West Valley outlasts Rogers 27-22 behind Austin Clark’s 195 yards, two TDs

Austin Clark is making up for lost time.

Having gone out in the fourth game a year ago, the West Valley senior running back has been smack dab in the middle of the Eagles’ undefeated start.

There he was again Friday, churning out 195 yards and three touchdowns and running the offense out of the Wildcat formation in the third quarter.

The Eagles got all they could handle from the visiting Rogers Pirates before West Valley prevailed 27-22 in a Greater Spokane League game.

It was the Eagles’ Homecoming game, and it was accompanied with the usual distractions. But in the end Clark was too much for the Pirates.

WV improved to 5-0 overall, 2-0 in league. Rogers slipped to 2-3 and 1-2.

Still, WV coach Craig Whitney sees much work before his team is a finished product.

“We continue to make mistakes and shoot ourselves in the foot, but take nothing away from Rogers,” Whitney said. “I like the way (Rogers coach Ryan Cole) has his kids prepared. They played with a lot of pride.”

Whitney had his team working out of the Wildcat in the third quarter because he wanted to wear down Rogers.

It worked on the first drive of the second half. Clark took the snap four times, bulldozing in for a touchdown from 37 yards out to extend the Eagles’ lead to 21-7.

Rogers fought back, pulling within 21-14 on the last play of the third quarter when quarterback Jeremiah Sanchez hit Michael Sanders on a 14-yard connection.

The Eagles went back to their normal offense, and quarterback Nathan Zettle went over the top of Rogers’ defense and found Austin Griffith in the back of the end zone on a 22-yard TD play, giving WV a 27-14 lead with 10:45 to go.

Rogers got the ball back with 1:29 to go. Two plays later, Sanchez hit Alex Peabody on a 20-yard scoring connection to pull the Pirates within the final margin with 1:13 to go.

The Pirates were out of timeouts and the Eagles went into victory formation.

WV has a big road showdown next week against league leader Clarkston.

“It’s consistency,” Whitney said about what he’s trying to teach his players. “Doing all the little things correct. When we can do all the little things correct then it’s going to lead to one small thing and a bunch of small things will lead to a big thing.”

It was a first half of missed opportunities for both teams.

Rogers’ opening possession ended with a 2-yard loss on a sack on fourth-and-goal at the 19-yard line.

Then WV was driving and faced a fourth-and-7 at the Pirates’ 32. But Sanders intercepted a screen pass and returned it 63 yards to WV’s 2.

On the next play, Sanchez scored the game’s first touchdown.

The Eagles coughed up their next possession with a fumble at Rogers’ 19 that was recovered by Aiden Cain.

WV forced a punt, and the Eagles’ Czkar Washington got past the protection and blocked the kick. The ball squirted out of bounds at Rogers’ 2.

Clark scored the first of two touchdowns in the first half on the next play, knotting the score at 7-7 with 10:46 to go in the second quarter.

On WV’s next possession, Clark capped a scoring drive powering in from 13 yards out to give the Eagles a 14-7 lead with 3:18 to go before halftime.

That’s where the score would stand before the Homecoming halftime activities.