‘The kids are excited for this stretch of the season’

COULEE CITY – Riding a three-game winning streak, the Almira/Coulee-Hartline football team is preparing for a challenging stretch of league games to close out the regular season, facing off against Wellpinit (5-1), Wilbur-Creston-Keller (6-0) and Odessa (5-0) over the next three weeks. 

“The kids are excited for this stretch of the season,” head coach Brandon Walsh said. “Hopefully we can set ourselves up for a good spot into the playoffs – they're ready for that challenge.” 

ACH posts a 5-1 record this fall, with its lone loss coming Sept. 20 on the road against Liberty Christian, the 1B classification’s top team according to the WIAA’s Rating Percentage Index. While the two teams finished the games with fairly even marks statistically – the Patriots put up 457 total yards to ACH’s 418 – a slew of Warrior miscues in the second quarter allowed Liberty Christian to hold a consistent double-digit lead before winning the game 50-36. 

“They’re a really good football team,” Walsh said. “What we took away from it was that we’re really close. We played them even for three quarters, three-and-a-half quarters, we just had too many negative plays in the second quarter and dug us a hole. Couldn’t quite get out of it. It’s a good lesson as far as what it takes to beat a good team.” 

The bulk of the Warrior yards in that game came on the ground, running for 272 yards as a team – 221 of which were from senior Carter Pitts. 

“We tried to do some things we thought we were going to do – throw the ball at them, but they’re an athletic team – so we resulted back to what has been our main focus the last couple years, and just ran the ball up the middle,” Pitts said. “We learned that we do that great still.” 

Pitts led the Warriors in touches in 2023, putting up a total of 1,678 yards and 21 touchdowns through the air and on the ground a year ago. He and junior Caden Correia finished the season with a near-equal number of carries (179 for Pitts, 178 for Correia), though there was a significant drop-off to the next closest (graduate Jaxon Baergen with 75 rushes).  

So far this year there has been an emphasis on spreading the ball around; Pitts still leads the team with 70 carries through six games, with Correia having 49 and sophomore Brody Pitts – Carter's younger brother – recording 42 attempts. Juniors Harvest Parrish, Brady Roberts and Evan Tipps all have 15 carries this season. 

“It’s so valuable, it’s the strength of our team this year – that we’re very balanced,” Walsh said. “I would hate to have to scout us in that regard, because we have speed to the outside if we need it and we’ve got power to the inside if we need it. We’ve got a pretty good passer if we need that, and we’ve got a pretty good o-line if we need to do that. That’s exciting.” 

Some extra rest for the team’s leading offensive producer a season ago doesn't hurt either. 

“My little brother gets to run the ball, and I think that’s awesome, being the big brother,” Pitts said. “Getting the rest is great – I don’t have to wake up on Monday all sore. Everyone stepping up has been great.” 

Since the loss to Liberty Christian, ACH has picked up wins over Curlew (50-30), Mary Walker (52-14) and Columbia (Stevens) (46-14). The Warrior run game shined in each of those games, gaining at least 250 yards in each outing during their three-game win streak. 

“They took that lesson of losing (to Liberty Christian) into the next game and tried to fix some of those things,” Walsh said. “They played well, I was glad to see that. It's the sign of a good team, that you’re able to bounce back from some adversity.” 

The passing game has also seen a slight uptick in productivity compared to this point a season ago – through six games last season, a run-heavy ACH team had thrown for 428 yards and five touchdowns. This year, it’s up to 592 yards and 11 touchdowns through the air so far this season. 

“Every team that scouted us last year, we never really went out on many routes – that's helping us this year,” junior wide receiver Jameson Conley said. “We have so many different plays and so many different guys that are helping us spread the ball.” 

Conley leads the team in receiving in catches (14), yards (313) and touchdowns (four). 

“The O-line's creating good gaps for me to be able to throw, and the other props goes to Jameson (Conley) -- he just outruns everybody, so it’s a pretty easy job for me,” said Correia, the team’s quarterback. 

Kickoff between ACH and Wellpinit is Friday at 3 p.m. This is ACH’s final road game of the regular season, with home games against WCK and Odessa coming up. 

“We’ve just got to play well,” Walsh said. “At this stage, from here on out in the second half of the regular season and into the playoffs, we’re going to have to be consistent. Especially against the better teams.” 

    Almira/Coulee-Hartline senior Carter Pitts (11) runs the ball during a Sept. 27 game against Curlew. Pitts leads the Warriors in rushing with 645 yards and three touchdowns.
  

    Almira/Coulee-Hartline junior Caden Correia (2) runs around the end during a game against Curlew on Sept. 27. Correia has seen an increase in passing this season, throwing for 585 yards and 11 touchdowns through the first six games of the season.