New CWAC football alignment is a great idea

I like the new conference alignment in the Central Washington Athletic Conference because it gives a little regional flare to the non-league football schedule and throws a little parity into the mix.

Up until now, the 10-team CWAC played just one non-league game before getting into the heart of the conference schedule. With the new North-South alignment, it not only gives Columbia Basin football fans a chance to see programs like Othello and Royal get after it, it also cuts down on some of the travel expenses.

Let’s face it, there is some great 2A and 1A football around here and a chance to see Othello and Connell play makes for good conversation. Last year, Connell beat Othello. Royal upended

Ellensburg, so the 1A programs can hold their own and it’s just a short trip around the Basin to see some great football.

“The thing I like is that we get to play a talent-laden schedule,” Othello coach Roger Hoell said. “Travel becomes an issue, so we can play nearby teams. Royal and Connell can beat a lot of 2A schools. They could probably beat a lot of 3A schools. In fact, Royal beat Ellensburg last year. They were very complimentary of them, so this gives us a chance to play quality teams, close by in our non-league schedule.”

For guys like two-time defending 1A state champion Royal, it’s a chance to take it to a new level and see how they stack up. The Knights beat Ellensburg 21-14 last year, and have them scheduled again this season in Week 1.

“It doesn’t affect us much, we already had them on the schedule,” Royal coach Wiley Allred said. “We did trade Zillah for Othello in Week 2. It makes a lot of sense. You get to match up with good competition in other leagues.”

As for the CWAC alignment, Othello, Quincy, Ephrata, East Valley and Ellensburg are in the North. Grandview, Selah, Prosser, Toppenish and Wapato are in the South.

Last year, Ellensburg (9-0) went unbeaten to win the CWAC. Othello (7-2) ended up with the tiebreaker for the No. 2 spot after finishing tied with both Selah (7-2), Prosser (7-2). It’s a nice mix with two of those programs in each division

The North champion will play the South champion Oct. 28 for the district’s top two seeds, and the runners-up in both divisions will play for the No. 3 seed. The CWAC’s No. 1 seed gets a berth to the state playoffs, and the two and three seeds play crossover games against the top two Great Northern League teams.

The format opens the door for teams like Ephrata and Quincy to work their way into playoff contention.

“I like the new format,” Quincy coach Wade Petersen. “We were really close last year at 4-5. We finished with wins over Grandview and East Valley. Hopefully with this year we can jump into one of those top two spots, since it’s just five teams in each division.”

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer for the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharawood@columbiabasinherald.com