Newport, Rainier face off in Newport Saturday

NEWPORT – The No. 2 seeded Newport Grizzlies will host the Rainier Mountaineers, the No. 15 seeded team, in the first round of the state 2B football playoff games Saturday, Nov. 15, at noon.

Rainier (2-3, 5-5) is coming of a 52-38 win over Friday Harbor Saturday. Dorian Cano, the Mountaineers’ 5-feet, 9-inch, 170-pound senior running back, rushed for four touchdowns in the game.

Rainier plays in the strong C2B League.

“They are in the same league with No. 1 Toledo and No. 6 Onalaska, which obviously are both strong programs,” Newport coach Mark Duxbury says.

The Mountaineers started the season with four losses, although one of the four losses was a 1-pointer to Raymond and another was a 2-pointer to Morton. Rainier has since won five of six games, losing only to undefeated Toledo. Rainier finished third in the league behind Onalaska and Toledo. “They have some good athletes as you would expect from a playoff team,” Duxbury says.

The Mountaineers are a relatively young team, with four seniors and many freshmen listed on their roster, including their quarterback. Duxbury says Newport still takes them seriously.

“We never underestimate a team because they might be on the younger side,” he says. “They only have four seniors, but we only have four seniors.”

When Newport went to the state championship in 2018 at the 1A level, the Grizzlies started freshmen at the two defensive ends and a sophomore at cornerback.

“Several other sophomores got playing time on that team as well,” Duxbury says. “So, we are expecting and preparing for a tough game.”

Newport is undefeated this season, winning the Northeast 2B League, their first league title since 1992. Enroute to their undefeated season, they have beaten several state tournament qualifying teams, including Freeman (No. 4 seed), Northwest Christian (No. 7 seed) and Reardan (No. 12 seed).

In the first round of playoff games Saturday, Freeman plays Cle Elum-Rosyln, Northwest Christian plays Napavine and Reardan plays Okanogan. The next round of playoff games will take place at the higher seed’s school.