Mead holds off mistake-prone University

The Mead Panthers no doubt put themselves in position to win a football game with significant postseason implications Friday.

Behind their two-quarterback attack, Mead got out fast and took advantage of numerous University mistakes, as the visiting Panthers held off the Titans 35-27 in a Greater Spokane League 4A game.

Mead quarterback Payton Loucks threw three touchdown passes in the first half to stake the Panthers to a 21-0 lead by halftime.

Everything the Panthers touched was golden. And everything the Titans seemingly touched was bobbled, dropped or fumbled.

Mead (5-3, 2-2) survived U-Hi’s frenetic comeback to set up a showdown Friday against Lewis and Clark (4-4, 1-3) to decide the third and final postseason berth. They face off in the first game of a doubleheader at Albi Stadium with kickoff at 5.

U-Hi’s postseason hopes slipped away. The Titans (5-3, 1-3) will play for pride when they travel to Central Valley (6-2, 3-1) Friday. By virtue of Mead’s win, CV secured the second postseason berth.

“What a game,” first-year Mead coach Benji Sonnichsen said. “The kids played hard. Obviously, we had a hard time stopping them in the second half. They kept going, and we made enough plays to get out of here with a win and keep our playoff hopes alive.”

Loucks threw touchdown passes of 16, 15 and 13 yards in the first half when he was 14 of 17 for 173 yards. He put Mead ahead on a nice opening series when he connected with Lucas Bacon just 2:15 into the game.

On their first serious scoring threat, U-Hi moved to Mead’s 20-yard line. On fourth-and-1, quarterback Logan O’Neil, in shotgun, bobbled the snap. That allowed a Mead defensive back to break for the line of scrimmage.

O’Neil managed to grab the ball and fired a pass to a wide-open Griffin Thorson, who could have crawled into the end zone. But he, too, bobbled the ball as it fell incomplete.

U-Hi had the first possession of the second half, and the Titans showed they weren’t going to go down without a tussle. But they couldn’t convert on fourth-and-2 on Mead’s 19.

Finally, the Titans scored their first touchdown when O’Neil got in from 1 yard out, pulling U-Hi within 21-7 with 5:50 to go in the third.

But Mead pushed the margin back to 21 points when two plays later, EJ Bade dashed 12 yards for a 28-7 lead.

U-Hi faced another fourth down on its next possession, but O’Neil found Thorson over the middle on a 22-yard TD pass, pulling the Titans within 28-14.

After forcing a Mead punt, U-Hi trimmed the Panthers’ lead to 28-21 when O’Neil plunged in from the 1 with 1:35 to go in the third.

Mead answered again. On the 12th play of the Panthers’ drive, quarterback Thomas Dammarell scored got in from 2 yards out on fourth-and-goal, increasing the lead to 35-21 with 10:15 to go.

But U-Hi would fumble two times in the final 10 minutes, the second coming on first and goal at Mead’s 5.

The game was delayed 20 minutes at the 7:54 mark of the third when Mead backup defensive lineman Clemens Fischer was injured on punt coverage.

Fischer didn’t move for about five minutes before he was seen wiggling his feet. Paramedics tied him down to a board and eventual carried him to an awaiting ambulance.

Sonnichsen thought the injury may have slowed Mead’s momentum.

“The injury took a long time and the kids played a little tentative (afterward),” Sonnichsen said. “We’ll have to look at the tape. They made some nice adjustments at halftime.”

U-Hi pulled within the final margin, and Mead recovered an onside kick with 2:30 to go and ran out the clock.

“We tell our kids all the time to find a way to win,” Sonnichsen said. “And we did tonight and that’s all that matters.”