GSL football: Central Valley holds off Mead in 4A play

The roster says 6-foot-3 Central Valley senior defensive end Terrell Harrison weighs 175 pounds.

What Harrison lacks in girth he makes up for with quickness.

Harrison had two sacks, forced an intentional grounding late and had a fumble recovery to key the Bears in a 17-14 win over Mead in a Greater Spokane League 4A football game Thursday at Albi Stadium.

It was a marvelously played defensive game. Both teams had to scratch and claw for their offensive yards.

CV (4-1 overall, 2-0 league) finished with eight sacks for minus 52 yards to go with Harrison’s fumble recovery and an interception by Tanner Gummersall.

“The defense just played marvelous,” CV coach Rick Giampietri said.

It appeared CV was going to win a little more comfortably than the final margin. But Mead’s speedy Bryan Anderson came from the perimeter to block a punt, setting up the Panthers (3-2, 0-2) at CV’s 14-yard line with 4:21 left.

One play later, Mead quarterback Thomas Dammarell scampered 14 yards for a touchdown, pulling the Panthers within 17-14 with 4:14 to go.

Mead elected to kick away and the Panthers forced CV to punt.

The Panthers took over at their 37 with 2:33 remaining.

Moments later, Harrison was on top of Dammarell seemingly from the snap, forcing an intentional grounding.

With 1:14 to go, Mead faced fourth-and-15 from its 44. A deep pass attempt to Samson Brown fell incomplete as the Panthers’ hopes for an upset faded.

Giampietri noted Harrison’s play.

“He’s been playing great,” Giampietri said. “He’s so skinny. He was physical in there.”

Central Valley kicker Ryan Rehkow got the scoring going when he drilled a 44-yard field goal.

The Bears’ defense stopped Mead on its first two series.

After Mead’s defense thwarted CV at the Panthers’ 3-yard line, it appeared Mead was going to be stuck.

But on third-and-11 at the 2, Dammarell found Samson Brown on a deep post. Brown did the rest after the reception, scoring untouched for a 7-3 lead with 2:18 to go in the first quarter.

Harrison thought the pass was tipped. Then when he heard Mead’s crowd roar he knew what had happened as Brown sped to the end zone.

The teams exchanged possessions until CV got the ball with 4:45 to go before halftime.

Thirteen plays later, CV converted when nose tackle Jordan Talafili, in at fullback, plunged 2 yards for a touchdown, fumbling after he stretched the ball over the goal line.

CV took a 10-7 lead into intermission.

“That was a good high school football game,” Mead coach Benji Sonnichsen said. “Both teams played well in spurts, especially defensively. All you want is to be able to hang around in a big game like that and have a shot. Bryan blocks that kick and we score on the next play and it’s a one-possession game.”

CV running back Gage Connole had a game-high 91 yards on 20 carries, including what would prove to be the winning TD.