Bruins Expect A Devilish Time -- Cascade, Walla Walla Meet In AAA Semis

Sounding more like a parent than a football coach, Terry Ennis hopes the Cascade Bruins have learned their lesson.

The second-ranked Bruins traveled to Kelso last week to take on the unranked Hilanders in a quarterfinal game of the Class AAA playoffs.

The underdog Hilanders refused to back down to the Western AAA Conference champions, leading most of the second half and controlling the line of scrimmage.

Cascade scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the second with seven seconds left, to pull out a 21-17 victory.

The Bruins face another stiff challenge this week from the sixth-ranked Walla Walla Blue Devils. Cascade (11-0) plays the 10-1 Blue Devils in a semifinal game tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. in Pasco.

For all the X's and O's of football, games usually boil down to a few basics. The team that plays with the most intensity, intelligence, aggressiveness and emotion wins most of the time.

That's what Cascade played with in the fourth quarter against Kelso. The Bruins will need it for four quarters against Walla Walla, the champion of the Big Nine Conference.

"When you get to this level, everybody's a little bit better, a little more physical, like Kelso was," Ennis said. "Luckily, we can learn from that and it'll help us prepare for this week, instead of learning from that and using it in our next game next season."

The next game for the winner of tomorrow's contest is the Class AAA state championship against the winner of tonight's Newport-South Kitsap game.

As the host team, Walla Walla selected the semifinal site. The Blue Devils' home field is too muddy, so Walla Walla selected Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco as the site for its quarterfinal and semifinal games.

"We like that field," Walla Walla Coach Gary Mires said. "It's a sandy field, so we felt that gave the best chance to our team. I'd hate to get into a muddy game at this level."

Then again, maybe a sloppy field would help Walla Walla against Cascade.

"I was watching the North Thurston game on film the other day, and it looked like a track meet," said Mires, referring to Cascade's 42-14 first-round victory. "I hope they're not quite as fast on (natural grass) as they are on AstroTurf."

Ennis and Mires agreed about each team's strength. Cascade has a bit more speed, while the Blue Devils have a size advantage.

Walla Walla's big running threat, and we're talking big here, is senior Kirk Holman. The 6-foot, 230-pound fullback has rushed 185 times for 995 yards. He scored both touchdowns in last week's 14-0 quarterfinal win over Richland and plays nose guard on defense.

Quarterback Peter Sirmon has completed 72 of 141 passes for 1,269 yards and 12 touchdowns. An impressive statistic: Sirmon has thrown just two interceptions. More impressive: He hasn't thrown an interception in the past nine games.

The 6-foot-3, 217-pound Sirmon leads the Blue Devils in tackles and is being recruited by Division I-A colleges as a free safety.

Want more size? Junior defensive tackle Scott Buttice weighs 262 pounds.

Kicker Justin Spiva is 45 of 46 on extra points, and has kicked a 50-yard field goal this season. Receiver Matt Thompson has 32 catches for 601 yards and eight touchdowns.

Cascade has rushed for 2,956 yards this season, paced by junior Toure Butler (838 yards, 16 touchdowns) and senior Torry Hollimon (652 yards, nine touchdowns). Quarterback has Josh Heron has thrown for more than 1,000 yards.

Cascade should benefit from the recovery of senior Chris Schmid. The starting guard and linebacker suffered a hip pointer against Kelso, but is expected to play tomorrow, Ennis said.

The Blue Devils probably won't help the Bruins by turning the ball over. Walla Walla has lost just two interceptions and three fumbles this season.

"I know we're in for a big game. We certainly have to tackle better than we did last week," Ennis said. "The team that plays to win will probably get to the next level. Hopefully, we'll step up and play to that level."

Notes

-- KRKO (1380 AM) radio will broadcast tonight's Lake Stevens-Eastside Catholic game and tomorrow's Cascade-Walla Walla game. The team of Tom Lafferty, Mark Aucutt, Charlie Poier and Bill Kusler will call the action. KRKO will go on the air at 4:30 p.m. today for the Lake Stevens-Eastside Catholic game at the Tacoma Dome, and at 1 p.m. tomorrow for the Cascade-Walla Walla game.

-- Mires is no stranger to some members of the Cascade staff. In 1968, when Mires was the head coach at Baker (Ore.) High School, the Bulldogs played Jesuit in a playoff game. Ennis was an assistant coach for Jesuit. The game ended in a 14-14 tie, but Jesuit won on the tiebreaker criteria, yards gained. Mires and Cascade assistant Paul Lawrence were teammates at the University of Idaho in the 1960s. Mires was a quarterback, Lawrence an offensive lineman.