Comets and Mules continue winning streaks

Victories in the 1B Southwest Conference are becoming routine for Wahkiakum and Naselle, as both programs seized wins in their week six matchups.

Naselle's record improved to 5-1, and Wahkiakum marked its sixth win in six games, a perfect start. Both squads find themselves ranked in the top 10 in Washington 1B football, with the Mules sitting in third, and the Comets slightly behind in seventh.

Mules making mark

The Mules made mincemeat of the North Beach Hyaks during their homecoming game on Oct. 10. It was a game Wahkiakum expected to win, and the Mules' execution left zero doubt, as they bashed North Beach 60-8.

The 52-point win was the third time the Mules have beaten an opponent by more than 50 points, and the fifth time they've won by more than 40 points. The closest game Wahkiakum had this year was a 52-16 win against Waterville/Mansfield on Sept. 19. With each passing week and wide-margin victory, Head Coach Ryan Lorenzo and the Mules' focus stays the same.

"Get better," Lorenzo said. "Football season is a race to see who can be the best by the end of the season. If you're not getting better, you're getting worse."

In the 60-8 win against North Beach, there were plenty of standout performances, but senior Preston West made quite the impression, showing positional acuity in a new role.

"Preston West has been working hard to transition from the D-line last year to LB," Lorenzo said. "This game, it looked like he really started to figure it out."

It wasn't just on defense that West made his presence felt, though. One of the head-turning moments of the game was a 90-yard touchdown reception. When West got hold of the ball, nothing was going to stand in his way of finding the pay dirt. He "punished" his would-be tacklers and refused to be taken down, ultimately bringing the ball in for six.

Emory Filkowski was another player who stepped up, filling in at cornerback for the injured Parker Leitz. Playing out of position, Filkowski had a lot of solid tackles and blanketed his assignments with good coverage.

In the trenches, Joe Merz and the defensive line were "great all night," according to Lorenzo.

"Cameron Mendez and Ethan Hurley were getting blocked by five guys on some plays, and they stood their ground as much as possible," the coach said.

Looking ahead, Wahkiakum appears on track to continue its perfect season when it takes on Chief Leschi on Oct. 17. Chief Leschi is 1-4 this season and is coming off a 58-8 loss to Naselle. With just three games left on the calendar, Wahkiakum is looking to keep the momentum going as the playoffs draw closer.

"I would say the energy in the locker room is confident," Lorenzo said. "They know what they are capable of and are ready to show what they can do in four quarters."

Comets continue crushing

Naselle's 58-8 win against Chief Leschi last Friday was the type of performance that Head Coach Kevin McNulty has started becoming accustomed to, and it's a result he expected.

"They didn't do anything different than what our scouting report said, and they had trouble with our pressure all night," McNulty said. "Offensively, we could do pretty much anything we wanted."

The Comets got off the blocks with a 63-yard touchdown run from Gus Burkhalter in the first quarter. Eli Gardner tacked on the second touchdown of the quarter for the Comets with an explosive punt return that saw him blow by Chief Leschi's special teams. Burkhalter added another touchdown to his stat line with another scintillating big play to close out the first frame. He received a short punt at about the 30-yard line, and proceeded to speed up the field, cut through the crowd and, after making multiple defenders miss, he walked into the endzone unscathed. Burkhalter provided a spark for the Comets that had been missing during his absence.

"Gus Burkhalter is seeing a little action right now, which is nice, when you get one of your best backs back in the lineup getting some reps," McNulty said.

The Comets put the game out of reach within the first quarter, throwing up 30 points while surrendering none. After that, there were plenty of reps for the JV young guys to get experience-building touches.

"I think our varsity got in 15 or 16 plays, and then our JVs played a lot," McNulty said. "They played from the second quarter on. So we didn't get much playing. Our varsity offense never hit the field again."

While there wasn't much to write home about for the dominant varsity squad, McNulty was happy with the play of the younger guys on the team. Marvin Tucker turned in a solid performance, and freshman Kayden Wirkkala and junior Brett Chandler both played well at linebacker. McNulty was happy with the play of Naselle's next generation of players, even if there wasn't much suspense in the tale.

Looking ahead to this week, McNulty said he's uncertain whether Taholah will field a team on Friday. The coach said he's scrambling to lock in an opponent this week, but is unsure it will materialize on such short notice. The final two games on Naselle's schedule are against Oakville and Ocosta, who, along with Wahkiakum, figure to be two of the better teams in the Comets' league. With under a month until the playoffs, McNulty is looking to glean as much productivity and improvement out of the final matchups as he can.

"As soon as you hit state, things get serious, so you have to be able to play," McNulty said. "You may not have a top-tier [opponent] week in, and week out, but you do at the state level."

Naselle will keep playing its brand of football and will hope the results give it another chance to compete for a state title.