Nothing odd about Panther streak

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Things are odd up at White Pass High School and, believe it or not, that's a good thing.

The odd is in the year, 2005. And, for the Panther football team, odd-numbered years have been good as of late. The 2001 and 2003 squads both made it to the playoffs and the 2005 team is heading that way.

The Panthers have won three straight after an 0-2 start and find themselves alone in third place in the SWW 1A League at 3-1. White Pass looks to make it four-in-a-row Friday night when it travels to Winlock.

The Cardinals have been headed in the opposite direction. The young squad has been hurt by some injuries and has lost three straight.

Winlock will have to try to contain Panther quarterback James Rae, who accounted for five touchdowns in last week's victory over Toledo. Rae ran for 100 yards last week, but is also dangerous throwing, especially to his favorite target, Josh Moody.

The most important game in the league may be Onalaska at Ocosta. The Loggers rebounded nicely after their loss at Kalama and thumped Rainier 47-20. Ony is 2-1 in league play (4-1 overall). Ocosta has been up and down this season. The Wildcats blasted Napavine in Week 2, but have lost two straight league games (to league-leading Ilwaco and White Pass) before beating 2A Forks last week in a nonleague game.

Speaking of Ilwaco, ranked No. 9 again this week by WashingtonPreps.com, it travels to Napavine to face a Tiger team that is coming off a 40-6 loss at Kalama last week.

In the other league matchup, Kalama is at Rainier. Toledo steps out of league play and hosts B-11 Lyle as the Indians search for their first win of the season. Lyle has scored just six points this season and given up 224.

Class 2A

Rochester needs to find some offense, but that might be a bit difficult against highly touted Montesano.

The Warriors have scored a league-low 28 points in five games and are coming off a 57-3 nonleague loss to Woodland that left them at 0-5 on the year. Montesano, at 5-0 overall and 1-0 in league, is the only school in the SWW 2A Evergreen Division with a winning record.

The Bulldogs are ranked No. 4 behind No. 1 Archbishop Murphy, No. 2 Pullman and No. 3 Cashmere.

Tenino makes the long trip to Forks. The Beavers have lost 22 straight games, but face a suspect Forks team. The Spartans' only win came at home two weeks ago against Rochester.



Elsewhere, Hoquiam travels to Elma.

Class B-11

Adna unleashed a powerful running game at Morton last week as the Pirates won their CBL opener.

With quarterback Robbie Elliott, Adna has been able to throw the ball effectively most of the season despite a 2-3 record. But it was the ground game that racked up 421 yards against the Huskies. Three Pirate running backs rushed for more than 100 yards each.

Mossyrock doubled its offensive output for the season in a 32-24 loss to Toutle Lake last week. The Vikings had scored just 12 points coming into the Duck contest.

Morton is on the road Saturday at Vancouver Christian. The Huskies and the Light are no strangers as they met just two weeks ago with Morton picking up its only win of the season in a 27-13 verdict.

The other league contest has fourth-ranked Wahkiakum traveling to Toutle Lake.

The Mules are the only CBL team ranked this week while the Pacific B League has No.2 Willapa Valley, No. 9 Tacoma Baptist and No. 10 South Bend. Valley beat TB last week 27-26.

Class B-8

The Pacific Coast B-8 League finally gets into league play this week and the two local teams out of the South Division, Oakville and Pe Ell, hook up in Pe Ell.

The Acorns are 4-1 after beating Lake Quinault 20-12 last week. It was a nice rebound victory for Oakville, which was blown out 48-0 at Lummi two weeks ago.

The Trojans are 2-3 after another shootout last week. Pe Ell has scored 82 points the past two weeks, but is just 1-1. The Trojans beat Taholah 58-52 two weeks ago, but dropped a 42-24 decision to Wishkah Valley last week.

In other league play, Taholah is at Wishkah Valley on Saturday.