The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

PASCO - The WP Cardinals football team was up against a team with a 37-game winning streak, and came up just short Friday night, losing 17-14. The two-time defending state champion Lind-Ritzville- Sprague Broncos took advantage of a safety and a questionable call on a field goal to move on in the playoffs.

"It was a hard-fought game," said WP coach Jeff Bartlow. "The first half we came out and really had a good defensive half."

After an early Bronco touchdown, the Cardinals came back with a Chance Leroue 16-yard pass reception from quarterback Jacob Dunn to take a 7-6 lead, with Antonio Benito's extra point. A bad Cardinal snap in the second quarter resulted in a safety - the only points scored in that quarter. WP trailed 8-7 at the half.

"We had to execute offensively, and because of our exchange (center to QB) was so poor, we missed opportunity after opportunity to score points in the first half," Bartlow said. "We could not execute some basic fundamentals and it cost us early and often."

Left: Cardinal running back Kobie Brown is swarmed by L-R-S defenders as he struggles for a couple of extra yards. Right: WP defender Jada Alfred (32) prepares to knock the ball loose from a Bronco receiver, just as he catches the ball.

Some tough calls by the referees hurt the Cardinals as well. L-R-S's final score was a 32-yard third quarter field goal. However, the play clock appeared to have expired before the ball was snapped.

Down 17-7 in the fourth quarter, Leroue scored again on a 19-yard pass from Dunn. But it wasn't enough.

For the game, Dunn was 14 of 26 passing, for 188 yards and two TDs. Leroue caught six passes for 116 yards and the two scores.

With the season ended, Bartlow was full of praise for his departing seniors. "This group of men will be missed and have given so much to the program," he said. "This is a group of seniors that has had a lot of success (40-9 record in their four years) and I will truly miss them and what they have given our program."

Those seniors are Luke Alexenko, Devin Acevedo, Chance Leroue, Owen Lanning, Michael Grant, Danny Stansell, Talen Larsen, Jada Alfred, Kobie Brown and Antonio Benito.