East Valley shifts to ‘Deizel’, beats North Central 50-18

A week after running out of gas in the second half against Shadle Park, East Valley shifted to ‘Deizel’ at intermission and rolled past North Central 50-18 Friday night at University High.

The Knights, who had to shut down the program earlier this season due to a COVID-19 outbreak, scored the most points since former North Central coach Tom Griggs took over at East Valley, earned their second win in three games and evened their Greater Spokane League record at 1-1.

Senior Ryan Conrath sparked East Valley on two long touchdown drives to start the game and it held a 16-6 lead after two quarters.

Griggs switched quarterbacks at halftime, handing the reigns to sophomore Deizel Wilkinson. He engineered four more touchdown drives, including a 50-yard dash for a score on the first play following the Blackhawks’ second score and a 40-yard run that saw him run through three tackles and into the end zone.

The starter at free safety, Wilkinson capped his stellar second half with an 80-yard interception return for a score.

“I don’t know if that really helps him (on defense),” Griggs said. “He kind of gets bored back there playing center field.

“But that makes it worthwhile and I know it’s going to energize him.”

No matter who worked in the EV shotgun formation, the game came down to a simple footrace – the Knights bet their quarterback could sprint to the corner faster than North Central’s linebackers. And he did. Again and again.

No ruffles, no flourishes, no fakes and no reads. Just a flat-out sprint at the snap while everyone made their blocks.

“It’s pretty simple,” Griggs said. “It’s just student body left; student body right.”

In a game in which playbooks are so thick they need to be published in multivolume sets, it was refreshing to an offense work off a playbook that fits somewhere between a pamphlet and the menu at Denny’s.

“You ran the same danged play,” a North Central assistant coach grumbled.

But the Wolfpack simply couldn’t stop the play – especially when East Valley got even faster off the snap in the second half.

“Ryan and I complete every day in practice,” Wilkinson said. “I’m not sure which of us is faster. I just know my O-line did a great job making their blocks all game long.”

The Knights opened the game with a handoff on their first play from scrimmage, with Joe Hofstee ripping off a 56-yard run through a big hole on the right side of the line, setting up a first down at the NC 21. After Conrath ran for 7 yards, Hofstee broke free for a 14-yard touchdown.

Conrath added a 2-point conversion and the Knights took an 8-0 lead less than 1 minute into the game.

Conrath marched EV 88 yards on its second possession to take a 16-0 lead.

North Central stalled on its first drive of the second half and was forced to punt. With Wilkinson behind center, the Knights marched 60 yards with their first possession, forced the Wolfpack to punt, then scored again for a 29-6 lead.