MOSES LAKE — Facing off against No. 11 seed Concrete, the No. 6 Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors overcame an early double-digit deficit to advance into the second round of the 1B State Football Playoffs, defeating the Lions 42-26 at Lions Field in Moses Lake.

“It feels great,” ACH coach Brandon Walsh said. “Obviously last year we lost out in the first round; for a lot of these kids, getting that monkey off their back was a big deal. Hopefully, we got some of the mistakes out of our system, because we didn’t play the cleanest football we ever have today.”

The Warriors opened the game with a seven-play, 26-yard drive that ended with an incompletion on fourth down on their own 47-yard line. On the next play from scrimmage, Concrete junior Jakob Lofton scored on a 47-yard rushing touchdown to put the Lions up 6-0. 

Warrior freshman Max Grindy got ACH into the red zone on its next drive on a 35-yard catch-and-run, but a fumbled snap was recovered by the Lions, who went up 12-0 three plays later on an 11-yard touchdown run.

After the slow start, ACH scored on all four of its second-quarter drives to go up 28-12 at the half.

“It was a little nerve-racking at first, but I’m just proud of the kids for the way they responded,” Walsh said. “The way that second quarter went, that’s the way we needed to play from the beginning. I think it was a little bit of the nerves from trying to get that first playoff win under our belt.”

ACH sophomore Caden Correia got the Warriors on the board with a nine-yard touchdown run, and junior Carter Pitts scored on carries of four, eight, and nine yards in the second quarter. Pitts finished the game with 36 carries for 217 yards and four touchdowns.

“I had good blocks in front of me,” Pitts said. “The first half was rough, we weren’t getting on the guys great, but we turned it around. Once blocks started developing it’s easier to run in the middle. There’s only eight guys; when they block six of them, there’s only two guys left to try and tackle me.”

Providing rushing lanes is something the Warrior offensive line revels in, senior John Pierce said.

“Our offensive line definitely thrives and succeeds in the trenches,” Pierce said. “Every Tuesday, on our offensive days, we focus on our offensive line drills; our first steps, going through the basics. We really take pride in those blocks, it’s always good to see on film when one of our linemen gets a pancake.”

Pitts’ fourth touchdown of the game came early in the fourth quarter on a one-yard run after ACH junior Jameson Conley was tackled just shy of the end zone on a 27-yard reception.

“It’s not a secret, he’s our guy and we’re going to feed him,” Walsh said. “If we’re blocking well and he’s getting five-to-seven (yards) a carry like he did today, then things are going to go right for us.”

After ACH took the lead back, Concrete struggled to move the ball against the Warrior defense; all but one of Concrete’s offensive drives in the third quarter ended with a three-and-out, with the outlier being an interception caught by ACH junior Kayle Casimir.

“We didn’t scheme anything different, our kids just started tackling better,” Walsh said. “That was the big key. Once we settled down, started wrapping up and tackling the way we should, we took care of that. That was good to see.”

Wind was a factor in the game plan for the Warriors, who threw the ball 11 times in Saturday’s win. According to the National Weather Service, wind was steady at around 20 miles per hour throughout the game, with gusts reaching up to 40 miles per hour

“We anticipated that we were able to be able to throw the ball a little bit against them, scheme-wise and we’ve been passing the ball pretty good lately, but the wind definitely affected our passing game,” Walsh said. “Luckily our running game was working just fine; we’re not one-dimensional, so we were able to still get the job done.”

Saturday’s win was the first postseason win for more than half of the Warrior’s team, who only have nine players remaining on the roster from 2021’s state championship-winning team. Last year, ACH lost 64-6 to Naselle in the opening round of the playoffs.

“We were real excited coming into this game,” Pierce said. “Last year we definitely got rocked, and this year we have a bad taste in our mouths. We really want to make a playoff run, we’ve talked about it all season. Today was the start of that.”

ACH travels to face No. 3 Mossyrock on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Tenino High School.

“It’s lose and you’re out, and we’ve got guys that don’t want to lose,” Pitts said.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box score

CON: 12-0-6-8-26

ACH: 0-28-8-6 42

    ACH senior John Pierce (53) and junior Kayle Casimir (62) combine for a tackle for loss in the second half against Concrete.
 Ian Bivona/Columbia Basin Herald   

    ACH senior Jaxon Baergen (10) carries the football in the fourth quarter against Concrete.
 Ian Bivona/Columbia Basin Herald   

    ACH sophomore Caden Correia (2) drops back to pass against Concrete on Saturday.
 Ian Bivona/Columbia Basin Herald