Tyler Daniel scores 3 rushing TDs, Lewis and Clark outlasts Central Valley in double overtime 35-28

Thursday’s game at ONE Spokane Stadium featured a pair of teams locked into their respective postseason spots – Central Valley is the top seed from the Greater Spokane League to the 3A Round of 32, and Lewis and Clark is scheduled to travel to the Tri-Cities for the 4A play-in game on Tuesday. 

CV would love to host that Round of 32 game – it entered play No. 16 in the state’s RPI system – and every win factors into that equation. LC, meanwhile, just wanted to keep momentum rolling for its first-year head coach with two straight wins coming in. 

Perhaps the lack of postseason intrigue, the first cold snap of the season, or the constant rain – or, likely, all three – made for a sloppy, disjointed game that needed two overtime sessions to decide. 

Tyler Daniel, who started the first five games at quarterback for Lewis and Clark, scored two touchdowns in overtime – and had more than 30 carries from running back spot – as the Tigers outlasted the Bears 35-28 in double overtime.

Daniel finished with 32 carries for 145 yards. Tigers junior quarterback Ben Conklin went 20 of 38 for 218 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

“It was just kind of awesome to step out there do my thing, do what I’ve been working on all season,” Daniel said. “That’s what we work for.”

“I’m so proud of our kids’ resilience,” Lewis and Clark coach Kyle Snell said. “(Central Valley) is a really good football team, and this is what I think we needed was to beat someone like CV and just give us some momentum moving forward.”

When Snell made the decision midseason to switch quarterbacks, he sat Daniel down to explain.

“It just shows you the character that he has,” Snell said. “For him to stick with it and find a much different role than he started with is a testament to him, how he was raised, and the grit he’s able to show.”

“I was always taught that you get one shot at everything in life,” Daniel said. “You know, this is my last year of football, and I’d rather go out on it swinging big. 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.”

GSL leading rusher Beau Butner of CV had 19 carries for 110 yards with a rushing, receiving and interception return touchdown – but didn’t get a touch in two possessions in overtime. Butner finished the regular season with 1,171 yards rushing and 26 total touchdowns.

“That was probably the worst game we’ve played all year,” Central Valley coach Ryan Butner said. “It was extremely sloppy, it was poor execution and really poor coaching on our part. We didn’t prepare our guys well enough tonight.”

The teams combined for four interceptions, three fumbles lost, eight turnovers on downs and 10 punts in the lousy weather.

“It seemed a little slow from the start, even through warmups for us,” Snell said. “So I don’t know if (the weather) was part of it. But the kids, just continuing to battle, and staying with it and believing in what we’re doing, is pretty incredible for that group.”

“(LC) definitely played with more edge. Absolutely,” Butner said. “We were flat. We just couldn’t execute. And that’s a testament to (LC) having their guys ready to go and playing way more physical than we did.”

Both teams finished the regular season 6-3. Lewis and Clark will face Kamiakin on the road on Tuesday for a spot in the 4A Round of 32. CV will wait until Sunday afternoon to discover its 3A postseason opening round fate.

The teams traded scoring drives in the first overtime, then after Daniel scored his second rushing touchdown of overtime CV faced fourth-and-6 at the 21. A short pass from Sharif Wade to Kamden Lanphere was stopped 1 yard short of the first down and the Tigers defense preserved the win. 

“You’ve just got to put trust that you know your coaches are going to find somewhere for you to play on Friday,” Daniel said.

Late in the fourth quarter, a short CV punt gave the Tigers the ball at the Bears’ 31 with 3 minutes left. On fourth-and-9, Conklin found Brody Bugbee wide open down the left sideline for 28 yards. On the next play, Daniel barreled in to tie it at 21.

A three-and-out resulted in another CV punt and LC received one last shot from its 42 with 35 seconds left. The Tigers picked up a pair of first downs to the CV 17. But a sack backed them up and it went to overtime.

“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.”

On the third play of the game Butner took a swing pass to the left, slipped a tackle, cut back to the inside and went 52 yards for a touchdown. 

LC replied with an 11-play, 75-yard drive, culminated with Conklin’s fourth down 24-yard TD pass to Collin Bonvallet to tie it.

Butner blocked a punt early in the second and CV took over at its 36. Faced with fourth-and-20, Butner – the punter – caught the LC defense napping and took the fake punt 51 yards for his second touchdown of the game. That run represented nearly half of his rushing total for the game.

It stayed that way through the rest of the quarter as CV’s Kamden Lanphere made two interceptions in the quarter.

On LC’s first drive of the second half, Butner stepped in front of a Conklin third-down pass and went the other way for a 35-yard touchdown and 21-7 lead. 

But the Tigers took advantage of two personal foul calls against CV, and a Daniel 49-yard run, to move into the red zone, where Conklin hit Mason Kershaw for a 9-yard TD. 

The teams traded fumbles in the rain, and LC got the ball back at the CV 41. But Tyler Reed was wide right on a 27-yard field goal attempt and it went back to CV. 

Early in the fourth, LC’s Porter Pearson picked off Tuff Ryan at the Tigers 31, but LC had to punt it right back. On third-and-12, Ryan completed an outside route to Cooper Brown, but JP Pery forced a fumble and LC recovered at the Bears 21.

Ryan, who started at QB for Central Valley, finished 11 of 23 for 123 yards with a touchdown pass and an interception.