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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

G-Prep gets handle on win

Bullpups score 21 unanswered points in second half to beat Mead

Gonzaga Prep’s Willie Graham, left, dives for the ball fumbled up by a Mead ballcarrier. Mead had five turnovers and Gonzaga Prep two. (Jesse Tinsley)

Trailing by seven points at halftime, Gonzaga Prep marched down the field to start the third quarter and to score the first of three unanswered touchdowns Friday night to defeat Mead 28-14 in the first Greater Spokane League game of the season for both teams.

There were seven turnovers in the game, five by Mead.

“It was a sloppy first half,” G-Prep coach Dave McKenna said. “But we won our first GSL game. We definitely won’t trade it.”

Dejected Mead coach Sean Carty said his Panthers (1-2, 0-1) never acted like underdogs and controlled the game for most of the first half.

“I think we played a heck of a game as far as effort goes,” Carty said. “We just have to take care of the football. We just couldn’t finish.”

The first play of the game offered a glimpse of what was to come as Mead’s Josh Richter fumbled and it was recovered by the Bullpups.

Not to be outdone, G-Prep (3-0, 1-0) fumbled on its second snap and Mead got the ball back, but the Panthers failed to capitalize.

Another Bullpups mistake, a muffed punt, gave Mead the ball on the Bullpups’ 15. Anthony Gold scored from 8 yards out to give Mead a 7-0 lead.

After the Bullpups forced a punt, G-Prep took over at the Mead 44 and put together its best drive of the half.

On fourth down from the 1-yard-line, Jack Bamis leaped over the pile to tie the game at 7.

On the next series, Jordan Rathbone sacked Mead quarterback Daniel Munoz and forced the ball loose. Three plays later, with Gonzaga Prep inside the 10, John Mackey fumbled the pitch from Bell and Mead took over at its own 8.

That set up the play of the night. From the 20, A.J. Layton ran around the right end and broke several tackles en route to an 80-yard touchdown to put Mead up 14-7 with 6:03 left before halftime.

“He’s a warrior,” Carty said of Layton. “He is someone we count on … and he delivers. We just had some mistakes we couldn’t compensate for. We had our chances. We just couldn’t get it done.”

The Bullpups came out of halftime and marched down the field to tie the game with a 1-yard Bamis plunge.

Gonzaga Prep got the ball back after the defense stopped the Panthers on fourth down and Nick Johnson put them ahead for good when he raced 46 yards for a score at the end of the third quarter.

The Bullpups added a Liam Bell TD for the final margin one play after Ben McFaul intercepted a Mead pass.

The G-Prep defense made the score hold up, holding the Panthers scoreless in the second half.

“When our kids trust what Coach (H.T.) Higgins calls, they can be pretty special,” McKenna said. “Mead is tough. I’m excited about this win.”