Bullpups grind out upset of Tigers
Having put itself in position to put away playoff-bound Lewis and Clark with relative ease, Gonzaga Prep opted instead to earn Friday night’s upset win the hard way.
So instead of building on their cushy 14-point halftime lead, the Bullpups let visiting LC loose on a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown drives and ended up having to survive a last-second two-point conversion attempt by the Tigers before finally putting the finishing touches on their 14-12 Greater Spokane League football victory.
“We’re tying to do things the interesting way this year,” G-Prep coach Dave Carson said after watching his Bullpups (6-3 overall, 5-3 in the GSL) close out league play with a win over an LC team (6-2, 6-2) that will enter postseason play next weekend as the No. 2 seed out of the GSL.
“That was a really good football game, and I thought our kids played well.”
G-Prep built its seemingly comfortable 14-0 halftime lead behind a near-perfect defensive effort that limited the Tigers to 55 total yards and the quarterbacking of senior Bryan Karwacki, who scampered 16 yards for the Bullpups’ first touchdown in the opening period and then connected with Kelly Henthorn on 8-yard scoring pass just prior to intermission.
But LC kept grinding and eventually broke through for its first score on an 80-yard, five-play scoring drive that was engineered by backup quarterback Connor Halliday early in the fourth quarter. Alexander Shaw got the touchdown on a 1-yard run, but Alex Gauper’s extra-point kick was blocked.
The Tigers put themselves in position to score again on their next possession by marching to G-Prep’s 6-yard line, but came up empty when the snap was mishandled on Gauper’s 22-yard field-goal try with just 4 minutes left in the game.
It looked like the issue was decided when Karwacki, who rushed for 104 yards on 21 carries and flawlessly directed the Bullpups’ risky option offense, converted on a couple of third-down runs before G-Prep was forced to punt the ball away with just 25 seconds left.
LC took over on its 35 but was able to score in only 24 seconds as starting quarterback Steven Englet connected on passes of 21 and 27 yards to Gauper, before finding him one last time in the end zone from 22 yards out.
That set up the Tigers’ final two-point conversion try that would have tied the game and forced overtime, but Englet’s pass to DJ McNeil was thrown a bit too long.
Carson was especially pleased with play of Karwacki, who also completed 4 of 9 passes for 43 yards.
“Brian played a helluva game,” he said.
“We kept calling his number a lot tonight,” said Carson. “He’ll be a sore boy tomorrow.”
Karwacki said it was a simple matter of taking what LC defense gave him.
“And you have to give our O-line a lot of credit,” he added of the way the Bullpups were able to run. “Actually, you’ve got to give it everyone, because when you run the option like we do, it’s kind of a full-team offensive affair.”