OMAK — A lot of football fans across the state are surprised that two teams from the Caribou Trail League have advanced to the state Class 1A quarterfinals.

Omak coach Nick Sackman is among them, sort of.

“It should have been three teams,” he said, referring to Okanogan’s near miss against River View. “I tell people all the time that our league is the most underrated in the state. The SCAC dominates the headlines, but I’d put our top five teams against any other league in the state.”

But instead of taking on teams from other leagues, those two CTL teams, Omak and Chelan, will go head to head at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Apple Bowl in Wenatchee. Both upset teams ranked in the top five in the first round, and both had to come from behind after letting early leads slip away.

“(Zillah) scored 14 points in something like 38 seconds of game time,” Sackman said. “But our defense stood tall. As far as all the teams I’ve ever coached, this is the highest character team I’ve had.”

Omak is also playing its best football of the year at the right time.

“I think our record is irrelevant to how we’re playing right now,” Sackman said. “All three of our losses are to teams that aren’t in the playoffs anymore, and that lets us know we’re playing our best football of the year at the right time.”

But as well as the Pioneers are playing, they’re about to meet a Chelan opponent that might be even hotter.

“Chelan is a scary team right now,” Sackman said. “They beat Cashmere and Royal in back-to-back weeks, two premier programs. Everyone is picking Chelan to beat us right now, but that’s just because Chelan is on a great roll.”

The coaches will just have to agree to disagree on who’s the favorite.

“You have to think everybody has got Omak slightly favored because they beat us,” Chelan coach Darren Talley said. “It’s up to us to prove them wrong.”

When the Pioneers and Goats met during the regular season, Omak was able to escape with a 15-12 home victory. C.J. Lockwood had 158 yards and scored both Omak touchdowns in that one, and now has 1,589 yards on the season.

Sackman said that while Lockwood has all kinds of talent, he also has a lot of help.

“Lockwood is a tremendous runner, and he’s what makes us go, but a lot of the credit goes to the guys who are up front blocking for him,” Sackman said. “They’re keeping guys off him until he’s five yards up the field.”

Talley respects Lockwood’s ability, but said thinking he’s Omak’s only weapon would be unwise.

“Everything runs through the hands of their quarterback and Lockwood,” Talley said. “If you concentrate only on Lockwood, you’re making a mistake. (Quarterback Brenden Aguilar) has got a good arm, too.”

Corey Voegele; 661-5223

cvoegele@wenatcheeworld.com