Wins may mean Ferris’ return to nationals

Cross country

(Oct 2): Ferris boys cross country coach Mike Hadway earlier this year pointed toward several key races in order to ensure a return to the Nike Team Nationals in Portland at the end of the season.

He was looking for a good outing at the Stanford Invitational and again (this weekend) at the Nike/Jim Danner Invite in Oregon to keep his Saxons on the Nike radar.

So far the mission has been a success, including an impressive victory at Stanford last Saturday. You can find a story about the race on the Internet at DyeStat.com.

The Nike/Jim Danner Invitational is at Blue Lake Park in Portland on Saturday, an indicator of Northwest region strengths for NTN ranking purposes.

•(Sept 28) Mt. Spokane’s girls cross country team won’t easily relinquish its hold on the Greater Spokane League crown. The Wildcats held off Mead 25-30, a score nearly identical to their margin at Siemers Farm last year. With the victory, Mt. Spokane (6-0) became the GSL’s lone unbeaten girls team and remains just ahead of the Panthers, University (both 6-1) and Central Valley (5-1).

•Wow! I knew that Deer Park’s boys cross country program had struggled. But until athletic director Scott Carlson e-mailed me, wondering when the last time the Stags had won a league boys team race, I was flabbergasted to discover it was back in 1995. On Tuesday (Sept. 26) they broke the long winless streak with a 24-33 win over Medical Lake. Deer Park is coached by former Mead assistant Scott Daratha. Having a person with that pedigree at the helm certainly can’t hurt.

Football

(Oct. 1): East Valley is 3-2 heading into Thursday’s showdown game against Mt. Spokane (2-3). The winner likely gets the Greater Spokane League’s 3A state playoff berth.

But the Knights could just as easily have been undefeated and had the spot all but wrapped up regardless of Thursday’s game. They lost to Ferris in overtime the second week of the season. Two Fridays ago they lost to Mead on a disputed ruling after an onside kick.

“I was told by an official that two of them saw Mead with the ball,” said coach Adam Fisher. “On our video our kid had the ball the entire time.”

If the Knights beat the Wildcats, they have a two-game lead with two games left, so no matter what happens against Lewis and Clark and University, they probably would win by the tiebreaker.

If Mt. Spokane wins (and EV has had trouble against the Wildcats defense in past years), it would have the scheduling edge. Mt. Spokane’s remaining games are against Shadle Park and Mead.

•Two plays made the difference in Gonzaga Prep’s victory over Ferris for undisputed first-place in the Greater Spokane League.

The first came with the Saxons leading 7-3 and opting to fake punt from their 25-yard line. Punter Jared Karstetter tight-roped the sideline and was ruled out of bounds at the 27. The Bullpups scored in five plays to take a lead.

In the second quarter, Dave Kries‘ 71-yard punt was batted back to the 2-yard-line before it went into the end zone, pinning Ferris deep. The Saxons fumbled two plays later, and Prep took a 17-10 lead it never relinquished.

Still, the two teams are in good shape.

University is 3-1 and tied for third with Ferris (which plays Mead tonight at Joe Albi Stadium). The Panthers (2-2 in league) also play Gonzaga Prep, needing wins in both if they want to return to the playoffs.

The Tigers have two games of import left: against East Valley and Gonzaga; and the Titans still have Ferris, EV and Central Valley upcoming in the chase for three 4A playoff berths.

Volleyball

(Sept. 27): Parity is nice. With all things being equal, you never know from day-to-day what the outcome’s going to be. A case in point is this year’s GSL volleyball, where standings behind Lewis and Clark and Mead change daily. Once again a match wasn’t decided until the fifth game in the best-of-five set when Mt. Spokane (3-2) defeated Ferris (2-3) in the latest momentum changer to move into fourth place and drop the Saxons into seventh.

If that keeps the fans edgy, consider this. More contests of import loom for playoff aspirants following (this weekend’s) Crossover Classic tournament. The unbeaten Tigers and Panthers meanwhile cruise on to their title showdown Oct. 17 at Mead.