By Charles Martindale
Winners of eight straight games, the Thurston Colts will have their biggest challenge of the season begin Friday at 7:00 PM. Making the drive to Portland for the start of 5A playoffs, the Colts will need to come up with a new strategy for the Wildcats, who dispatched them 44-15 in an earlier meeting this year.
QB Noah Blair leads a Thurston attack looking to complete the upset. In last week’s season finale, Blair threw for 326 yards and four touchdowns. A second year starter despite being only a junior, Blair’s numbers have all improved in his second year under center, nearing 3000 yards on the season with a completion percentage of 74. Blair’s favorite target is senior Walker Bonar, who accounted for 16 of Thurston’s touchdowns this season and put up over 1000 receiving yards on the year. Ethan Burkhead is the only player outside of Blair with 50+ carries, and he’s done his part to help even things out in a pass heavy offense. Senior tight end Luke Newell has also been a crucial weapon for the Colts, catching 38 passes for 613 yards this year. On the other side, the Wilsonville Wildcats have home field advantage, a seven game winning streak, and a powerful offense of their own. Kallen Gutridge, a senior under center, is averaging 267 yards per game passing, and has 35 touchdowns to seven interceptions. Gutridge is also Wilsonville’s second highest rusher. Four Wildcat receivers have over 200 yards this season, but it’s the junior tandem of Nick Crowley and Mark Wiepart that have put them in the playoffs. Each has nearly 800 yards for the year, catching most of Gutridge’s passes. In the backfield, it’s Roman Kealoha, who’s senior season has seen him rack up 16 touchdowns and over 1000 yards.
The Wilsonville defense has doubled the national average in essentially every defensive category, averaging 3.3 sacks and 1.3 interceptions weekly. Senior defensive end Gavin Waddell looks to keep his high school career going Friday, and has led the Wildcats with 13 tackles for loss. Thurston is much more humble defensively, and will need their unit to step up big time on the road. Mason Sanders has 14 tackles for loss this year, and Luke Newell, tight end for Thurston, also makes his name known on defense, where he has 11 TFL’s.
Overall, the teams have a combined 15 game’s consecutively won coming into this one. While all eyes will be on the imposing roster of Wilsonville, the Colts have a talented group with a clear goal of downing the Wildcats and moving on in the postseason.
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