Storm, Mountaineers, Blackhawks to play quarterfinals on Saturday
For the second straight week, it appears all Whatcom County football teams will be playing on Saturday.
Schedules started to post for the quarterfinals of the state football playoffs on Monday, Nov. 16, and Squalicum, Mount Baker and Lummi all appear to be playing their respective games on Saturday, Nov. 21, according to listings on their league websites.
Here’s quick look at what’s in store for the area teams that are still in action:
Class 2A State Quarterfinal
This is definitely the match-up of the week, as the top two teams in the final Associated Press Class 2A state football poll meet early in the draw when Tumwater travels north to face Squalicum.
The game has been set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Civic Stadium.
This will be the second quarterfinal meeting in two years between the two teams, as the Thunderbirds ended the Storm’s first foray into the state playoffs with a 59-33 victory at Tumwater.
The top-ranked T-birds (11-0) advanced with a convincing 55-14 first-round win over Franklin Pierce on Friday, Nov. 13, while the Storm (11-0) eked out a 31-29 win over a surprisingly tough Chehalis W.F. West squad on Saturday, Nov. 14.
The winner Saturday will move on to the state semifinals at the Tacoma Dome and face either Archbishop Murphy (11-0) or North Kitsap (8-3).
Class 1A State Quarterfinal
Like Squalicum, seventh-ranked Mount Baker had to battle for all 48 minutes of its first-round game to emerge with a 47-42 win at Kalama on Saturday.
But unlike the Storm, the Mountaineers (10-1) will only have to face the 10th-ranked team in the state when they travel to Montesano (9-2) for a 6 p.m. game on Saturday.
The reason Mount Baker is not facing sixth ranked and defending state champion Cascade Christian is that the Bulldogs knocked off the Cougars 25-22 on Saturday in the first round.
Mount Baker and Montesano have met twice before in the state playoffs before, as the Mountaineers claimed a 41-28 first-round win last year at Civic Stadium and the Bulldogs won 28-6 in the 2012 state semifinals in the Tacoma Dome on their way to claiming an emotional state title that season.
The winner Saturday will return to the Tacoma Dome and face either King’s (9-1) or Hoquiam (10-0).
Class 1B State Quarterfinal
The only area team to advance with and easy first-round win was Lummi, which ousted No. 5 Evergreen Lutheran 50-0 on Saturday at Bellevue.
The Blackhawks (8-2) now will host Quilcene at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lummi Nation School.
The Rangers (8-2) advanced with a 56-8 win over Taholah in the first round — their first win in the state playoffs in school history.
The winner Saturday moves on to the semifinals to face either Seattle Lutheran (8-2) or Neah Bay (10-0) the weekend after Thanksgiving.
This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 8:23 PM with the headline "Storm, Mountaineers, Blackhawks to play quarterfinals on Saturday."