Friday Night (High)lights: Mt. Spokane outlasts Central Valley in ‘instant classic’ while Gonzaga Prep chugs along
This week in the Greater Spokane League we saw a couple of close games decided in overtime between contenders in the 4A/3A and 2A divisions.
We also saw a couple of more blowouts between teams at the top and the bottom of the standings.
And North Idaho finally moved into league play, so we can start to sort out who might move on there.
So, while we wait for the football leagues in the eastern part of the state to officially approve a playoff plan, let’s go around the league (and elsewhere) and take a look at five things that stood out to us in Week 6.
Keeping pace
With Gonzaga Prep’s 40-point win over University on Thursday, Mt. Spokane and Central Valley knew coming into their game on Friday what was at stake.
The game turned out as so many between the two have the past couple of years – close, hard fought and decided late. Like, overtime late.
The Wildcats erased a two-touchdown deficit at halftime with 14 points in the third quarter.
The defenses stiffened in the fourth, and an extra session was needed to decide matters.
Mt. Spokane broke out the Wildcat formation in OT and Ethan Keene used four straight runs to get into the end zone.
The Wildcats then pushed CV back to near midfield, and Boden Gardner, who caught a first-quarter touchdown pass, intercepted Dylan Gravelle’s fourth-down desperation heave in the end zone to preserve the win.
It was an exciting end to a terrific high school football game.
That leaves Mt. Spokane and G-Prep with identical records (5-1, 5-0). The Bullpups visit an angry Central Valley team on Friday, then host Mt. Spokane in what could be the de facto league championship game on Oct. 21.
Still lurking
Mead (5-1, 4-1) followed up its win over Central Valley with a 35-0 shutout of Ferris (0-6, 0-6) this week and it was more of the same that we’ve seen from the Panthers – a couple of long touchdown passes and a TD run by Colby Danielson.
The senior signal-caller connected with Keenan Kuntz from 70 yards and with Max Workman on a 40-yarder, while plunging in from the 1 on his TD run.
Mead has Lewis and Clark (3-3, 3-2) and Cheney (2-4, 2-4) at home the next two weeks before finishing the season with Mt. Spokane in the “Battle of the Bell,” which could dictate which team earns the GSL 3A top seed in Week 10.
Stepping up
It took overtime, but Shadle Park (5-1, 4-0) escaped from Pullman (3-2, 2-1) with a 30-24 win on the road, allowing the Highlanders to sit atop the 2A race by themselves.
They have a couple of challenging games ahead of them – on the road at Colville and hosting Clarkston (4-2, 3-1) – but Shadle operates from a position of strength.
There are now three teams in the 2A division with one loss – Pullman, Clarkston and West Valley – with the Oct. 28 matchup between the Eagles and Greyhounds looking like a possible elimination game.
Tight race
No. 5 Lakeside (6-0, 3-0) stayed undefeated in league, but got more of a game than they might have expected out of Newport (2-4, 1-3) in a 10-point decision.
Meanwhile, Freeman (4-2, 2-1) got a big game from Boen Phelps, accounting for four touchdowns, in a 43-21 win over previously undefeated Colville (5-1, 3-1).
The Scotties, Crimson Hawks and Riverside all have one loss in the battle for the second playoff spot from the league.
Gem state update
It was the first week of league play in North Idaho, and with so few league games available every single one stands out.
In 5A, Post Falls (5-2) scored a touchdown with 16 seconds remaining to knock off Lewiston (5-2) 42-35, while Coeur d’Alene (4-3) survived what coach Shawn Amos called a “very ugly” game in a 14-2 win over Lake City (2-5).
Last year the Vikings, Trojans and Bengals tied with one loss apiece, forcing a Tuesday “Kansas tiebreaker,” with CdA and Lewiston advancing. Everyone would like to avoid that again.
Sandpoint started the season ranked in 4A, but with losses to CdA and Lewiston it was leapfrogged by Lakeland, which started 6-1.
The Bulldogs might have taken that personally, drubbing the Hawks 38-13 on Friday, all but securing the North’s automatic bid to the playoffs for Sandpoint. Lakeland is left to hope for an at-large spot.