CV intercepts U-Hi

Sideline observer and Central Valley football coach Rick Giampietri called Friday night’s Greasy Pig contest at rival University a “goofy game.”

Goofy though it may have been, the end result was anything but for his ballclub.

CV parlayed two interception returns for touchdowns into a 24-3 victory that not only secured the Greasy Pig trophy for the third straight year, but also tied the Bears (7-2, 6-2) for second place in the Greater Spokane League with Lewis and Clark and Mead.

CV plays the Panthers at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Albi Stadium in a Kansas tiebreaker for the final berth into the state preliminary playoff games and a game next week against the Columbia Basin League champion.

First-place Ferris and the runner-up Tigers were already assured their spots.

“It was just a goofy, crazy game,” said Giampietri. “You don’t know where it’s going to go, then (Patrick) Mealey picks off one and goes when we should be down the other way.”

CV’s defensive end returned the interception 65 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, moments after U-Hi had recovered a fumbled kickoff at the Bears 35 after tying the game at 3 with 5:06 remaining until intermission.

It was the fourth of six interceptions by the visitors, by four different CV defenders. Brad Whitley, who broke U-Hi’s hearts with an interception last year on the Titans’ drive toward a potential game-winning score and playoff berth, had three.

“We came in thinking we were in their position last year when they were trying to upset us and go to the playoffs,” said Whitley. “We practiced before the game just breaking on their routes – the 10-yard outs and hitches – and all the secondary just played awesome.”

He returned his third 51 yards for the game’s final score in the fourth quarter. It was his second touchdown of the night.

The first, in the third quarter, was a twisting, diving end zone catch from 18 yards out to complete the best offensive series by either team all game.

Halfway through, the teams had combined for a scant 164 yards. At that point, the teams had turned the ball over five times. CV had gone from its 44 to U-Hi’s 16 before the end of the first quarter and kicked a field goal. U-Hi tied the game, capitalizing on an interception, personal foul and 16-yard gain by Tyler Carlson for most of the 37 yards it took to get into scoring position.

But then came Mealey. He stepped into the gap between quarterback and receiver on a short out route, batted the ball to himself, juggled it and took off.

Following intermission CV covered 85 yards in 10 time-consuming plays. Taylor Price gained 35 of his game-high 130 rushing yards on the drive and Blake Bledsoe passed for 49 more, including the TD to Whitley.

“It was supposed to be a corner, but Blake under threw it,” said Whitley. “I used a whip turn for a defensive back, saw the ball, dove for it and luckily it fell into my fingertips.”

Other than that drive it was a matter of whose defense would have the most takeaways. That turned out to be CV in a game that produced 11 turnovers. U-Hi (5-4, 4-4) had seven and the Bears were intercepted three times and it could have easily been four, as well as the lost fumble on the kickoff. “It was a hard-hitting game and we never got anything going offensively in the first half at all,” said Giampietri. “Then Price got loose a few times. (Guard Jake) Neuman had to be doing a great job up front with a few good traps. The combination of Whitley and Price has been good for us. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”

Ferris 43, Rogers 14: The Saxons (9-0, 8-0) completed a perfect season, but needed a 16-point third quarter to pull away from the Pirates (0-8, 0-8). Following a safety, Jared Karstetter caught a 50-yard pass from Jeff Minnerly and McKenzie Murphy followed with a 73-yard punt return that made it 30-0. Minnerly was 13 for 21 for 244 yards and three touchdowns. He was also intercepted for the only time this season. Shawn Stockton was on the receiving end of two TD passes and also returned an interception 95 yards for the game’s final score. Andrew Durant threw for 172 yards and two fourth-quarter scores for Rogers. Jacob Partridge caught one of the TDs and finished with 122 receiving yards on 13 receptions. Karstetter had seven catches for 111 yards.

Shadle Park 41, North Central 14: The Highlanders (2-7, 2-6) rushed for 141 yards and a 17-0 lead after one quarter and were never challenged. All told, they ran for 378 yards on the ground, with Kendall Washington gaining 133 on 14 attempts and Andrew McCanna adding 114 on 14 carries. McCanna scored both TDs in the first quarter, the second on a 42-yard run. With 2:33 left in the game, Anthony Elbert burst up the middle and raced 99 yards for a score that accounted for nearly half the offense for the Indians (2-7, 2-6).