Knights outduel Wildcats

Familiarity breeds defense.

The second meeting between Mt. Spokane and East Valley on Friday night at Albi Stadium was not about high-powered passing offenses or punishing runs – although they did their part. It was decided by the defensive players who dealt out the punishment trying to stop them.

Ultimately, East Valley prevailed 17-14 in a classic battle and will play next Saturday at 1 p.m., again at Albi, in the State 3A quarterfinals against the winner of today’s game between Meadowdale and Capital in Olympia.

“What a barn-burner. What a great, great high school game,” said EV coach Adam Fisher, who bounded around the Albi turf enthusiastically like a kid at Christmas following the final horn in the hard-hitting, back-and-forth contest. “That was a high level game. Oh, gosh, was that high level.”

Mt. Spokane, welcoming back Teddy Fernau from injury, made two defensive stands at its 5-yard line in the first half and led 14-10 at intermission after the Knights parlayed a fumble recovery and interception into its two scores.

Fernau was among the stoppers up front, along with fellow lineman Ashton Boothroyd, linebacker Bruce Graham and defensive back Chris Nickeson, who made Nick Bellomy work for each of his 193 yards on 33 carries.

He had 118 yards in the first half, but twice when the Knights needed a yard or two for first downs, they couldn’t get them.

“They were firing off the ball; firing off the ball,” Bellomy said. “They moved their scheme a bit, I believe. We were running the trap forever last time. This time they had a linebacker in the way.”

Mt. Spokane’s Travis Ward, meanwhile, had a typically efficient and accurate passing first half, completing 10 of 14 for 128 yards and both scores.

But in the second half, EV came at him at times with five defensive ends manning the line and he completed only five more passes for scant yardage. Mt. Spokane also managed just 17 rushing yards in 20 attempts.

“Our defense played well this game, but I was very disappointed in our offensive execution and inability to move the ball, particularly in the second half,” Wildcats coach Mike McLaughlin said. “EV had a good game plan and put good pressure on our quarterback.”

EV scored following Jakob Pugsley’s fumble recovery of the opening kickoff. But a penalty slowed the Knights and Mt. Spokane’s defense stiffened following first-and-goal at its 6-yard line. EV settled on a field goal.

Chip Propp hauled in some difficult catches for the second straight week, one for 23 yards to complete an 81-yard drive and give the Wildcats a 7-3 lead.

Back came EV after Chris Zivic picked off a pass and returned it 29 yards to the Wildcats’ 21. In three runs, Bellomy scored and EV was up 10-7.

A 40-yard kickoff return and brilliant diving catch in traffic by Connor Haley set up the second Wildcats score. It was made possible when Ward, flushed by a blitz, avoided a tackle, got open and connected. Two plays later he hit Kellen Clute, another defensive standout, for the score and lead at intermission.

The second half was a battle of wills by two determined defenses. Finally, EV got its running game untracked late in the third quarter. Bellomy had runs of 22 and 21 yards. Ike Falk, back on the field, both as defensive end and ultimately quarterback after missing three games with a concussion, hit Pugsley for 15 yards down to the 1. It took four tries from there against Mt. Spokane’s defense to get the winning score, by 230-pound fullback Josh Patrick, with 8:38 left in the game.

EV’s defense limited the Wildcats to three second-half possessions and 18 yards. One of the stalwarts, Dakota Lawson, said the Knights trained for it all week, played pretty much man defense the whole game and everyone gave it their all.

“They (the Wildcats) did a fabulous job of making some adjustments and their kids played very well up front,” Fisher said. “They did a great job of slowing down our run. Both sides just played unbelievably hard and our kids kept battling back. That is high school football in a nutshell. That’s the whole deal and it makes you proud.”