Down In The Valley, CV Tops Bears Solidify Their Status As Gsl Favorites

Truthfully, no one knew what to expect.

Central Valley has lived up to its role as the favorite in the Greater Spokane League, even if the seventh-ranked Bears have been a little vulnerable on defense while winning their first two football games.

University rolled up 500 yards in offense while winning its league opener last week.

When the Valley rivals met Friday night before a full house at U-Hi, there were questions to be answered.

The Bears scored early and often and shut down the Titans offense to roll to a 40-14 victory.

In the doubleheader at Albi Stadium, Ferris took control in the second half to whip Rogers 42-12 and Shadle Park held on to beat North Central 16-10.

“When you get 500 yards in offense against what I thought was a representative Ferris team, you don’t know,” CV coach Rick Giampietri said of the Titans. “We felt going in we had another test on defense. The big key was how well we stopped them defensively.”

The Bear stuffed U-Hi on the opening possession and the Titans botched the punt with a bad snap. CV took over on the U-Hi 23 and three running plays by Giorgio Usai produced a 7-0 lead.

The Titans responded with a long kickoff return by Joe Jeffries that put them on the CV 33, but on the next play, Ryan Millar intercepted Casey Cornelius’ pass on the 10. It took four plays, including a 41-yard pass from R.J. Del Mese to Millar and a 37-yard run by Usai, for the Bears to score on a 9-yard run by Luke Stavros.

“We couldn’t get off on the right foot,” University coach Mike Ganey said. “We couldn’t get field position; we had a few miscues. Give them credit, they’re a solid football team.”

Linebackers Jeff Allen and Stavros spear-headed a defense that held U-Hi to 21 yards rushing and passing in the first half and kept the Titans scoreless until the fourth quarter.

“Our defensive line did the job,” Allen said. “They make everyone else’s job a lot easier.”

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