SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — For West Valley quarterback Nate Zettle, the Eagles’ playoff run began well before the first game of the season. He pointed to spring football, seven-on-seven work and summer training as the time the players grew close.
The time together has made the team feel like a family, Zettle said.
That bond has helped carry the seventh-seeded Eagles (9-1) into a 2A playoff matchup with 10th-seeded Franklin Pierce (8-2). West Valley hosts Saturday, Nov. 14, at 1 p.m., looking for its sixth straight win and another week of football.
“It’s been a really fun year,” head coach Craig Whitney said. “Great group of kids.” Whitney said the Eagles are 29-4 over the last three seasons with this group and hope to make that 30 wins Saturday.
West Valley advanced with a 28-6 win over Othello last week. Elijah Newman scored all four Eagles touchdowns, three of them before halftime as West Valley built a 21-0 lead. Whitney said the defense helped the Eagles manage an opponent that wanted to sustain long drives.
“We try to play complementary football,” Whitney said. After Othello used nearly nine minutes on a scoring drive, he recalled, West Valley answered quickly with a touchdown of its own.
Whitney expects a different kind of test against Franklin Pierce, which he said runs a power-T offense with two tight ends, three running backs and a quarterback under center. He compared the tightly packed formation to playing football “in a phone booth.”
The Eagles will need to get stops and make their own opportunities count. “We need to capitalize on our touches on offense,” Whitney said.
West Valley’s only loss came at Selah on Oct. 2. “We learned from that and corrected some mistakes,” Whitney said. The Eagles have won every game since.
Zettle said he is excited to return to the round of 16 after the Eagles lost at that stage last season. Asked about the prospect of becoming the winningest quarterback in program history, he credited his teammates and coaches rather than focusing on an individual mark. “It means a lot,” he said, but winning remains his priority.
Zettle also recently committed to play basketball at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. Asked what it means to continue his basketball career nearby, he noted that Lewiston is close to home and said having the opportunity to play in college is special.
For now, his attention is on Saturday and helping the Eagles keep their football season going.
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