West Valley beats Pullman 41-24, forces three-way tiebreaker to decide GSL 2A title

There is always a sense of emotion that threads its way through the last home game of a football season when seniors bring out family to share the final home game of their football careers.

West Valley coach Craig Whitney wasn’t having any of that.

“That’s what I keep telling them,” he said moments after his Eagles completed a 41-24 win over Pullman in the regular season finale to force a three-way tiebreaker atop the Greater Spokane League 2A division.

“We’re still fighting to have more home games. We’re not done.”

For the second year in a row West Valley will head to a Tuesday Kansas tiebreaker, against Shadle Park and Clarkston, to determine which GSL teams play on.

This year, the league champion receives an automatic bid to state, while second and third must contend with Week 10 crossovers.

Last year, West Valley lost its mini-game tiebreaker and missed out on a postseason berth.

“That’s the way it is with this league,” the coach laughed. “The difference is I don’t think there has been a three-way tie for first place. This is something new.”

Shadle Park will play Clarkston in the first of two 10-minute mini-games with the winner facing the Eagles for first place.

“This year, all three teams are in,” Whitney explained. “This time it’s all about seeding. The winner is the No. 1 seed and they have a bye. The No. 2 team has to play the No. 2 finisher from the CWAC, Ephrata. The No. 3 team has to go play at Othello.”

An Othello grad himself, Whitney has no desire to play his alma mater.

“I would like to be No. 1, of course,” he said. “After last year, there’s a feeling of unfinished business over the way it ended. We’ll see if we can use that.”

Raesean Eaton said last year’s disappointment got channeled into his offseason.

“I used it to motivate me in the weight room,” he said. “I used it in our 7-on-7 program and that helped me learn to make better reads and make better throws.”

And on his final scheduled home game as a West Valley senior, Eaton put both of those motivations on display.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound quarterback became the team’s de facto fullback out of the West Valley option while throwing for two touchdowns.

He completed a clutch fourth-down pass for 21 yards to set up the Eagles first touchdown, then fired a 26-yard pass to Grady Walker for the second score and punched over from 1 to make it 21-10 at halftime.

He hit Walker for a second touchdown in the third quarter, this one from 20 yards out, then scampered 24 yards on a quarterback keeper.

“He’s got a good arm and thought he could make some simple throws,” Whitney said. “He’s really one of our best lifters and that really shows in his core strength – he can just run over some people.”

Whitney said he was pleased, in general, with the way his team handled Pullman.

“A 41-24 win looks pretty good,” he said. “A 41-17 win would look better. I think we were a little sloppy in places.”

Pullman had two big-play touchdowns.

Tanner Barbour got to the corner on a keeper, turned up field and ran 75 yards for a touchdown in the first half.

Pullman QB Caleb Northcroft tried to throw deep to Champ Powaukee, only to underthrow his 6-4 target by two yards and watched Ashton Zettle return it 75 yards for a touchdown.

On the Greyhounds’ next offensive play, the pair made it work when Powaukee used his height to catch the ball over Zettle and turn it into a 69-yard score.