Prep football rewind: Gonzaga Prep will be tough to defeat
There are three weeks left to determine the three Greater Spokane League 4A postseason berths.
It may not take three weeks to finalize the qualifiers.
Something became crystal clear Friday: A team hoping to knock off preseason favorite Gonzaga Prep is going to need a lot of help. And that’s not likely to happen.
The first showdown between unbeaten co-leaders G-Prep and University turned out to be largely lopsided. Had it not been for a turnover deep in Bullpups territory, U-Hi likely wouldn’t have scored.
Next up for No. 4-ranked G-Prep (6-0 overall, 2-0 league) is a date Friday in Spokane Valley with the other undefeated co-leader, Central Valley (5-1, 2-0).
Since a season-opening loss to Coeur d’Alene, CV has had three shutouts and allowed just 17 points. That trend must continue if the Bears hope to knock off the Bullpups.
At this point, it appears G-Prep, CV and U-Hi (5-1, 1-1) will secure the three berths. Ferris (2-4, 1-1), Mead (0-2, 3-3) and Lewis and Clark (0-2, 3-3) are still alive but have no margin for error.
A mountain to climb
The four GSL 3A teams begin to sort things out this week with two postseason berths available.
Mt. Spokane (5-1) will easily secure the top seed. The Wildcats’ lone loss was to G-Prep.
The Wildcats replaced 14 starters and haven’t skipped a beat. They will not have a close league game.
The fun mystery that must be solved is which team – Rogers (2-4), North Central (1-5) or Shadle Park (1-5) – will secure the second berth.
Of those three, Rogers has played more consistently in nonleague and GSL crossover games. NC, under first-year coach Tom Griggs, and Shadle, which graduated most of its starters, have struggled to find traction.
Rogers and Shadle face off Thursday at Albi Stadium.
Something odd in air
The East Valley-West Valley matchup was played on two fields – beginning in Greenacres and concluding in Millwood.
An overheated transformer and the main power source to the stadium at EV caused school officials to stop the game.
Players and coaches got on buses and trekked to WV. It took 2 hours and 44 minutes to play the first half.
Over at Coeur d’Alene, with 7:57 remaining in the first half and the score tied at 14 between the Vikings and Lewiston, the lights went out, causing a 20-minute delay.
Deceiving outcome
Yes, CdA beat Lewiston 56-28, but that game was much, much closer.
It was a one-score game going into the fourth quarter. CdA tacked on three touchdowns in the final period.
Lewiston quarterback Colton Richardson threw for 414 yards. The Bengals, who schemed to stop CdA’s passing attack, couldn’t contain the Vikings’ running game (355 yards). Griphen Le accounted for 160 on 17 carries and two touchdowns.
The teams combined for 1,098 yards – 661 through the air. No wonder the lights went out.
The game was essentially for the Inland Empire League 5A championship. These two teams should have no problem securing the two state playoff berths.