Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
ODESSA – At least one athletics organization is ranking the Odessa Tigers as the top 1B football team to beat in Washington state.
In a preseason ranking released earlier this week by SBLive.com, Odessa is ranked as the top 8-man football team in the state, followed by league rival Almira/Coulee-Hartline.
The Tigers went 13-0 in the fall 2019 season and have been waiting to get on the gridiron to defend their state title.
Odessa running back Marcus King graduated, but quarterback Jett Nelson returns.
Across the county, the Warriors received the No. 2 ranking.
Almira/Coulee-Hartline went 11-2 last season, with the two losses only to Odessa. The Warriors finished third in the state in the 2019 season.
Naselle, which went 12-1, falling to Odessa in the 2019 title game, grabbed the No. 3 ranking.
The Comets will be lead this season by the Strange brothers, Jimmy and Joey.
Ranked No. 4, Lummi had an 8-4 record last season. According to SBLive, the Blackhawks return nearly all of their 2019 starters.
The Blackhawks reached the state quarterfinals in 2019, where they were stopped by Almira/Coulee-Hartline, 80-30.
Outside of the Top 4, SBLive ranks a former 2B team in the No. 5 spot.
The Liberty Christian Patriots of Richland have moved into the 8-man football ranks this season after finishing 5-4 in the 2B ranks in 2018.
Rounding out the Top 10 rankings are Quilcene, 6, Entiat, 7, Neah Bay, 8, Selkirk, 9, and Liberty Bell, 10.
Quilcene, Entiat, Neah Bay and Selkirk are traditionally 1B teams, but the Liberty Bell Mountain Lions are dropping from the 2B ranks where they played teams like Okanogan, Tonasket, Lake Roosevelt, Bridgeport and other stronger teams.
Despite the rankings, the coronavirus shutdowns have prompted the shortening of the football season so much that there isn’t likely to be state 1B football playoffs this season.
Odessa and Almira/Coulee-Hartline have a history of dominating the 1B football ranks in recent years.
Odessa topped ACH, 63-12, for the 2018 title.
The Warriors topped the Sunnyside Christian Knights, 84-60, to win the 2017 title, with Odessa finishing third after falling to the Knights.
Odessa-Harrington eliminated ACH in the 2016 state quarterfinals, 60-28, and advanced to the title game, where the local team lost, 64-34, to Neah Bay.
ACH won the state title in 2015, topping Lummi, 46-42. Odessa-Harrington made the playoffs that season, too, but fell in the state quarterfinals , 60-30, to Liberty Christian, which subsequently moved up to 2B football before dropping back to the 1B ranks this season.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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