November 30, 2006 in Voices

Ferris football a favorite again next year

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Nov. 28: Ferris coach Jim Sharkey was watching last Saturday’s state semifinal football game from the Albi Stadium press box, and the conversation turned to next year. There would be no eighth-place prediction by an ignorant sportswriter, he was informed. Sharkey answered, “Pick us to finish fifth.”

While all coaches like to remain under the radar, it’s not likely. The bull’s-eye will be squarely on the Saxons back next fall if everyone shows up healthy.

Replacing defensive star Pat Parham won’t be easy, and there are a couple line positions and a defensive back spot to fill, but half a dozen players who were or would have been All-GSL are among the dozen or so underclassmen who propelled Ferris into second place this year.

McKenzie Murphy was two-way first team as a running back and defender. Jared Karstetter was an impact wide receiver and also went both ways. Jeff Minnerly, who shared the position with Shawn Stockton before he was injured, emerged as the league’s top quarterback. Erick Cheadle was one of a banner GSL linebacker crew.

And coaches say there are newcomers waiting in the wings.

So Ferris must bear the favorites burden next year.

What are your thoughts? Just for fun send me your rankings, either on-line or e-mail mikev@spokesman.com. I’ll keep them hermetically sealed in a mayonnaise jar until next fall, when we’ll see how we all fare.

To be eligible or not to be

Nov. 22: (Here are a few tidbits to whet the appetite about Greater Spokane League basketball, which began Tuesday).

Ferris got stronger when DeAngelo Casto, the 6-foot-8, 230-pound manchild who transferred from Freeman midyear passed his eligibility hearing and (is playing) with the Saxons varsity from day one.

The same can’t be said at Gonzaga Prep. The Bullpups’ 6-foot-5, 260-pound football player Mike Bruce, who moved her from Ketchikan, Alaska, was deemed ineligible at the hearing because his dad is still working in Ketchikan.

His high school didn’t have football, so Bruce was OK for the grid sport. But apparently because the family unit is not intact, he doesn’t pass the test for basketball. The District 8 decision is being appealed to WIAA.

Several teams are nursing injuries, Central Valley’s Luke Clift and Lewis and Clark’s Brittany Kennedy among them.

Three-quarters of Gonzaga Prep’s boys basketball team starts late because of the prolonged football season. So last year’s State runner-up Bears and the Bullpups could feel the effects of an early GSL start now that teams this year are playing a full 20-game counting schedule.

Complete team basketball capsules and predictions are on the Prep Report Web site, just as we did for football.

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