The time and location of Lindbergh High School’s state football tournament opening round game against Mark Morris High School has been announced as 7 p.m. Friday at Longview Memorial Stadium, 2903 Nichols Blvd., Longview, Wash.

Ryland Spencer, Washington Analyst for Northwest Elite Index, offers the following assessment of this weekend’s Lindbergh-Mark Morris game:

Mark Morris is a tough football team. They come in as Greater St. Helens League Champions after finishing 5-0 in league play. They also played a tough non-league schedule, with four games against 3A competition, and went 3-1. Running the ball is the name of the game for the Monarchs, who will try to control the clock with backs Keigan Baker and Hayden Tapani. Last week, the Monarchs were down 10-0, before rallying for a 13-10 win over an upstart Capital team.

For the Eagles to be successful defensively, they are going to need to be tough against the run to make the Monarchs uncomfortable. Lindbergh LB Trevonn Russell is going to have to be on top of his game as Mark Morris will not shy away from coming right at him.

On the offensive side, the Eagles will need to run the ball with RB Daniel Wiitenan. He is one of the top backs in the 2A classification and should have running lanes this week. The Monarchs had a tough time stopping the Capital running game last week, allowing close to 250 yards on the ground. Look for Wiitenan to get the ball early, and often.

The winner of this game will get a home game next week.

To see more from Spencer, visit http://www.northwesteliteindex.com.