Big plays lift Clarkston over Cheney, 30-17

A football game characterized by time-consuming drives turned on a couple of quick strikes as visiting Clarkston defeated Cheney 30-17 in a game Friday between Great Northern League unbeatens.

With the victory, the Bantams (4-1 overall, 3-0 in league) join Colville atop the GNL.

After Keith Parker’s 71-yard scoring burst for Cheney had tied the score 10-10 with 2:44 remaining in the first half, Bantams sophomore Zach Meyers answered immediately with a 55-yard dash to set up the go-ahead score.

A lost fumble at their 16 right after intermission put the Blackhawks in a 24-10 hole.

Other than that, it was a case of two teams grinding away at each other.

Before the first-half-ending fireworks, each team had a drive that lasted 7 minutes or longer. In the second half, Cheney had its second scoring march that consumed 8 minutes or more and Clarkston had two 5-minute possessions.

As Bantams halfback Brian O’Kelley put it, “It was a whole running battle with everyone piling in and gang tackling. It was a hard-fought game.”

After the Bantams found early success through the air, Isaac Woodbury throwing for 107 yards and the early third-period score, they hinged their victory on the ground, primarily the legs of junior back O’Kelley.

O’Kelley had a busy night carrying the ball 20 times for 140 yards and both first-half touchdowns. Most of his runs were sprints to the sidelines and cuts upfield.

“The game plan was to get the ball outside and after a couple in a row it gets tiring,” he said. “That’s the most I’ve carried the ball in my life.”

Meyers wound up with 111 rushing yards and scored Clarkston’s final touchdown with 1:12 remaining in the game.

Cheney (3-3, 2-1) had cut the deficit to 24-17, using up much of the third quarter en route to a touchdown on Brandon Hardie’s third completion to tight end Griffon Jones to cap the 82-yard drive. Parker finished with 133 yards on 25 carries.

But Clarkston kept the football for the bulk of the game’s final 15 minutes, 22 seconds to board the bus for the long, but happy ride back home with a win.