Football season appears to be headed to some normalcy in Southwest Washington.
Tonight, there are three league games in the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League, and that will be the case for the Weeks 5 through 9.
Next week, the 4A GSHL will have two league games each week, and that format will continue through Week 9.
No longer will it be one league game here, one there, and back to a couple of non-league games.
Starting this week for the 3A GSHL and next week for the 4A GSHL, the games have more meaning for all but one team in each league. The odd number of teams in each league requires one team to have a non-league game, but for the most part, fans will be able to better see the playoff picture as it comes into focus.
Also making things easier for coaches, players and fans is the number of playoff teams is now set. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association announced the allocations, and officials determined that each league would get three teams to the state preliminary round games.
Columbia River coach John O’Rourke said there was some speculation that the seven-team 3A GSHL would get four berths. Instead, it will make for quite a fight to get to the playoffs.
Most would agree that Camas is the top team in the league and it would be a shock if the Papermakers did not qualify. That leaves six other teams battling for two berths.
Kelso has the early edge with a 2-0 mark in league play. Mountain View is 1-1 and played tough in a loss to Camas.
And at the bottom of the standings, currently, is Columbia River. The Chieftains have been here before, though. They started 0-2 in league last year only to rally with three consecutive wins to make the playoffs. Then River won its preliminary round game to make it to state.
“We were hoping we wouldn’t be 0-2, but the challenge is there,” O’Rourke said. “We need to accept the challenge.”
When a proposed schedule was first circulated in the offseason, it showed the 3A GSHL taking the final seven weeks of the season to get in its six league games. But the schedule did list sites.
When home and away games were factored in — teams generally get five home games one year, four the next — it changed the schedule due to stadium availability and other factors. Columbia River, with 11 new starters on offense, had league games in Week 2 and 3.
It was the luck of the draw, or, for the Chieftains, the unluck of the draw.
“It takes some adjustment because … the games that dictate whether you are in postseason play showed up right away,” O’Rourke said. “For us, we would have preferred to have had a little more experience before we played the league games.”
That’s not an excuse, just the way it worked out.
Plus, O’Rourke is optimistic about the rest of the season.
“We’ve shown that we’ve become a much better team,” he said. “Our offensive line kids, who were all new, we think have really improved.”
Still, the competition might be improved, too. Union is no longer in the league, but two quality teams moved from the 4A to the 3A GSHL — Kelso and Mountain View. It is quite possible a 3-3 league record will be good enough for third place.
And, as Columbia River proved last year, a third-place team from the 3A GSHL can make some noise in the postseason.
Starting tonight, more games matter in the 3A GSHL each week.
That has to be a good thing for high school football fans.
