’Cats attack

Talk about unfair.

Mt. Spokane, the Greater Spokane League’s 3A football champion, never gave the Wilson Rams a chance Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats played like road pavers, rolling over, around and through the Rams as Mt. Spokane flattened Wilson 52-6 in a State 3A first-round game at Albi Stadium.

Mt. Spokane (9-2) meets Shadle Park (8-3) in a rematch. The quarterfinal matchup will likely be played next Saturday at Albi.

The Wildcats are a much better version of themselves now after back-to-back losses in September forced them to refocus. It wasn’t a total makeover. They’re just finally playing as well as they have all season.

Mt. Spokane scored the game’s first four touchdowns, all coming on runs, for a 27-0 lead before the Rams blinked. By halftime, the Wildcats had rushed for 299 yards. They finished with 482.

Leading the way was senior running back Mike Schupp, who had 161 yards on nine carries. He didn’t score but he set up TDs. Teammate Dakota Hipes had 102 on seven rushes.

Schupp took time to praise his offensive line of Jacob Yedica (left tackle), Eric Hahn (left guard), Jacob Lionello (center), Chase Gyllenhammer (right guard) and Tyler Bailey (right tackle).

“Our line was on point,” Schupp said. “The line was blocking well and our slots were blocking.”

Schupp said back-to-back losses to Gonzaga Prep and Sandpoint got the Wildcats’ attention.

“It’s crazy how we’ve changed things,” Schupp said. “We’re back on track and we’re making our way. Those losses woke us up a little bit. We definitely fixed a lot of things in practice. We’ve progressively gotten better. We’re getting there.”

Coach Terry Cloer said the main thing in dealing with the setbacks was not to panic.

“It always humbles you,” Cloer said. “You’re never as good as you are or as bad as you think you are. We checked what we were doing and stuck with what we were doing and continued to do the things that we value within the program.”

Wilson came into the game dinged up in recent weeks by injuries.

“They were missing a few guys but they still had some quality players out there,” Cloer said. “You never expect that (a blowout) in the round of 16. We know we’re pretty good, but you never expect that.”

In a four-touchdown hole, Wilson finally scored its first TD in the second quarter.

But Mt. Spokane responded when quarterback Matt Pulliam found Kyle Griffiths on a 16-yard TD strike with 6 seconds to go before halftime for a 34-6 lead.

The Wildcats continued to pour it on with their first possession of the second half. Zach Vogel got loose for an 8-yard TD, extending the lead to 41-6 after the Wildcats took 5:40 off the clock.

Mt. Spokane’s depth got in on the scoring late when sophomore Sam Speers scored from 6 yards out.

The Wildcats’ defense also scored two safeties.

“We’re finally starting fast now and we’ve got that figured out,” Cloer said. “We’re just hitting our stride now, which is the time to do it.”