Pullman cashes in on Clarkston miscues
PULLMAN – The Pullman Greyhounds forced five Clarkston turnovers, turned them into 14 points and clinched at least a share of the Great Northern League football title with a 34-23 victory Friday night at Hobbs Field.
“We forced five and we only turned it over once, (that was) the difference in the game,” Pullman coach Bill Peterson said. “We knew that would be the case.”
The Greyhounds (9-0 overall, 6-0 in the GNL and assured the league’s top seed in the State 2A playoffs) led 2-1 in turnovers and 19-17 on the scoreboard when the fourth quarter started.
They opened the final quarter with an 11-yard scoring scramble by quarterback Cam Turtle, then followed up by forcing turnovers – two interceptions by Michael Scourey and a fumble recovery by Jared Byers – on the next three Clarkston possessions.
“It was basically a gift from God,” said Scourey of his first pick, a carom that resulted when Jaron Hodge broke up a pass intended for Jaron Jenkins. “(Hodge) made a great play on (the ball) and I thought he had it and it kind of popped out.”
Though the Greyhounds turned the three miscues into just eight points (on a Turtle-to-David Rockefeller 18-yard scoring pass and a two-point conversion run from Cody Weber), they killed all but 4 minutes of the final quarter.
Pullman was more productive in the first quarter, scoring twice. The idea was to pound the center of the offensive line and it worked, resulting in 156 yards of total offense, including 52 yards rushing from Turtle. All the Bantams (8-1, 5-1) had to show for the first 12 minutes was a 25-yard field goal from Jordan Semanko.
But the Greyhounds fumbled the ball away late in the half and Clarkston scored, behind the arm of Isaac Woodbury and the legs of Brian O’Kelley. O’Kelley put it in the end zone with a 5-yard run with 52 seconds left and the Bantams trailed just 13-10 at half.
Another turnover, Clarkston’s second fumble, set up Pullman at the Bantams’ 33 right after halftime, and the Greyhounds took advantage, scoring in five plays, four of them runs from Byers, including the 5-yard touchdown.
“We knew the battle would be up front,” said guard Josh Hooks, “and our line got psyched all week long. We basically just manned up and blocked, and the backs did a great job finding the holes.”
The most productive of the five Pullman ball carriers was Byers, who finished with a team-high 74 yards on 18 carries.
Turtle didn’t throw much, but was accurate when he did, hitting 7 of 11 for 134 yards. He added 70 yards on nine carries as Pullman rushed for 183 yards.
The win means Pullman will host a first-round playoff game in two weeks and will be in the opposite side of the bracket from top-ranked Prosser.