Gas up the car, kick the tires and head south.
All three Whatcom County football teams will be doing exactly the same on Saturday, Nov. 17, as the state quarterfinal schedule was finalized on Monday, Nov. 12.
Mount Baker has the longest trip, as the Mountaineers (9-1) will have to travel almost all the way across the state to play La Center (11-0) in the Class 1A state quarterfinals in a 1 p.m. game at Battle Ground District Stadium.
Mount Baker will be seeking its first trip to the state semifinals, after it beat Woodland 21-14 on Friday, Nov. 10 at Civic Stadium in the first round.
The Wildcats, who eliminated Meridian with a 29-13 first-round victory last week, have only made one trip to the state semifinals (in 2003). For the record, Mount Baker beat Meridian 30-8 in its regular-season finale.
Lummi (9-2) will have the second game of the day in the Class 1B first round, as it will play Taholah (7-3) at 3 p.m. at Aberdeen's Stewart Field.
Both teams earned berths in the state playoffs with victories over Quilcene - Lummi by an 80-26 count in the tri-district playoffs on Nov. 2, and Taholah by a 52-16 score in the quad-district playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 10.
The two teams actually met in Week 3, when the Blackhawks won 59-24 at Lummi. The Blackhawks are attempting to advance to the state semifinals for the sixth time in eight years, while the Chitwhin seek their first win since 2001.
Lynden (10-1) had already announced that its Class 2A state quarterfinal at Sumner (9-2) was set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.
The Lions advanced with a 42-14 victory over Mark Morris last week and are seeking their sixth trip to the state semifinals in seven years, while the Spartans, who beat Kingston 26-9, will attempt to make it to the semifinals for the first time since 1977.
SATURDAY'S STATE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS
CLASS 2A STATE QUARTERFINALS
? Burlington-Edison at Capital (at Olympia Ingersoll Stadium), 4 p.m.
? Lynden at Sumner, 7:30 p.m.
CLASS 1A STATE QUARTERFINALS
? Mount Baker at La Center (at Battle Ground District Stadium), 1 p.m.
CLASS 1B STATE FIRST ROUND
? Lummi at Tahlolah (at Aberdeen Stewart Field), 3 p.m.
