Friday Night (High)lights: Round of 32 teams from Greater Spokane League set, awaiting Week 10 matchups
The dust – or as far as Friday’s games go, the mud – has settled, and we know the teams representing the Greater Spokane League and most of the smaller leagues in the opening rounds of state.
We knew Gonzaga Prep and Mead were playoff bound in 4A, with Lewis and Clark in Tuesday’s play-in game, before play began. All three came away with wins to head into Week 10 with momentum.
In 3A, Mt. Spokane won a nail-biter and Shadle Park lost, so the Wildcats join top-seed Central Valley in the 3A bracket.
Rogers went north to Deer Park and triumphed in a sloggy mess to capture the third 2A seed. Undefeated West Valley and second-seeded Clarkston continued winning ways.
The Northeast A will send two: Colville ended Lakeside’s three-year run as league champion with a 13-12 win Friday, and both teams move on.
There’s still some sorting to do in 2B, but Freeman, Northwest Christian and Asotin all go to state. Newport awaits a Kansas tiebreaker on Tuesday between Colfax and Liberty to find out its matchup in a winner-to-state game next week.
While coaches, players and fans anxiously await where their teams fall in the brackets, let’s take a closer look at this week’s action from around the area.
Win and in (Part I)
When I tell you it rained hard in Deer Park on Friday, let me tell you – my sneakers still haven’t dried out. Except for a 2-minute period near the end of the third quarter, it poured all game. Coupled with the low-40s temperatures, it’s no wonder both teams had trouble moving the ball in the second half. That frigid rain just sucked the mood right out of the winner-moves-on atmosphere for all involved.
Rogers got just enough offense in the first half, primarily on two long runs by senior Gavynn Bodman, and the Pirates held on for a 26-7 win over the Stags – in their first year in the 2A classification – to claim their second postseason bid in consecutive seasons. That might not seem big to some, but it can’t be understated within the Rogers community.
“It’s so important to us,” Rogers coach Ryan Cole said. “In our community, it gives it gives them something to be proud of. Again, it gives our school something to be proud of. It brings excitement into our building.”
Bodman said it best.
“I came into Rogers as a freshman, and everybody had a thought that like, ‘Oh, Rogers … is this, Rogers is the bottom of the barrel.’ And now we’re showing everybody that kids from Hillyard aren’t just the bottom of the barrel, they can be on the top, too.”
Win and in (Part Deux)
It took until a late touchdown run by senior Luke Merkelbach, but Mt. Spokane edged Cheney 7-3 to win its fifth in a row. The Wildcats had to wait a bit while Mead made its own fourth-quarter comeback to knock off Shadle Park 28-20, elevating Mt. Spokane to the 3A Round of 32.
Mt. Spokane’s schedule was front-loaded – it uncharacteristically lost consecutively to CV, Shadle, G-Prep and Mead – while replacing all-league players at quarterback, tailback and receiver. The Wildcats recovered in the second half of the season to end up in familiar territory – the postseason.
Credit where due
But let’s give Shadle Park some credit. While the Highlanders lost their last four games and finished one game shy of the playoffs, they went down swinging the past two weeks – losing two one-score games – after scoring seven points in its previous two games combined.
It’s probably small consolation to coach Jim Mace and a roster full of seniors – including leaders QB Kaden Hooper, RB Nic Tilton and WR Jacob Boston – but they could have easily folded after the bad games in Week 6 and 7.
It’s a testament to Mace, his staff and those senior leaders that they kept fighting and had both CV and Mead on the ropes in the past two weeks in their first year back at 3A.
Third place
It may not seem like much, but after Lewis and Clark beat Central Valley Thursday at ONE Spokane Stadium, the Tigers laid claim to third place in the league by virtue of the head-to-head win over the Bears. It’s a big stepping stone for first-year coach Kyle Snell and his program. LC closed its season with three straight wins after back-to-back losses to G-Prep and a crushing one-point decision – on a blocked extra point in overtime – to Mt. Spokane.
“After we lost to Prep, we didn’t think we had any shot (at the postseason),” Snell said. “Then we got word about (the play-in game). I think our kids could have taken that as, ‘Oh well, we have this opportunity no matter what.’ Since then, we’ve responded with a one-point loss and three straight wins.”
Grace under pressure
Props to LC junior quarterback Ben Conklin and senior Tyler Daniel. Daniel started the season as the starting QB and Snell replaced him in Week 6.
Conklin has played well in his new-found playing time. Daniel could have sulked, but after adjusting to his new role he excelled Thursday with three rushing TDs from the running back position – with two in overtime – and finished with 32 carries for 145 yards.
“This is my last year of football, and I’d rather go out on it swinging big,” Daniel said. “If you just take a defeat like that, that’s not the way to go about it. You’ve always got to put 100% in everything you do.”