If opposites do indeed attract, then it’s no wonder that the CBBN league championship the past two years has come down to Eastmont and Moses Lake.

The run-heavy Wildcats – 384 rush attempts vs. 74 passes in 2024 – and the spread-it-out Mavericks – 163 vs. 396 – have won the last two conference championships, and figure to slug it out again for at least one of the Big Nine’s two guaranteed round-of-32 berths.

“I believe that’s the way it’s going to continue to be,” second-year Eastmont coach Jay Foster said. “We have to be able to shut down their passing, just like they have to shut down our running.”

That’s been the formula the last two years. In 2023, the Wildcats intercepted four Moses Lake passes, while last fall the Mavericks held Eastmont to a season-low 80 yards on the ground. 

Moses Lake, with nine starters back on offense and seven on defense, appears the favorite, especially with Montana-commit Brady Jay back under center, er, in shotgun, for coach and father Brett Jay.

“We’ve been young for a while but with 45 to 50 upperclassmen, we’re excited for the experience,” said the elder Jay, noting that this also is the strongest team he’s had in 17 years of coaching.

The Mavs boast a plethora of weapons topped by Grant Smith (902 receiving yards, 14 TDs) and Elijah Burns (1,300 yards from scrimmage, 11 total TDs).

All-league running backs Bodie Yale (756 rushing yards, 7 TDs) and Austin Zelinski (663, 7) key Eastmont’s ground game.

If there’s a team that might spoil it for the Mavericks and Wildcats, Sunnyside would seem to have the best chance. The Grizzlies have back receivers Cody Diddens (1,041 receiving yards, 9 TDs) and Mason Strieck (563, 7) and running back Derek Hansen (795 rushing yards, 7 TDs).

How quickly junior QB Julian Villanueva develops for Marshall Lobbestael’s crew will be key. Villanueva replaces Ethan Avalos (2,200-plus yards the past two seasons), who graduated.

“He has a different skills set than Ethan, but he’s one of the hardest working kids on the team,” the former Washington State quarterback said of his new signal-caller.

West Valley returns several offensive weapons, as well as tackle Parker Mills, one of the top recruits in Eastern Washington. The Rams will have to tighten up their defense after giving up more than 30 points in each of their four losses to finish last season.

Quarterback Ryan Branam again will lead the Wenatchee offense, although his complement of targets was thinned by graduation.

Davis perhaps suffered the biggest loss of the offseason when CBBN defensive player of the year took his 22 touchdowns to defending 4A state champion Sumner. The Pirates do have 

Noah Newkirk (1,665 yards, 18 TDs, 12 ints.) back.

Longtime assistant and Eisenhower grad Adam Wright takes over at his alma mater after Gary Jimenez stepped down. Wright will have two-way all-leaguer Tyquarious Brown leading the way.