Grant Hannan leads Central Valley past North Central, 41-7

Grant Hannan is getting the hang of this starting quarterback thing.

In Central Valley’s 41-7 Greater Spokane League pasting of visiting North Central on Friday, the former back-up looked like a Day 1 starter.

Hannan, who replaced Matt Gabbert after he suffered a broken clavicle in Week 1, completed 14 of his 19 passes for 232 yards and four touchdowns in just a half of work.

He also ran for 54 yards on three carries.

Hannan, who was also instrumental in the Bears’ 48-7 rout of Ferris on Sept. 15, praised his defense and offensive line.

“Our defense did a great job and really just took the pressure off me,” Hannan said. “Our linemen had a good game and everyone helped make my decisions easier for me. We just executed our game plan.”

North Central was held to just 101 yards of total offense and intercepted twice.

It took Central Valley less than six minutes to put North Central in a 21-point hole.

Between a 48-yard hook-up between Hannan and Austin Tomlinson, an 8-yard touchdown run by Hunter Chodorowski and a pick-six by Bekk Martin, it took all five total plays for the Bears to have a 14-0 cushion.

Hannan followed up with touchdown passes to Corey Quinn, Tomlinson, Brian Munro and Micah Mason as CV went into halftime with a 41-7 lead.

“We wanted to get off to a good start to make sure our guys were focused and dialed in all week,” Central Valley coach Ryan Butner said. “It showed early on. We wanted to come out and the aggressive team and I think that was the case.”

North Central, which was without starting quarterback Jake Healy due to injury, had the Bears in a 1st-and-36 situation in the second quarter, but Hannan broke containment on a 40-yard scramble.

Indians (1-3) head coach Tom Griggs knew his team couldn’t spot a team as dangerous as Central Valley an early lead,.

“They’re big and physical,” Griggs said. “I think they could have done whatever they wanted to us. We can’t let teams dictate how we play.”

Tomlinson hauled in four passes for 84 yards for Central Valley (2-1), which played its reserves and primarily ran the ball throughout the second half.