Quick hits
LOOKING AHEAD
Mead’s football team has learned that keeping the crown is no small task after the defending GSL football champions began the first two weeks of the season winless.
“Zero-and-two is not good for a team that’s expecting great things,” said coach Sean Carty after last week’s last-minute 22-21 loss to Central Valley. “We know we’ve got the athletes and know we have a plan. We’ve yet to fully execute it, to be honest.”
The Panthers, as Carty pointed out, can take solace in knowing their season began identically last year with a road loss on the coast and narrow 29-27 setback to Shadle Park. Mead won its next eight games, including the GSL championship. The road back starts tonight with a battle with University at Albi.
Friday night’s schedule is highlighted by the battle for the North Side between Shadle Park and North Central.
Football
Greater Spokane League
Tonight
West Valley vs. Lewis and Clark at Albi, 4:30 p.m.; University vs. Mead at Albi, 7:15; Gonzaga Prep vs. Cheney at EWU, 7
Friday
Ferris vs. Rogers at Albi, 5:45 p.m.; Shadle Park vs. North Central at Albi, 8:30; Central Valley at East Valley, 7; Mt. Spokane at Clarkston, 7
Other games of interest
Prosser at Pullman, 7:30 p.m. at Pullman High
Pullman needed a non-league game. The team the 2A Greyhounds found has played in 14 of the last 15 3A state playoffs. It boasts three state titles in that span, most recently in 1999. Prosser will challenge for another, based on early results. Last week, Prosser defeated Issaquah 54-42, snapping Issaquah’s 17-game regular season winning streak. “They’re the real deal,” Pullman head coach Bob Wollan said.
Volleyball
Tonight
Mt. Spokane at Cheney; 5:30 p.m.
Lewis and Clark at Central Valley; Shadle Park at East Valley; Clarkston at North Central; Mead at Rogers; Ferris at University; Gonzaga Prep at West Valley; 7
Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Clarkston at Cheney; Central Valley at East Valley; Rogers at Lewis and Clark; Gonzaga Prep at Mead; West Valley at Mt. Spokane; Shadle Park at Ferris; North Central at University.
Soccer
Friday – all games at 4 p.m. unless noted
West Valley at Central Valley; Gonzaga Prep at Clarkston; Mead at Mt. Spokane; Cheney at Lewis and Clark; Ferris at North Central; East Valley at Rogers; University at Shadle Park, 4:30.
Tuesday
North Central at Cheney.
Wednesday
Mt. Spokane at Clarkston; Mead at East Valley; Gonzaga Prep at Ferris; Shadle Park at Lewis and Clark; Rogers at Central Valley, 7 ; West Valley at University, 7
Cross Country
Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Gonzaga Prep, Shadle Park and Mead at Cheney; North Central, Ferris and Lewis and Clark at Clarkston; Mt. Spokane and West Valley at Rogers; University and East Valley at Central Valley.
Looking around
It’s Highlander time
There will be a change at Saturday’s long-standing Highlander Invitational cross country meet at Shadle Park.
“We’ve instituted a combined race where schools with enrollments under 600 will race against the junior varsities from larger schools,” said Shadle girls coach Bob Isitt.
Competing against the big schools became self-defeating and, said Isitt, smaller schools were not returning to the meet.
Several Class 2A, 1A and B teams will be at Saturday’s meet, which begins with the freshman race at 9:30 a.m. and ends with the senior boys race at 12:30 p.m.
Most of the GSL and Big Nine 4A teams will be there including top-ranked 3A team North Central, which had four runners among the top 10 finishers in winning the Flathead Invitational in Kalispell, Mont.