Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Season finale set for Coulee City
Odessa senior quarterback Sean DeVore sweeps outside past Wellpinit sophomore defensive back Dane LoneBear McCrae.
Senior nose tackle Tucker Walter and his parents.
Senior defensive end Cason Watson and his parents.
Senior end Garrick Rosman Watson and his parents.
Senior defensive back Jesse Reeves and his mother.
Senior quarterback Sean DeVore and his parents.
Senior running back Corbyn Neilson and his parents.
ODESSA - The Odessa Tigers cruised to an easy Homecoming victory Friday, Oct. 25, over the visiting Wellpinit Redskins.
In an 8-man football game with playoff implications, the Tigers rolled to a 62-14 win, with the Redskins scoring only on their first and last possessions of the game.
"Wow. I did not expect it to go that way," Coach Joe Schlomer said. "Last year, they beat us twice. They handled us very well twice."
Not this time.
The Redskins brought nine seniors into the game; Odessa brought six.
The six seniors included Garrick Rosman, Neilson, Sean DeVore, Tucker Walter, Cason Watson and Jesse Reeves.
"They made a heck of a contribution to this school," the coach said.
Odessa took the opening kickoff and marched down the field. With 6:43 showing on the clock, senior Corbyn Neilson ran off-guard for an 18-yard TD. Aiden Valine added the 2-point conversion for an 8-8 lead.
About a minute later, the Redskins would get on the board, as senior quarterback Cruz Leyva hit senior Adam Moyer on a 48-yard TD pass. Senior Jace Lovato added 2 points and the score stood at 8-8 with 5:40 left in the quarter.
"Then things started clicking," Coach Schlomer said. "And wow, it was a very good game."
Odessa would strike again mid-way through the second quarter, when DeVore hit Neilson on a 16-yard flare pass. He also added the 2-point conversion to take a 16-8 lead with 7:37 left in the half.
After that, it was all Odessa.
Valine scored on a 4-yard dive with 5:01 left in the half and again on a 6-yard sweep with 26 seconds left in the half.
The Tigers went into the Homecoming halftime break with a 30-8 lead.
Neilson added a 77-yard TD run with 2:26 left in the third and Walter added the 2-point conversion for a 38-8 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Walter scored on a 16-yard run up the center, with DeVore adding 2 points. Walter then scored on a 5-yard dive and added 2 more points midway through the final stanza.
Neilson closed out the victory with a 87-yard TD run with 1:16 to go in the game.
With second-string players on the field the rest of the game, Wellpinit's back-up quarterback Joshua Park scored on a 50-yard quarterback keeper on the last play of the game.
With the game over, Coach Schlomer said he he couldn't be more prouder of his team.
"I'm very proud of these boys and very proud of our six seniors," he said. "Corbyn is Corbyn. My goodness, he's our tank."
The coach also credited Valine and Walter.
"I'm very proud of these boys and very proud of our six seniors. "Our running game did good; we didn't have to do much passing," he said. "And when we did pass, we didn't do too bad.
"It was an all-round good game."
The coach credited his defense for stopping the Redskin offense and causing multiple turnovers.
"We had six turnovers," he said. "We haven't had that many in a long time."
He also credited his assistant coaches, Charles Short and Colley Walter, noting that in his second-year as head coach it's "getting more fun and more fun."
The win puts Odessa (7-1) in the No. 2 spot in the Northeast 1B league, behind Wilbur-Creston (8-0). The Tigers will travel to Coulee City for a 7 p.m. game Friday night against the league's No. 3 team, Almira/Coulee-Hartline (6-2).
"It'll be a good old-fashioned showdown," the coach said. "It'll be a fun one."
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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