MOSES LAKE — The Neah Bay Red Devils have been here before. Twice in the past two years, in fact.
Now, the trick for the perennial Class 1B football power is to get one more victory and make it to the state championship game.
Neah Bay (10-2 overall) will make its third straight appearance in the 1B semifinals when it takes on Odessa-Harrington (8-3) at Lions Field in Moses Lake on Saturday at 3 p.m.
The last two appearances ended with blowout defeats, both at the hands of Northwest Football League rival Lummi. With the Red Devils finally slaying that Blackhawk dragon last week in a 58-40 come-from-behind victory, this might be the time they move on to the finals.
It would be just the third time in school history that Neah Bay made it that far in the eight-man football state tournament.
The last championship game appearance came back in 1999. The other was in 1989. Both teams lost.
In Friday’s opponent, the Red Devils face a Northeast League-South Division foe with a lot of state football history behind it as well.
Odessa-Harrington has 18 state appearances to its name, including two state titles, four runner-up finishes and eight semifinal trips total.
The last one was in 2008.