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TRI-CITIES, Washington - A Pacific Coast special is on line for Saturday of this week, as the 5-0 Elks visit the 4-1 Loggers. This is one of the storied rivalries in Coastal B-8 history, with LQ holding the edge over the last ten meetings 7-3.

Undefeated this season, LQ is playing not only for position in the Pacific Coast elite and to continue its winning ways over WVHS, the Elks have great emotional motivation this year, having dedicated its season to their injured coach, Ron Hoiness. Coach Hoiness was in a rather serious motorcycle accident this past summer, and while his recovery has been dramatic, he is not yet medically cleared to return to the LQ sideline. LQ under assistant coach Brad Carstenson has been playing with grit and fire, using a bruising full house backfield to run roughshod over their opponents.

On offense, LQ returned a great number of juniors and seniors and give numerous players time carrying the ball from the backfield. Senior Michael Mayton and junior Cameron Daniels share time at QB, while Josiah Rhodes starts at RB, spelled by Clifford Gooby. Harry Peterson is the starter at FB, while Tyler Allen and Marcos Arreguin also get some reps at FB. With seven different players carrying the ball out of the starting set, LQ can give a wealth of different looks and continually rotate in fresh legs to pummel opposing defenses.

Defensively, the Elks maintain a balanced, disciplined set. Stunts and blitzes are rare in the LQ defense, meaning that the opposing offense won’t have an opportunity to exploit over-aggressive rushes. LQ has been outscoring their opponents 354-94, so defense and offense have been working well in tandem to bring the Elks to this point. With LQ returning a bunch of seasoned players, sporting an undefeated season, a #6 ranking, a recent history of beating Wishkah and the emotional intensity that accompanies playing for an injured coach, it would look as if the Elks have the upper-hand traveling to Wishkah.

Not so fast.

Wishkah Valley appears to be for real this year. An observer from the Whitworth camp reports that the Loggers this year “. . .are all built like tree stumps, but they move darned quick. They are prototypical Loggers; all about 5’10” and 210 pounds, and they can move.” Wishkah is 4-1, having played only 5 games due to Taholah cancelling on the Loggers earlier this year. That lone loss? 44-38 to now #2 Lacrosse-Washtucna-Kahlotus. L-W-K had its hands full with WVHS last September, and with a couple of special-team bounces going the other way, it might well be Wishkah going in undefeated this weekend.

Ono offense, WVHS presents a balanced threat. They can bust the ball on the ground with QB Nick Marsh, WR/RB Johnny Boggs, or use the quick feet of WR/RB Daniel Wareham, or Marsh can air it out to Boggs, Wareham or receivers Ben Clark and Nathan Marsh. While LQ presents a never-ending running offense, WVHS will sometimes evenly split the ball on the ground or in the air. Opposing defenses have to remain honest against the Loggers. Cheat the LBs up close, and Marsh will beat you in the air. Stand back and play safe in the secondary, and Marsh/Boggs/Wareham can savage you on the ground.

Defensively, WVHS plays a standard 4-3, relying on Marsh at linebacker and Boggs at safety to captain the defense and keep them on task. One thing the Logger defense is known for is hitting and hitting hard. Against Oakville, WVHS defenders sent three Acorn players off the field for the rest of the day. They will need to maintain that intensity against an Elk offense that hits equally hard, all day long.

Keys to the game: For LQ, they need to maintain that emotional intensity while simultaneously keeping team discipline. Emotion has carried the Elks far, but that will not be sufficient by itself to contain the Wishkah offense. Too much Nick Marsh can ruin your whole day on the Pacific Coast. LQ has to keep to that containing defense, and the line backing corps has a tough task ahead in reading and reacting to the Wishkah offense and Nick Marsh’s choices. If the LBs can read and react quickly enough while tackling surely, they have a chance at stopping Marsh and the WVHS attack long enough for the Elk offense to take advantage. They may need to gamble and stunt on occasion to try and get into Marsh’s head. What the Elks cannot do is fall behind. Playing catch-up with a power-running offense such as LQ is a tall order. The Elks have to stay close early in the game and aim for a lower-scoring contest. Pressure is on the defense to execute soundly.

On offense, sure blocking with lots of skill-position rotation has to be the order of the day. Relying too much upon too few ball carriers will sap Elk energy in the face of the hard-hitting Wishkah defense. LQ has to get the ball to as many carriers as they can. They have the legs to last. Can they execute the offense?

For Wishkah, if Nick Marsh and Johnny Boggs can get loose on offense and keep the LQ defense guessing, the Loggers should prevail. But if Marsh is off his rhythm and LQ gets a chance to smell blood in the water and the Logger offense stalls, it could be a long day for Wishkah. However, if the Loggers get up early, LQ will have a hard time playing catch-up.

This is another one of those great games on paper. On paper, I like the skill sets of the Loggers, and expect after a long, bruising afternoon for both teams, Wishkah will prevail. Now let’s see what happens on the field.

WISHKAH VALLEY 30, Lake Quinalt 18.