Gonzaga Prep beats Mt. Spokane 49-21

One would have thought there was a track meet going on Thursday evening the way decathlete-hopeful Nick Johnson was running around.

The Gonzaga Prep senior was a one-man wrecking crew in the first half. Then in the second half the Bullpups’ defense showed it has some playmakers, too.

In a showdown between unbeatens, the Bullpups showed they may be in a class by themselves in a comfortable 49-21 win over the Mt. Spokane Wildcats in a Greater Spokane League crossover football game at Albi Stadium.

A senior wingback, Johnson touched the ball five times in the first half, and three of the touches turned into touchdowns. Long, long touchdown plays.

Johnson alone accounted for 178 yards total offense in the first two quarters, finishing with 201. He rushed seven times for 121 yards.

“We had a hard week at practice,” Johnson said. “We were definitely prepared for them. That was definitely our best week of practice. Our offensive line, our outside blocking, the receivers … we worked really hard this week.”

It started on the first play for G-Prep. Quarterback Liam Bell, on play-action, hit a streaking Johnson on an 80-yard touchdown bomb.

“That was a great call by Coach (Bob) Cassano,” Johnson said of G-Prep’s offensive coordinator. “The offensive line gave Liam blocking.”

One of Johnson’s first-half touches actually was a 3-yard loss on his first rushing attempt.

After Mt. Spokane evened the score at 7-7, Johnson added TD runs of 55 and 32 yards.

And the Bullpups were off and running – literally.

In between Johnson’s feats was a 1-yard TD plunge by Mason Plese.

G-Prep (4-0) had 315 yards total offense in the first half to Mt. Spokane’s 83.

Mt. Spokane (3-1) made some adjustments at halftime. The Wildcats pulled within 28-14 when quarterback Mitchell Speer hit Jacob Barnes on a 38-yard pass with 8:02 to go in the third quarter.

G-Prep answered, driving 72 yards before running back Mason Plese scored from 2 yards out.

Then G-Prep would take advantage of an interception and fumble recovery on a pooch kickoff.

Mt. Spokane had driven to the Bullpups 22-yard line when an errant Speer pass was picked off by Sam Lockett.

Lockett took off like he was on a kickoff return, eventually dashing 97 yards on the interception return to extend G-Prep’s lead to 42-14.

Then on the ensuing kickoff, Jack Condon recovered a pooch-style kick at Mt. Spokane’s 35. Three plays later, Evan Weaver scored on a 4-yard run for a 49-14 lead with 1:01 left in the third.

In a seven-minute span, G-Prep went from 28-14 to 49-14.

“This is definitely our best game all around,” Johnson said.

G-Prep coach Dave McKenna agreed. But he said there’s still much room for improvement.

“We took another step,” McKenna said. “We still have to eliminate some of the mistakes we’re making. We had a great week of practice and it starts in practice. We’ve watched some great football teams play out here and they’re in our near future. We’ve got to strive to get better.”