Joseph on the verge of first-ever state football championship
By Joe Hathaway on Friday, November 24th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
JOSEPH — Only one game now stands in the way for the Joseph Eagles to bring home its first state championship in football.
And that game is a huge one.
Joseph will face Echo for the 1A-6 state title on Saturday, November 25 at 2:00pm at Hermiston High School.
“We feel pretty good and the boys have a great attitude. We’re a little nervous that it’s the title game, there’s a lot on the line,” said Joseph head coach Damian Huff. “Echo’s a dangerous team that puts up a lot of points.”
The Eagles played Echo the first game of the season this year, defeating the Cougars 52-28.
“Our players don’t even look at that game. They’re looking at this as a whole new game and a whole new team,” said Huff. “So I think they have the right mindset.”
Joseph has shown it’s a dangerous team as well. The Eagles are averaging nearly 40 points a game this season and have a 9-1 record. The lone loss came at the hands of Prairie City/Burnt River during the regular season, a loss that Joseph avenged when the Eagles beat the Panthers 33-19 during last week’s semifinal game.
Unlike your typical 11 guys on the field during football, six-man football is just that, six men on the field on offense and defense.
“We have a lot of weapons. All six guys on my offense are fast and run the ball hard. So I think it’s tough to scheme against because if you take away one or two of my players then I just go to someone else,” said Huff. “Every single one of them is ready to step up and take on that challenge. So I think it’s a lot of fun coaching the offense. My defensive coordinator has had a hard time trying to scheme against us in practice. I’m sure other coaches get just as frustrated.”
Joseph has never won a state title in football and last appeared in the championship game in 2008, losing to Imbler 48-36.
“It would be big to bring home the title. It would be great for the school and be great for the community,” said Huff. “We thought we were good enough last year and there was a lot of disappointment that we didn’t get the job done. So these seniors really, really want this and really want to bring it home.”
