By the luck of the draw, the Foster Bulldogs will play a district playoff game Friday night at home against the Franklin Pierce High School Cardinals.
It’s been years, if not decades since Foster last hosted a football playoff game.
Foster’s football coach Elijah Ruhl doesn’t know for sure how long it has been, “but I have been told that it is in the 30-year neighborhood,” he said.
“I am extremely proud of our team and the opportunity to represent Foster and the Tukwila community in Friday night’s game,” he said.
The 2A West Central District 3 playoff game is at 7 p.m. Friday at Foster’s Werner Neudorf Stadium. The teams are battling for the third place in the district playoffs.
The winner will advance to the state football semi-finals tournament Nov. 27-28. The Gridiron Classic state tournament is Dec. 4-5.
Franklin Pierce finished the regular season with a 5-2 record in the 2A division of the South Puget Sound League.
Foster was assured of a district playoff appearance with a victory over the Renton Indians Oct. 2. The Bulldogs then lost on Oct. 16 to the Lindbergh Eagles, the No. 1 2A seed.
But on Oct. 30, the Eagles lost to the Indians, leaving the three 2A schools with identical 4-2 records. With no time for a tie-breaker before the first playoff game Tuesday, a drawing determined the seeding. Foster was drawn first, then Renton, then Lindbergh.
“I think that the parity in the league is a sign of improvement in the Seamount and I am extremely proud of our kids. Any of the three 4-2 teams would have been well deserving of the first seed, but we are very excited that it is us.”
The Bulldogs aren’t preparing for this game “any differently than we have all season,” he said. “The unfortunate circumstances at Evergreen afforded us a chance to get healthy in a bye week and clean some things up, but we continue to do the things that helped put us in the position we are in now,” he said.
Most of Evergreen’s football games were canceled after the fatal injury a player suffered early in the season.
Lindbergh won its playoff game on Tuesday, beating Bremerton 28-17. The Eagles will play for the district championship Saturday (Nov. 7) at South Sound Stadium in Lacey.
The Indians will play the Liberty Patriots at 7 p.m. Friday at Liberty for fourth place.
Students, including Foster’s, must pay admission to the game. Admission is $8 for adults and students without an ASB card and $4 for students with an ASB card, senior citizens and elementary students. Children under 6 are free.
