I can feel my feet again, and No. 1-ranked Bothell High football is feeling confident as the Cougars roll through the state playoffs.

With a thin layer of ice covering the Pop Keeney Field playing surface and the brutally cold weather numbing people’s toes, hands and more, the Blue Train (11-0) convincingly bounced Rogers in the first round, 57-14, Friday night and set up a date to host Issaquah (8-3) at 7 p.m. this Friday in the 4A quarterfinals.

“It was cold, obviously, but a great, hard-fought game by both teams. I just try to stay warm and not think about it, just try to be natural,” senior 6-foot-6 tight end Michael Hartvigson said after the Rogers game through chattering teeth. “In a way, it’s pretty cool, the ground is frozen at Pop Keeney (kicks the field turf). It’s awesome, I think.”

My voice sounds pretty clear on the video tape while interviewing the big man, so I guess the upper half of my body made it through the night OK.

I’m excited to see how far our undefeated squad can go. Rain, sleet or snow — and opponents chomping at the bit — the Cougars are ready for anything and everything out there on game night.

“Just play our game, that’s really key,” Hartvigson said while his teammates jogged past him to the warmer climate of the team bus. “(We’ll ) enjoy this win until Monday, then after that have a great week of practice.

“(We’re) feeling good, it’s a great win at Pop Keeney. Give the hometown crowd a nice little ‘W,'” he added before bolting for the bus himself.

I wasn’t far behind him, walking on what I think were my legs back to the Reporter office. Next time, a double pair of socks and some boots will be crucial elements of my uniform for the night.

ELECTION ACTION

Some races went as expected and there were some upsets in the Bothell and Kenmore city-council and Northshore School Board voting game.

What counts is that people voted and had their say.

Over here at the Reporter, we received plenty of compliments on our coverage — and even a few notes from folks disagreeing with our election stories. We feel we reported on every candidate equally, but you can’t win them all, I guess. One candidate noted that if you have pro or con comments from both sides, you’re doing your job right. I fully agree, and we wouldn’t change a thing on how we tackled the election.

There were some sticky situations when citizens contacted us and criticized some candidates’ political actions. To be fair, we looked into every case and allowed the candidate a chance to respond to the accusations. It’s never easy asking the tough questions, but we did and feel we did the right thing every time.

Thanks for voting and reading.