Week 8 prep football preview: Game of the Week turns into Game of the Year for Gonzaga Prep, Mead
It became apparent early in the season that it would come to this.
Some seasons, the Greater Spokane League 4A/3A division is a toss-up, with four or five teams beating each other up and all still in contention for the league title with a game or two to go. But anyone paying attention this season could see the writing on the wall.
Gonzaga Prep and Mead, ranked No. 4 and No. 6, respectively, in 4A by the state media poll this week, have been the class of the league all season. Of course, some of that has come at the expense of a weak bottom half of the division – Cheney, University and Ferris have combined for two wins.
But this week’s Game of the Week is the Game of the Year. It will determine the GSL champion and top seed to the 4A Round of 32 in Week 10 – and could mean the difference between a home game that week or not.
If you’re planning on attending the doubleheader at Union Stadium Friday night for a pair of games with postseason implications, plan for a long night out. First off, both games are on TV, so that adds time . In addition, the early game between Mt. Spokane and Ridgeline might have 80 or 90 passes between the teams.
We’ll be lucky to have a final score in the late game by 11 p.m.
All games Friday 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
Game of the week
Gonzaga Prep (7-0) at Mead (7-0): Friday 8 p.m. at Union Stadium. Mead’s closest game was a 14-point win over LC on Sept. 13 and the Panthers have outscored opponents 286-83. G-Prep survived a scare by Central Valley last week, but has scored 272 points and allowed 102. It’s a battle between teams that want to run, run and run some more.
The teams are obviously 1-2 in rushing offense this year, with G-Prep at 2,099 yards and Mead close behind with 2,047 . Third-place Central Valley trails by more than 800 yards. The game will feature six of the top-12 individual rushers in the league, led by Mead’s Keegan Mallon, who has 948 yards (6.9 per carry) with 11 touchdowns.
The difference, then, could be in the passing game. G-Prep has shown more of a willingness to throw than in years past with new coach Nate Graham – QB Sam Kincaid has 11 TD passes and is averaging nine passes per game, which in the past has been a season total for the Bullpups.
On the other side, JJ Leman provides Mead with a nice run-throw balance – he had a 89-yard TD run two weeks ago.
4A/3A
Shadle Park (4-3) at Central Valley (5-2): Teams trending in different directions battling for top 3A seed to the Round of 32. It’s an up arrow for CV, which despite its loss to G-Prep last week is playing its best football . Shadle, on the other hand, has scored seven points combined in its past two games, both lopsided losses.
Ridgeline (3-4) at Mt. Spokane (3-4): Friday 5 p.m. at Union Stadium. The Wildcats started 0-4 in a front-loaded schedule but have played their way back into contention for the second 3A Round of 32 spot. But they have to win out, starting with what should be a shootout against the Falcons, who own the head-to-head tiebreaker against Shadle, should it come to that.
Ferris (0-7) at Lewis and Clark (4-3): At ONE Spokane Stadium. The Tigers are locked in for the District 6 4A play-in game the Tuesday after the regular season finishes. QB Ben Conklin has thrown for 680 yards and five TDs the past two weeks.
Cheney (1-6) at University (1-6): Both teams trying to put a second win in the column.
2A
West Valley (7-0, 4-0) at North Central (1-6, 0-4): Friday, 5 p.m. at ONE Spokane Stadium. The No. 6-ranked Eagles have two teams with one league win combined standing in their way of an undefeated regular season. The Wolfpack, with emerging junior quarterback Trevelle Jones, look to make things difficult for WV. They’ll have to stop Austin Clark, who leads GSL 2A with 887 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns in four league games.
Clarkston (4-3, 3-1) at Pullman (2-5, 2-3): The Bantams control their postseason destiny since they own wins over Rogers and Deer Park. A win this week will clinch the league’s second bid to the Round of 32.
East Valley (2-5, 1-3) at Rogers (4-3, 2-2): Thursday 7 p.m. at ONE Spokane Stadium. The Pirates, behind hard-running Gavynn Bodman and shifty receiver Alex Peabody, are trying to claw their way into position for the GSL third seed to the Round of 32. The Knights have dropped four straight after a 2-1 start.
Nonleague
Riverside (2-5) at Deer Park (4-3): The Stags have been competitive in their first year at 2A, but postseason hopes for the third 2A bid hinge on their final-week matchup against Rogers.
Others
Colville (4-3) at Northwest Christian (5-1): Friday 6 p.m. at Roos Field. The No. 7-ranked Crusaders have state aspirations in 2B, so a tough 1A Crimson Hawks team will be a good litmus test.