Colville Football Comes Up Short in 43-36 Shootout

Colville showed plenty of fight in a road game on Saturday, Sept. 19, rallying from a two-touchdown halftime deficit and taking the lead in the second half before falling 43-36 to Meridian. “The boys used the trip as a learning experience,” Colville Head Coach William Benbrook said. “Two seasons ago, we had to travel across the state for the district round of playoffs and it did not go well. Our players really wanted to use this trip to get ready for another post season trip. They had great focus this time.”

The loss dropped the Crimson Hawks to 1-2 on the season. Colville struck first after Meridian turned the ball over on downs on its opening possession. Taking advantage of the field position, Baxter Phipps finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead. After Meridian answered with a short rushing touchdown, Phipps broke loose for a 50-yard score to put Colville back in front 14-7. The Trojans responded with three straight touchdowns before halftime, including scoring passes of two, 45, and 50 yards, to take a 28-14 advantage into the break.

Colville came out of halftime with one of its strongest stretches of the game. “I felt like we played well in both halves but we put ourselves in a bad position by letting them score three times right before half,” Benbrook said. “The players played with a lot of self belief the whole game.” Sam Sears hauled in a 13-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to one score, and the Crimson Hawks followed with a surprise onside kick that they recovered. Colville capitalized immediately.

Gunnar Baker scored on a six-yard run, and instead of settling for a tying extra point, the Crimson Hawks converted a two-point attempt to take a 29-28 lead with 3:23 remaining in the third quarter. Meridian answered with a 20-yard touchdown pass and a two-point conversion to move back in front 36-29, but Colville needed little time to respond. Sears broke free for an 80-yard catch-and-run touchdown early in the fourth quarter, tying the game 36-36.

The Crimson Hawks tried another onside kick following the score, but Meridian recovered. Colville’s defense then came up with a stop on fourth down, giving the Crimson Hawks possession at the Meridian 46-yard line with a chance to take the lead. That opportunity ended when Meridian recorded a fourth-down sack, and the Trojans turned the change of possession into the decisive score. Trey Alexander connected with Pierce Brzozowski for an eight-yard touchdown with 2:37 remaining to give Meridian a 43-36 advantage.

Colville still had one final opportunity. The Crimson Hawks moved into a fourth-down situation on their final possession and went to a double-pass attempt, but Meridian’s Ryan Nguyen knocked the pass away to seal the result. Despite the loss, Colville produced several explosive plays and erased a 14-point halftime deficit before pushing the game to the final minutes. “This trip was all about getting ready for the postseason,” Benbrook said. “Our players now know what a roadtrip should look like and showed me that they can play after traveling.

It was a great experience for the players.” Baker finished the game with 14-of17 passing for 224 yards, three touchdown passes and one interception. Baker also ran the ball ten times for 35 yards, while Phipps had 20 yards on seven carries and Jayson Clark had 10 carries for 22 yards. Sam Sears had a monster game at receiver, catching the ball six times for 139 yards, while Phipps had three catches for 70 yards. Colville finished the game with 301 yards of total offense. “I like the balance our offense can have,” Benbrook said.

“Being able to lean on the run game is huge for us. I really like how our play action looks once we set it up. The only tweaks will be trying to lean into our strengths as a team.” On defense Elijah Brisby finished with 11 tackles including eight solo, while Trent Seitters had seven tackles. Anthoney Creech had a sack while Sam Sears also had a tackle for a loss.