The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - Those who were there last year will never forget the scene. When the final whistle blew, sealing WP's 35-28 victory over DeSales, the home crowd in the bleachers and on the sideline swarmed the field in jubilation. It was the first time in nine years that the Cardinals had beat the Irish, and it seemed to matter more than the out­come

of any other game that season except for the playoffs.

The two teams are gearing up for another showdown Thursday at 7 p.m. in Waits­burg. Both coaches' athletes and communities are look­ing forward to another clash between teams that are tough and well-matched again this year.

"This team is always good, and this year is no exception," WP head coach Jeff Bartlow said. "If it is anything like it was last year, it will be crazy again."

DeSales head coach Pat Graham said his young team (the Irish have only five returning seniors) will have a challenge against WP, par­ticularly

in face of the goal-scoring connection between quarterback Zach Bartlow and running back Kris Cady.

"WP has some very tal­ented players," he said. "The offense powered by Bartlow

and Cady is the best tan­dem in our league and ca­pable of a big play any time." But DeSales has plenty of talent as well. Where Waits­burg

has Bartlow and Cady plus such rushing leaders as Justin Armstrong and Dalton Estes, DeSales has a new but very good quarterback by the name of Jeremiah Cox, a sophomore who trans­ferred from Walla Walla High School this year. "He has a very good arm," Bartlow said. Graham said Cox has worked well with veteran receivers Tommy Gregg, Ryan Baumgart and Mike Matthews. DeSales' leading rusher is Kyle Lindgren, who has run an average of 127 yards per game in DeSales' first three games of the season com­pared

to Kris Cady's 113.8 average yards per game from all four WP games so far. "Kyle has carried the workload for us," said Gra­ham, who is in his second year as coach. When it comes to passing, the two quarterbacks' stats are almost dead even: Bartlow's 45 completions out of 81 throws (56 percent) for 672 yards and Cox's 35 out of 63 (55 percent) for 524 yards.

WP's leading receivers include Cady with 12 catches and 181 yards, T.J. Hofer will 11 catches for 156 yards and Dalton Estes with six catches for 132 yards. DeSales' top receivers are Nick Wales with 10 catches and 151 yards, Gregg with eight for 150 and Baumgart with one for 110.

In its first four games, WP has scored eight touchdowns while DeSales has gotten seven in its first three games. DeSales beat Yakima's La­Salle in overtime, lost to Col­fax but won against Yakima's White Swan in their third game, putting them at 2-1 for the season. WP is 4-0 after beating the Chiawana Riv­erhawks 30-7 last Thursday (see story on page x). "They run and pass well and will again be a great test for us," Bartlow said about this year's DeSales' team. Overall, the Irish seem to be better in the air than on the ground so far this year. WP rushed for 861 yards com­pared to the DeSales' 398 yards of less than half with one fewer game. The Cardinals passed for 672 yards, while DeSales threw the ball for 581 yards. Total offense for WP was 1,533 yards and 979 yards for DeSales. The Cardinals' defense allowed 718 rush­ing

and 164 passing yards for 882 yards. The Irish's defense allowed 518 yards rushing and 330 yards pass­ing for 848 yards. Graham said his team has no big linemen or tall receiv­ers and feels his Irish are "fairly undersized." "It should be a good game," he said. "WP is well-coached, has a big, strong defensive line and explosive offensive players. We have to execute well to succeed."

In last year's historic up­set, WP defeated DeSales 35-28.

"It was one for the ages," a jubilant head coach Bartlow said right after the game.

"We'd score, then they'd score. Then they'd score two in a row and we'd score two in a row."

The game was a nailbiter to the bitter end. Still tied at 28, quarterback and then-sophomore Zach Bartlow geared up for a pass on the 29-yard line and connected with receiver Zac Alexenko at the five-yard line.

Alexenko, who graduated earlier this year, ran it into the end zone and James Lehr, also a senior, scored the extra point boot with 19 seconds remaining in the game. There wasn't enough time for the Irish to come back.