Are you up to the challenge?

Pigskin Picks contest one of new items on our Website||

So, you think you can do better than us?

Here’s your chance to prove it.

If you’ve ever wondered how those numbskulls down at the paper could pick So-and-so to beat Such-and-such in prep football, show us that you know better.

And snatch some prizes along the way.

The Yakima Herald-Republic sports department is opening up its Pigskin Picks to its readers online. After quckliy logging in and creating an account, each week entrants will enter their picks and go against the Herald-Republic sports staff and other entrants.

The top picker of the week will not only earn invaluable bragging rights, but also a prize from Ron’s Coin & Book. The season winner will get an Xbox 360, also courtesy of Ron’s.

Log on to sportsyakima.com, click on the Pigskins Pick, sign up and start picking.

But that’s not all the winning we’re offering our readers.

We also will be debuting Prep Insider this week on sportsyakima.com. It will feature a short video giving you an inside look at the YH-R Sports department and what coverage will be coming in the upcoming week.

Insider will also feature Yakima Valley sports trivia. Viewers can log on to answer the question.

Of all the correct answers, one will be randomly picked to receive a gift card from the 2nd Street Grill in downtown Yakima.

It’s our hope that these contests as well as our online feature help supplement your reading experience.

Speaking of which, be sure to check out Kickoff 2010, our annual prep football preview in today’s newspaper.

And good luck picking.

Kittitas County roundup set for Saturday

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — The first Kittitas County Roundup, a football exhibition involving Cle Elum, Ellensburg and Kittitas high schools and Central Washington University, will be held Saturday at CWU’s Tomlinson Stadium.

Each team will stage a 30-minute scrimmage, starting with Cle Elum from 11-11:30 a.m. Kittitas will follow from 11:40 to noon, Ellensburg will go from noon to 12:30 p.m. and the Wildcats will take the field from 12:30-1 p.m.

Admission is free. Also, all participating high school players will be admitted to Central’s season opener against Minnesota Duluth on Aug. 28 at no charge.

“We’re hoping this will become an annual event,” said Central coach Blaine Bennett. “We’ll feed all the kids, and hopefully the players from the different schools will get to know each other and watch our scrimmage.

“It’s less of a recruiting thing for us than it is just to provide people in the area with exposure to our program. Some of them, whether they’re players or parents or whatever, might be coming to Tomlinson Stadium for the first time.”

Returning to the fields of fall

YAKIMA, Wash. — The thermometer still says summer, but activity on the fields Wednesday signaled fall is around the corner.
Football practice began statewide on Wednesday. Monday the rest of the fall sports — cross country, volleyball, girls soccer and girls swimming — get under way.
The Yakima Herald-Republic sports staff is busy putting together Kickoff 2010, this year’s edition of its annual prep football preview. The 48-page section is due to hit doorsteps Thursday, Sept. 2, the eve of the first Friday night of football.
Following Labor Day, previews of the rest of the fall sports will be featured.

YAKIMA, Wash. — The thermometer still says summer, but activity on the fields Wednesday signaled fall is around the corner.

Football practice began statewide on Wednesday. Monday the rest of the fall sports — cross country, volleyball, girls soccer and girls swimming — get under way.

The Yakima Herald-Republic sports staff is busy putting together Kickoff 2010, this year’s edition of its annual prep football preview. The 48-page section is due to hit doorsteps Thursday, Sept. 2, the eve of the first Friday night of football.

Following Labor Day, previews of the rest of the fall sports will be featured.

High schools — Davis, Ike fall meetings Thursday

YAKIMA — Fall sports meetings for parents and athletes at Davis and Eisenhower high schools will be Thursday at the respective schools.

Davis’ meeting starts at 6 p.m. and will be in the cafeteria.

Ike’s meeting begins at 6:30, also in the cafeteria.

Selah fall meeting Monday

Selah High’s fall sports meeting will be Monday, starting at 6 p.m. in the high school commons.

The meeting is for parents and athletes turning out for football, volleyball, cross country, girls soccer, and girls swimming and diving.

Local Report: CWU will host football roundup

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Central Washington will host the Kittitas County Football Roundup on Aug. 21.

The Wildcats, who will open their season on Aug. 28 at home against Minnesota Duluth in a game to be televised on SWX, have invited Ellensburg, Cle Elum and Kittitas high schools to a scrimmage event at Tomlinson Stadium.

The Warriors will scrimmage from 11-11:30 a.m., Kittitas will go from 11:30 to noon, Ellensburg will follow from noon to 12:30 p.m. and Central will take the field from 12:30 to 1 p.m.

CWU coach Blaine Bennett said admission to the event is free, and that any high school player who participates will then be admitted to the Central-Duluth game without charge.

GOLF

Graf gets ace at Country Club

Dick Graf recorded a hole-in-one on the 11th hole at Yakima Country Club on Wednesday.

Graf used a 9-iron on the 141-yard hole. It was witnessed by Jim Gilbert, Dave Lewis, Brian Harris and Steve Mercy.

ADULT FASTPITCH

Action Towing, Eagles win

Sean McCauley’s two-run homer and three RBI helped Action Towing defeat Old Town Pump-Peak Performance 12-6 in Summer League play at Gateway Complex on Wednesday.

The Yakima Eagles won the second game, beating Craft Brewing 11-4.

Old Town-PP       040    200    0    —    6    5    8
Action Towing    202    602    x    —    12    8    6
Harris, Parham (7) and Cawley-Murphee; George and Rousseau.
Highlights: Bobby Harris (OTP) 2-run 2b; Cory Worrell (AT) 2-4, 2 RBI; Sean McCauley (AT) 1-3, 2-run HR, 3 RBI; Jonathan Ripplinger (AT) 2-run 2b.
Craft Brewing          040    000    —    4    5    5
Yakima Eagles        352    001    —    11    10    8
Seward and Call, Gonzalez (5); L. McCauley and Ward.
Highlights: John Jensen (YE) 2-4, 2 RBI; Tyler Berman (YE) 2-4, 2 2b, RBI; Kevin Root (YE) 2-4, 2 2b, 2 RBI.

YOUTH FASTPITCH

Selah 16-U

NEWBERG SUMMER CLASSIC

At Newberg, Ore.

Selah 10, Oregon Warriors 4 (Selah: Ashley Wilkey 2-3, 2 runs; Mary Graf 2-2, run, 2 RBI; Morgan McCallister 1-3, run, RBI, 3b; Sarah Bersing 2-3, 2 runs, RBI; Bailey Turner 3-3, run, RBI; Kylee Morse 2-2, run; Carly Minnick 1-2, 2 runs, RBI;
Selah 10, Southview 0 (Selah: Wilkey 2-2, 2 runs, RBI; Graf 1-1, 2 RBI; McCallister 1-2, 2 RBI, 3b; Bersing 1-1, RBI, run; Turner 1-2, run, RBI; Taylor Rath 1-2, run, RBI; Sierra Weedin 1-2, run, RBI; Morse and Minnick combined for a no-hitter).

YOUTH BASEBALL

Little League

JUNIORS STATE TOURNAMENT

At Medical Lake

Thursday’s result

West Valley 23, Federal Way 10 (WV: Kanay Soderstrom 4 hits, 2 runs; Corey Hill 3 hits, 3 runs; Wyatt Peckman 2 hits, 4 runs, HR; Dillon Burlingame 3 hits, 4 runs; Nolan Cookson 3 hits, 2 runs; Jason Mains 4 hits, run; Zach Remsberg 2 hits, 2 runs; Sean McCormick 2 hits, 3 runs; Justin Bailey hit, run).

Officials meeting tonight at YPD

YAKIMA, Wash. — A meeting for new football officials will be held at the Yakima Police Department classrooms tonight at 6 p.m.

The classrooms are located at 207 S. 3rd Street, across the street from the police station.

Officials are needed throughout the Valley.

For more information, contact Brad Cramer at 945-5555 or Will Caethle at 895-2600.

Defensive day for East

East all-stars shut out West in second half ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — With all the talk of offensive stars, particularly on the West side, fans probably came to the 16th Earl Barden All-Star Football Classic expecting a high-scoring affair.

A determined East defense had other ideas.

Outworking their larger counterparts, the East posted a second-half shutout, which included a fourth-down stop at their own 14 and a game-clinching interception from East defensive MVP Alex Wolf, to spark a 21-17 victory on Saturday at Zaepfel Stadium.

“They (the West) were bigger … but we played harder,” said Wolf, a defensive back from Deer Park. “Our game plan was to play as hard as we can the entire game and we did that.”

PHOTO GALLERY

Click here for more photos from this event

“They were incredible,” quarterback Sam Fisk said of his team’s defense. “They took the challenge and met it head on. That’s why we won today.”

Fisk and his offensive mates did have a say in the victory, with the Chewelah quarterback earning East offensive MVP after directing two first-half scoring drives — both capped by touchdowns from Othello’s Devon Lind.

When DeSales’ Pat Richard hit Colfax’s Will Hatley on a 35-yard scoring strike late in the third quarter, the East moved ahead 21-17, erasing a 17-7 late-first-half deficit.

“We just stayed together as a team,” said Fisk, who finished 6-for-10 for 88 yards and a TD pass. “That’s what this team was made on. We played for each other, not as individuals.”

Even though the East had grabbed the lead, there was still plenty of work left to be done against a West offense directed in the second half by Lynden quarterback Jordan Hastings, the 2009 Class 2A state player of the year.

But the East was more than up to the challenge as the dual threat Hastings finished just 4 of 9 for 63 yards passing and he ran for a mere six yards.

“They’ve got a really tough team … but we have a lot of tough guys who just don’t want to lose,” said Selah defensive end Jake Lunceford, one of the East anchors up front. “This was just a matter of who wanted it more.”

Evidence of that came near the end of the third quarter when the West recovered a fumbled punt at the East 22. Digging in, the East surrendered eight yards on the first three downs before stopping Hastings for no gain on fourth down, taking over at the 14.

Later, after giving the West one more shot in the final minutes, the East defense delivered again.

At the East 38 with about 30 seconds remaining, Hastings fired a pass over the middle to teammate Ryan Seto near the 10.

Timing his arrival perfectly, Wolf put a resounding hit on Seto, jarring the ball loose. Then, as he fell to the turf, Wolf had the wherewithal to keep his eye on the ball, cradling with both arms as he landed to seal the victory.

“We knew he was a playmaker when he played at Deer Park,” said East head coach Craig Whitney, who coached against Wolf as West Valley of Spokane’s coach. “That just goes to show what an athlete he is.

“All the kids played fantastic. They believed in themselves and each other, and played unselfishly.”

“We took the underdog role, embraced it and took it to victory,” Fisk said.

West offensive MVP Micah Brown was a first-half force, with the Napavine running back carrying the ball 12 times for a team-best 63 yards, including a 15-yard scoring burst for the first touchdown of the game.

Jake McCoy, a linebacker from Mark Morris was the West’s defensive MVP.

West kicker Nick Swanson set an All-Star game record when he booted a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter.

West    7    10    0    0    —    17
East      7    7    7    0    —    21
West — Micah Brown 15 run (Nick Swanson kick)
East — Devon Lind 15 run (Nick Brown kick)
West — FG Swanson 37
West — Kyle Grosshans 1 run (Swanson kick)
East — Lind 13 pass from Sam Fisk (Brown kick)
East — Will Hatley 35 pass from Pat Richard (Brown kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — West, Brown 9-63, Alex Martinez 5-25, Chris Tinney 4-18, Swanson 1-15, Grosshans 2-14, D.J. Herbert 3-14, Brett Kirschner 4-10, Tanner Sturm 3-8, Anthony Tatum 2-8, Allen Erickson 3-7, Jordan Hastings 4-6, Caleb Statham 2-5. East, Richard 7-64, Tevin Heins 9-30, Sam Fisk 1-17, Lind 1-15, C.J. Lockwood 5-6, Alex Wolf 3-2, Mike McGree 1-(minus 7).
PASSING — West, Grosshans 7-12-1 67, Hastings 4-9-1 63. East, Fisk 6-10-0 88, Richard 3-5-0 57, Wolf 0-1-0 0, McGree 0-3-1 0.
RECEIVING — West, Ryan Seto 3-54, Ben Ternan 3-54, Anthony Tatum 3-16, Trevor Hurn 1-5, Brown 1-1. East, Jesse Davis 3-31, Lind 2-36, Hatley 1-35, Lockwood 1-25, Kane Koerner 1-19, Heins 1-(minus 1).

Barden Classic photo gallery

Photos from Saturday’s 16th Earl Barden All-Star Football Classic at Zaepfel Stadium in Yakima, Wash. All photos by Andy Sawyer of the Yakima Herald-Republic.

Fuerst helps East to rout of West

EVERETT, Wash. — The joy was visible in Joe Fuerst’s blue eyes. If only his nose felt better.

Fuerst played his final football game wearing an Eisenhower Cadets football helmet Saturday.

The East’s 28-9 victory over the West in the East-West All-Star Football Game was a culmination of a week-long stay in Everett that Fuerst called “an experience of a lifetime.”

Fuerst started at outside linebacker wearing his familiar No. 7 and played every quarter for an East defense that shut down the West. At times, he lined up alongside University of Washington-bound defense lineman Sione Potoa’e, one of the state’s most heralded signees from Lakes.

The game was a showcase featuring the state’s best players from the Class of 2010.

“It’s been awesome,” said Fuerst, the Columbia Basin Big Nine Conference Cascade Division’s co-most valuable player last fall. “Coming over here and being one of the top players in the state and being noticed for that. It was more about getting to know other guys on the team than playing the game of football.

“It’s one of those things you’ll never forget.”

Fuerst, who will play running back at Central Washington University, did have one experience he could have done without.

As he tackled West quarterback Andy Smith of Arlington on one play early in the fourth quarter, his nose was struck. Smith barely got off the pass to avoid the sack, prompting East players to yell Fuerst’s name in approval from the sideline.

“Coach, I broke my nose,” Fuerst said as he came to the sideline.

A trainer examined Fuerst’s nose and determined it wasn’t broken.

“I heard a crunch,” Fuerst said. “The guy said it wasn’t broken. He kind of straightened it out a little bit and bandaged it up and it was good to go.”

The next series, the East marched 68 yards for a touchdown to go ahead 21-9. Union’s 6-foot-6 receiver, Mitch Saylor, grabbed his second touchdown pass of the game and had seven catches for 118 yards in all to earn East most valuable player honors.

East quarterbacks Austin Dodge of Skyview and Travis Ward of Mount Spokane split time with each having success under coach Dave Miller’s air attack.

Dodge threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Saylor in the first quarter to open the game’s scoring. Ward later found running back Nathaniel Penaranda of Union wide open for a 67-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

Levi Taylor of Lewis & Clark capped the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run for the East with just over 3 minutes to go. That was set up by a fumble recovered at the West 5.

“They’re a pretty lethal combination,” West coach Mark Stewart said of Dodge and Saylor. “And they probably live about five minutes from each other.”

“We wanted to use our size advantage,” said Miller, who coaches at Lakes. “We actually had four or five pretty good receivers. Christian Wesley (6-4 receiver from Central Kitsap) didn’t get the ball his way very much but he’s a very good receiver. Greg Logan (from Graham-Kapowsin) made a couple of big catches for us.”

But, clearly, the focus was on getting the ball into the long arms of Saylor, who’s headed to the University of Montana.

“I just came here to have fun,” Saylor said.

So did Fuerst. And he did, playing linebacker and special teams. Everything was perfect until the nose incident.

“It isn’t bad,” he said. “As the adrenaline wears off it’s starting to hurt more.”

The East won in the series for the third year in a row. The game moves to Spokane next summer.

— Ron Newberry/For the Herald-Republic

East     7    7    0    14    —    28
West    7    0    2    0    —    9

First quarter

East – Mitch Saylor 56-pass from Austin Dodge (Jake Miller kick).
West – Trenton Pinson 3-run (Dominick Vizzare kick).

Second quarter

East – Nathaniel Penaranda 67-pass from Travis Ward (Miller kick).

Third quarter

West – Safety, punt blocked by Brandon Blinn out of end zone.

Fourth quarter

East – Saylor 10-pass from Dodge (Miller kick).
East – Levi Taylor 1-run (Miller kick).

A dangerous dual threat

QB Hastings beat teams with his arm and legs||

As a junior, Jordan Hastings considered himself primarily a throwing quarterback. A year later his position stayed the same but his opinion changed, thinking himself more of a running signal-caller.

Either way success reigned.

Hastings directed Lynden to back-to-back Class 2A state football titles, was named the 2A player of the year last fall and will be part of a loaded West squad in today’s 16th annual Earl Barden All-Star Football Classic at Zaepfel Stadium.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Hastings certainly put the ball up last season, throwing for 2,400 yards and 23 touchdowns. But the dimension he added on the ground — 959 yards and 15 scores — made the Lions unbeatable.

“That’s sort of the Lynden way — they always want a quarterback who can run,” Hastings said. “In our spread one of the quicker options is to pull it down and run and I did more of that last season. As a junior I was definitely more of a throwing quarterback.”

Really? Could have fooled Prosser.

Hastings broke the Mustangs’ heart in the 2008 state title game, passing for 245 yards and three touchdowns — but adding a game-high 84 yards on the ground with 20 tough carries — while rallying the Lions to a 35-34 victory in double overtime.

“That game was pretty crazy and by far the most exciting I ever played in,” said Hastings, whose team trailed by 15 points with two minutes left in regulation. “We couldn’t get anything going and couldn’t stop them. But we just stuck with it. Actually, I wish that was our senior year — what a great way to go out.”

Lynden was junior-dominated in ’08 and a good bet to repeat, until it was humbled in the ’09 season opener 34-20 by Archbishop Murphy.

“We came back with a lot of us thinking we were No. 1 and then we got beat right away,” Hastings said. “That was good for us because we thought we were better than we really were.”

The Lions were that good eventually, reeling off 13 straight wins capped by a 16-6 victory over West Valley of Spokane to complete the repeat.

WATCH OUT WEST: On paper, the West looks formidable with most of the game’s major-college signees from the Feb. 3 national letter-of-intent day.

North Mason lineman John Fullington has the highest profile of the group, having signed with Washington State. The West also has the Black Hills tandem of lineman Ben Westrum (Idaho) and Marshall Green (Central Washington) and Hastings’ teammate Ryan Seto, a two-way standout going to Eastern Washington.

The East’s top college recruit is Asotin tight end Jesse Davis (Idaho).

The next level of college recruiting scooped up a bunch of skill kids on the West team — quarterbacks Trevor Hurn (Woodland, Southern Oregon) and Nick Fairhart (Eatonville, Linfield) and running backs Brett Kirschner (Interlake, Montana), Caleb Statham (Blaine, Montana) and Tanner Sturm (Aberdeen, Linfield).

ROOT ON THE LOCALS: The Selah trio of Quincy Davis (No. 8), Justin Lamson (66) and Jake Lunceford (71) comprise the Yakima-area representation from the CWAC on the East squad.

Ellensburg’s Blaze Affholter, an all-state defensive end alongside Lunceford, was on the roster until a spring injury forced him out.

The SCAC West has three players — offensive player of the year Nic Lukehart (34) of Naches Valley and Zillah’s all-state pair of Cameron Bounds (22) and Kane Koerner (44).

The Mid-Valley 2B League will have Mike McGree (10) and Josh Bartlett (76) from La Salle in the field.

ON THE SIDELINE: Chewelah’s Will Lohman, a 220-pound linebacker for the East, was a four-time 1A state throws champ in track. He was the overall state leader in the shot last spring at 61 feet, 5 inches. … Adna’s Kyle Grosshans, who will play for his coach K.C. Johnson today on the West team, was the 2B state player of the year. The 6-3, 200-pound QB led Adna to a 13-0 season and 32-24 win over Colfax in the title game. … Willapa Valley’s Will Rockett, a lineman for the West, is headed to Montana State for track as a discus thrower. His father, Bob, was a four-time NCAA All-American in the javelin while at the University of Washington. … Tickets prices for today’s 1 p.m. game are $6 for adults and $4 for students and seniors.

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