Four local football teams to play for state

This week is the first round of Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) state playoffs for football. The top 16 teams in the state for each size bracket, except for 1B/2B, which only have 12, will go head-to-head to see which gets to advance. And four area schools then will work for victory.

On Friday, No. 11-ranked Moses Lake High School will take on No. 6 ranked Gonzaga Preparatory School at Gonzaga Prep in Spokane at 7 p.m. Winner of this match will take on the winner of the match between Richland and Lake Stevens high schools. Loser is out of the competition.

In the 2A bracket, No. 11-ranked Othello High School will play No. 6-ranked Steilacoom High School on Saturday at George Nordi Field in Tacoma at 4 p.m. Winner of this match will take on the winner of the match between Shadle Park and North Kitsap high schools; the loser will be out.

Royal High School, ranked No. 1 in the 1A bracket, will compete against No. 16 Bellevue Christian School for its first match. Time and date for the match are yet to be announced.

For the 1B bracket, Almira-Coulee-Hartline High School is ranked No.1 out of 12 teams that will play for being named state champions.

Almira-Coulee-Hartline will play the winner of the No. 9-Neah Bay High School against No. 8-Wilbur-Creston-Keller High School match set for Saturday at 3 p.m. at Lions Field in Moses Lake. The match date, time and location of the game with Almira-Coulee-Hartline will be announced after the Neah Bay against Wilbur-Creston-Keller match.

Quarterfinals will be announced at a later date, once this weekend’s matches are completed. Semifinals are set for Nov. 27 and the Gridiron Classic championship will be Dec. 4.