The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

PASCO - On Friday night, the Waitsburg Prescott football team took a big step toward their goal of reaching the state championship game by beating Tonasket, 27-6. They face a much bigger challenge this week.

This Friday, the Cardinals face a team with a 37-game winning streak, two-time defending state champions Lind-Ritzville- Sprague. The last time L-R-S lost a game was in the 2011 playoffs, to WP, 42-7. The Cardinals were on their way to the state title.

Against Tonasket, the Cardinals' defense stepped up in a big way, holding the Tigers scoreless through the first three quarters.

WP Coach Jeff Bartlow had nothing but praise for his team's defensive effort. "Our defensive line (Tristan Newman, Levi Hatfield and Mark Montgomery) played their best game together, and with the support of our four senior linebackers (Danny Stansell, Devin Acevedo, Chance Leroue & Michael Grant) and our two safeties (Talen Larsen and Jason Carter) shut down their run. Our corners (Kobie Brown, Jada Alfred and Luke Alexenko) all were involved in making plays all night long."

Alexenko had a particularly strong defensive night. "Two pass deflects and an interception in the endzone ended threats from their offense," said Bartlow. "That was Luke's eighth interception of the season. He has been great on the pass defense all season."

The Cardinals started the game with a crucial fumble recovery. On Tonasket's first drive Defensive lineman Tristan Newman knocked the ball loose from an Eagle runner and Michael Grant recovered the ball. Four plays later, quarterback Jacob Dunn hit Devin Acevedo on a 17-yard touchdown pass.

"That was a huge play for our team and got us going in the right direction," said Bartlow.

Dunn found Acevedo again in the second quarter, this time for a 29-yard touchdown. "Devin has great concentration and really wants the ball at crunch time," Bartlow said, "and he proved it on both TD catches."

In the third quarter, Cardinal running back Kobe Brown scored on a 28-yard run, making the score 21-0. WP was then able to switch to a pass-oriented defense. "We could then change a few things on defense as they would now feel the need to throw the ball," he said.

The Cardinals scored their final touchdown in the fourth quarter on a Travis Crockett 25-yard run near the end of the game.

For the game, Crockett had 74 yards rushing on 15 carries, and Brown had 46 yards on seven rushes. Dunn completed 12 of 18 pass attempts for 178 yards and two touchdowns. He had no interceptions. Acevedo had four catches for 79 yards, including the two touchdowns, and Alexenko caught three passes for 36 yards.

Friday's game against L-R-S starts at 7 p.m. at Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco. "It will be a huge challenge for us and our guys are excited for that challenge," said Bartlow. Of L-R-S's 37 straight wins, he said, "It is an amazing winning streak that includes two 2B State Titles. The road for any team on this side of the state has to go through L-R-S."