Huskies looking to get to state amidst strong competition
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 7 months AGO
Othello's Luis Farias zeroes in on the goal in a 2024 game against Connell. Coach Bernie Garza said the Huskies can’t take any team for granted in the very tough Central Washington Athletic Conference.
FILE PHOTO
Larry Maldonado pushes the ball upfield for Othello. Coach Bernie Garza said Othello has a strong returning core.
Othello senior Ruben Mancilla (1) pushes the ball upfield against Ephrata in April of last year.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | March 12, 2025 2:20 AM
OTHELLO – Othello boys soccer coach Bernie Garza said the Central Washington Athletic Conference was already pretty tough, and now it’s going to be tougher. That means the Huskies will have to pay attention to every game, he said.
Quincy and Toppenish moved into the CWAC from Class 1A; not only do both have strong programs, but the expansion makes it tougher to get familiar with other league schools, Garza said.
“Without Quincy and Toppenish, we played everybody twice, home and away. Now we have seven or eight non-league games and then we have our league games, but we’re only playing one time. It’s such a different scenario. You don’t get to study them and say, ’Oh, that’s how they play,’” he said. “It can work in our favor, too – the other teams can’t study us either.”
The Huskies finished second in the CWAC in 2024 and made it to the district tournament finals, losing to East Valley (Yakima). East Valley reached the state semifinals and eventually finished fourth. Now, getting out of the CWAC tournament is going to be a bigger challenge, he said.
“Adding Quincy and Toppenish to our league is going to make the league tougher and stronger, but it’s going to make it more difficult to (qualify for the state tournament),” he said.
The CWAC teams that make the state tournament have a good chance of reaching the final four, he said.
That means the focus in the regular season will be putting together a record that earns a high seed in the district tournament, Garza said. One of the keys will be taking every opponent seriously, even those that don’t match up well with the Huskies.
“Every game is going to be a tough match, and every game is going to count,” he said.
High school teams change every year; seven seniors graduated in 2024, four of whom are playing college soccer, Garza said. But some good players are returning.
“We graduated a bunch of key players, our defense and our goalie, but we have the core of our team back,” he said. “And then we got some key defenders back, but there’s going to be plenty of room for others to step up.”
It’s a pretty strong core, he said.
“We have, potentially, four or five next-level players that will end up playing college soccer next year,” he said.
Garza has been coaching in Othello for 32 years, he said, and over time the Huskies have built a strong program. The downside of that is teams focus on beating Othello, he said.
“It seems like everybody steps up their game when they play us,” he said. “But we’re used to it because we finish in the top two or three every year.”
Othello High Soccer Schedule 2025
March 8 PHS Boys Soccer Jamboree, 10 a.m.
March 13 vs. Connell High School, 6 p.m.
March 15 at Warden High School, 1 p.m.
March 18 vs. Moses Lake High School, 7 p.m.
March 20 at Chelan High School, 4 p.m.
March 22 vs. Quincy High School, noon
March 25 at Ephrata High School, 6 p.m.
March 29 at Prosser High School, noon
April 1 at East Valley High School, (Yakima) 6 p.m.
April 3 at Selah High School, 6 p.m.
April 5 vs. Ephrata High School, noon
April 8 vs. Toppenish High School, 6 p.m.
April 12 at Chiawana High School, – C 5 p.m.
April 15 at Grandview High School, 6 p.m.
April 17 at Quincy High School, 6 p.m.
April 22 vs. Ellensburg High School, 6 p.m.
April 26 vs. Northwest Christian High School, (Colbert), noon
April 28 vs. Prosser High School, 6 p.m
Larry Maldonado pushes the ball upfield for Othello. Coach Bernie Garza said Othello has a strong returning core.
Othello senior Ruben Mancilla (1) pushes the ball upfield against Ephrata in April of last year.ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
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