Kaden Hooper shoulders increased load, Shadle Park outlasts East Valley to remain in playoff chase

Shadle Park didn’t control its destiny, but the Highlanders knew what they needed heading into Week 9 in order to remain in the hunt for the second Greater Spokane League 2A playoff berth.

The first step: Beat East Valley on Thursday night at ONE Spokane Stadium.

The teams entered with opposite overall records – Shadle at 6-2, the Knights at 2-6. It didn’t turn out to be the mismatch it might have looked like, and the injury-depleted Highlanders eventually pulled away for a 36-21 win to stay in the chase.

Kaden Hooper connected with Jacob Boston for four touchdown passes and Shadle Park set up a potential three-way tiebreaker in the 2A ranks.

“We said, ‘We’ve got to complete a deep pass at some point this season,’ and the second half we completed quite a few,” Shadle Park coach Jim Mace said.

Shadle Park (7-2, 4-2) needs West Valley to lose and Rogers to win on Friday to force a “Kansas tiebreaker” on Tuesday for the league’s second bid to state.

If that happens, Shadle will be understaffed as it had several players, including starting running back Nic Tilton, go out with serious injuries.

“I’m really, really proud of our kids,” Mace said. “I mean, losing Tilton, we’re gonna be in little bit of trouble. We had a lot of people battle, but he’s a very special player and our kids picked it up tonight.”

After Tilton went out, Hooper became the featured runner in addition to the passer. He finished with 24 carries for 158 and a score and completed 5 of 12 passes for 132 yards – all to Boston.

He also played most of the game at defensive back.

“Football injuries happen, it’s contact sport,” Hooper said. “So, stuff like that happens you just have to be able to adapt and play ball. Whoever has more points at the end of the game wins, and we had a lot of people go down, but we still had more points at the end of the game. So, that’s all that matters.”

“We asked for more and more out of (Hooper) at the end,” Mace said. “It’s like, ‘You’re the only running back we’ve got.’ He doesn’t look to come out, doesn’t look to do anything else but get his job done.”

A quick first quarter ended scoreless and Shadle finally got going midway through the second quarter. Tilton burst through the line for a 14-yard gain into EV territory, but he stayed on the ground after the play and had to be carried off the field.

On the next play, Hooper took it off-tackle and down the left sideline untouched for a 32-yard touchdown and 7-0 lead with 4:57 left in the half.

East Valley’s Titan Nesbitt carried twice for 23 yards to midfield. Tarin Fields tossed a swing pass to Wilkinson, who hit the corner at full speed, went down the sideline and was hauled down at the 1.

Nesbitt scored on a counter to tie it with just under 3 minutes to go.

After a turnover, Hooper ran for a first down, then hit Boston in stride for a 38-yard touchdown catch-and-run to lead 14-7 with 17 seconds left before halftime.

“He’s always open,” Hooper said of Boston. “He beats (defensive backs). I haven’t hit him up very well so far this year, but we clicked on the deep ball tonight. Everything just came together when it needed to happen.”

A short punt early in the third quarter gave East Valley (2-7, 1-5) good field position. Nesbitt (18 carries, 91 yards) carried twice for 15 yards to the 4, and on second-and-goal he scored on the counter to tie it up – his eighth league touchdown of the season.

On fourth-and-5 at the EV 38, Boston gathered a short pass, broke a tackle, and went down the sideline for a score. A fake kick on the extra-point try was called back on a penalty and it was 20-14 late in the quarter.

East Valley tried a fake punt, but upback Dean Deakins was stopped short and Shadle took over on downs. Six plays later, Hooper hit Boston on a fade for his third touchdown catch of the game.

Boston juked his defender out in the back of the end zone for a 2-point conversion that made it 24-14 with 9:38 to go.

“The 2-point conversion at the end was all (Boston),” Mace said. “I called a bad play. He made a guy miss, got open and (Hooper and Boston) have a really good connection. They work a lot in the offseason and shows up now.”

Fields found Wilkinson on a skinny post and the fleet-footed receiver went 67 yards for a touchdown to make it a one-score game.

Wilkinson, who is committed to University of Idaho, finished with 134 yards receiving and 80 yards on the ground.

But Hooper ran for two first downs then connected with Boston again for a 41-yard touchdown pass. Another 2-point conversion made it 36-21 with 4:46 left.

“We talked all week about how there was no guarantee (of playoffs),” Mace said. “We put a little pressure on West Valley. They’re a really good team and we’ll see what happens. I don’t usually root for Pullman, but this week, ‘Go Hounds.’ ”