It’s History In The Making

When the Cardinals gathered near the uprights for their post-game huddle at Edgar Brown stadium Saturday night, the coaches were as ecstatic as the players and fans after their resounding victory over arch rival Colfax.

"It's no longer a dream," assistant coach Troy Larsen told them. "Go ahead and pinch yourself."

Larsen's excitement was an invitation to everyone to revel in a new reality: the Cardinals are going to the Tacoma Dome to play in the state Superbowl of their high school sport, known as the Gridiron Classic.

Never in the modern history of Waitsburg High School, and only once in the history of Prescott High School, has a local team made it this far. Long before the WP combine, an eight-man team from PHS made it to the state playoffs in 1976.

In more than 110 years of football at Waitsburg High School, only one team arguably made it to the pre-state playoff apex of contemporary team competition - the Cardinals of 1902.

In an interview on Sunday, head coach Jeff Bartlow refl ected on the historic significance of his team's accomplishment, saying this year's boys of fall won't be playing merely to satisfy their own yearning for glory.

They'll be playing for all those high school students who dedicated themselves to the sport and the pride of their community before them, from the sons of doctors to the sons of farm hands.

Bartlow took a moment to find a word to describe his emotions around that milestone.

"We're privileged," he said, articulating one of his feelings on the eve of the state championship game along with "pride" and "confidence."

The state final in Tacoma raises a possibility that's even more historic. If the Cardinals beat the Morton/White Pass Timberwolves, a sports combine of two Lewis County towns about as young as WP, Waitsburg-Prescott will earn the remarkable distinction of earning two state titles not just in the same year, but in the same season.

The WP Tigers, who celebrated their state trophy and awards banquet at Vista Hermosa Monday night, are still reveling in their win over the Providence Highlanders from Lynnwood in Sumner two weeks ago.

The two paths to the state finals were similar in many ways. The Tiger soccer team is only two years old. Many of its players came up to this level with their parents' support playing pickup and club soccer in a community where soccer is nonetheless a long-standing tradition.

The Cardinal football team has been around as long as anyone can remember as a high school sports team. The team's tradition is equally deep-rooted and proudly supported by its community.

The ingredients for success are universal: full support from the districts, presence of parents and fans, an ability among the coaches to forge a team built on individual strengths and collective chemistry, and a personal discipline and dedication among the players.

As Tigers' head coach Mark Grimm put it to the crowd at the banquet: "Talent gets beat by people who work hard."

Every team has its star players, who score the goals, the touchdowns, the extra points. But they're merely the top of the pyramid. Behind each of them is a backbone of team players, who are just as important in supporting them with assists, blocks and tackles. Behind the players are coaches, and behind them the schools, parents and fans.

On this historic occasion during this amazing fall sports season, we salute all of you for being there each step of the way .

We'll see you at the dome.

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