Hollis, a freshman, served 17-of-19, had 14 blocks, five assists and 10 kills in a GSHL 2A victory over Woodland.

Gilchrist served 19 points, including seven aces, and had 28 assists in a GSHL 2A victory over R.A. Long, and served nine points with nine aces and had 20 assists in a league win over Washougal.

Three Rivers Christian volleyball players Myriah Dombrowsky and Catherine Maldonado were also honored in successive weeks. Dombrowsky had 51 assists, 19 aces, 23 kills and 20 digs in three Columbia Valley 1B League matches, and Maldonado had 36 kills and 29 digs for the Eagles during the recent Terrier Invitational hosted the Washington School for the Deaf.

In Class 2B, Naselle’s Logan Scrabeck was honored after carrying the ball eight times for 131 yards and a touchdown, caught a 60-yard touchdown pass, and had five tackles in a 57-6 nonleague football victory over Seattle Lutheran.

La Center’s Dillon Kelly was chosen in Class 1A after rushing 14 times for 253 yards including scoring runs of 2, 22, 28, 29 and 50 yards in a 40-7 SWW 1A Trico football victory over Ilwaco.

OSAA to determine 2010-14 league alignments soon

The complexion of the Lewis and Clark 3A League will look much the same for the next four years if the Oregon State Activities Association (OSAA) approves a classification and districting recommendation at a special meeting on Monday.

If approved for the next four years beginning next fall through spring 2014, Class 3A leagues including the Lewis and Clark would feature schools with enrollments of 226-399 students.

Next fall, the league roster would include Rainier (375 students), Valley Catholic (362), Oregon Episcopal (304), Catlin Gabel (289), Clatskanie (285), DeLaSalle North (252), Warrenton (248), Corbett (240) and Portland Adventist (237).

Two teams from this year’s Lewis and Clark League — Vernonia (222) and Neah-Kah-Nie (219) — would drop down to the Class 2A Northwest League, which includes schools with 106-225 students.

But one of the problems the OSAA encountered since switching from four to six classifications in 2006 was a $1 million jump in expenses because of an increase in team travel reimbursement and tournament event costs.

The OSAA is a private nonprofit that receives no direct funding from state government. The organization must support itself with school fees, sponsorships and gate receipts, its largest revenue source.

In an attempt to get its budget back in line, the OSAA has consolidated state tournaments in some sports, increased school membership fees and increased adult ticket prices to championship events.

The OSAA is also considering reducing the number of teams and individuals qualifying for state, which would also decrease travel expenses.

Hoquiam may drop from 2A to SWW 1A League

A recent decision by the Hoquiam School Board to separate its online school from other schools in the district may entitle the high school to drop down one classification from the current Class 2A Evergreen Conference to the SWW 1A League.

According to a story in the Aberdeen Daily World, the board decided to designate the HomeLink online school as separate, and its 110 students wouldn’t be counted among the enrollment in the district’s other schools. According to projections, Hoquiam High would have 527 students with the HomeLink enrollees and 491 without.

The 491 figure is still above the predicted 2010-12 classification range for Class 1A, but the district could appeal to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) for a drop in classification.

Currently, Hoquiam is one of the smallest 2A schools in the state, ahead of Sultan (492), Ridgefield (480), Riverside (477) and Archbishop Murphy (376). Archbishop Murphy is below the Class 2A minimum of 468, but the school opted up.

At the high end of the current 2A list are Evergreen Conference rivals Aberdeen (908) and River Ridge (900). The present 2A enrollment range is 468-918, and the expected range for 2010-12 will be 478-1,020.

Flu has been a tough foe for small-school teams

A pair of area football teams recently played with depleted troops because of the flu, and each team had different results.

Tenino suited up only 16 players for its recent 59-0 loss to top-ranked Montesano in an SWW 1A Evergreen matchup, and Mossyrock had 20 players available in a recent 27-0 triumph over Morton/White Pass in a Central 2B League contest.

Tuesday’s Seton Catholic at Three Rivers Christian volleyball match in the Columbia Valley 1B League was postponed because of a flu outbreak at Three Rivers.

Yelm star running back Almeida out for season

Apparently rushing for more than 1,400 yards and 20 touchdowns in six games was too much for Yelm’s Andrew Almeida.

Almeida, a senior, tore the meniscus in his knee on the final play of the first half in Yelm’s recent 34-13 loss to Olympic. So far, he has rushed for a single-season school record 1,412 yards and 20 TDs through six games (235.3 yards per game average), eclipsing the old mark of 1,220 yards amassed in 10 games.

A huge reason for the 5-foot-10, 170-pound Almeida’s success is the Tornadoes’ offensive line, which averages 285 pounds.

Tyler Tingley is the big boy on the Yelm line at 345 pounds, followed by Cassidhe Coulter (295), Austin Brownell (275), Travis Erb (260) and Bo Moon (245).