Cheney rallies past Colville, stays atop GNL

For the better part of the football game, Cheney’s offense was stuck in neutral and found itself trailing visiting Colville by 11 points.

The Blackhawks suddenly found another gear, scoring 29 points in the game’s final 9 minutes for a 39-28 triumph Friday night.

With the win, Cheney (4-2, 3-0 Great Northern League) joined West Valley unbeaten atop the league, reminiscent of a bygone era.

Cheney’s victory resulted from a combination of turnovers, trick plays and questionable play calls.

But mainly it was the product of the talents of DeAngelo Jones and Alex Adams.

“Those two kids especially are just great athletes and can make plays,” coach Jason Williams said. “If they get into space, they’re pretty scary.”

With his arms and legs, quarterback Jones out of the shotgun in the decisive fourth quarter willed the Blackhawks on an 84-yard scoring drive that dramatically shifted momentum.

He then he picked off a wobbly pass that resulted in Adams’ first electric burst, a 39-yarder for a go-ahead score 30 seconds later.

“Our defensive coach told us he wanted the ball back,” Jones said. “That stuck in my head and I got the ball back.”

After a botched center snap gave Colville the football at the 1-yard line, the Indians took the lead back. Jones, on the first play following the kickoff, exploded 63-yards for the winning score with 2:49 left to play. Jones added the finishing touch after Cheney’s defense stopped Colville on fourth down deep in its own territory.

Adams, who had been contained outside, said he felt slow in the game. It didn’t show at the end.

“It was there,” he said of the holes that finally appeared, “and I did get it.”

The visiting Indians had built a 21-10 halftime lead with its multifaceted double-wing offense.

Smothering defense limited Cheney to 133 yards through the bulk of three quarters.

Despite a 2-to-1 offensive yardage advantage, however, Colville could not add to its scoring advantage and the Blackhawks’ dynamic duo turned the game around in a quick span.

When it looked as if the 25-21 lead would hold up, Cheney’s punt snap from its 3-yard line instead dribbled 2 yards back and Brock Dotts scored his third TD to make it 28-25 Indians with 3:10 remaining.

Adams changed momentum again 20 seconds later.