WAITSBURG -- The Cardinals find themselves exactly where they were last year -- undefeated (12- 0) and facing the equally undefeated Colfax Bulldogs (11-0) in the semi-final game of the state playoffs.

Even emotionally, the WP players are as confident and as ready as they were last year to take on their Eastern Washington rivals, who have knocked them out of the playoffs two years in a row.

"We want to win and we think we can," head coach Jeff Bartlow said. "The kids are really hungry. The kids really want it."

But some of the factors that go into this key duel against Colfax on Saturday ar...