Strong second half lifts Central Valley past Lewis and Clark

It wasn’t flashy, but it was as efficient as it could get for the Central Valley football team Friday.

The Bears committed no turnovers and took advantage of two from Lewis and Clark as Central Valley stymied the Tigers 21-3 in a Greater Spokane League 4A opener at Albi Stadium.

“They played a good solid game on defense,” CV coach Rick Giampietri said of his team. “It hurt Lewis and Clark bad when they lost their quarterback (Jordan Summers). The kid (sophomore Ian Smith) came in and did a respectable job. They run the ball hard, but we play hard on defense. We adjusted to most everything they did.”

CV (2-1) led 7-3 at halftime. The Bears scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to open a comfortable margin.

The first TD in the second half was set up when cornerback Ben Craig got an interception at LC’s 27-yard line and returned it to the 9. Three plays later, quarterback Tanner Sloan hit Rhett Foley on an 8-yard slant.

Craig, a high-jumper and hurdler in track, made an athletic play on the interception.

“I had the flat and I dropped back,” Craig said. “I knew there was no one in front of me so I just backpedaled. I was doing an angle run, jumped as high as I could and used the vertical and got the ball.”

The backbreaking score for LC (1-2) came when the Tigers gave the Bears a short field at their 40.

That’s when offensive coordinator Rick Sloan dug into his bag of gadgets and called for a halfback pass. Conner DeGeest hit a wide-open Jase Edwards for a 40-yard TD pass, extending the lead to the final margin with 1:23 remaining in the third.

“We got a couple of turnovers and should have had two more,” Giampietri said. “We had two picks we missed. They might not have scored anything if we’d gotten that one before the field goal.”

The story in the first half was Summers’ injury. Scrambling to avoid pressure, Summers appeared to have sprained his left ankle with about 7 minutes remaining in the half.

Smith replaced Summers, who has been injury-prone the last two years.

LC took the game’s first series and marched 61 yards on 10 plays, settling for a 33-yard field goal from Adam Thompson. Cameron Duncan rushed 10 of the 11 plays.

CV cashed in on its second possession. Mixing the run with play-action passing, the Bears scored when running back Gage Connole followed the left side of the line from 2 yards out.

Giampietri pointed out the play of Craig, nose tackle Jordan Talafili, linebacker Travis Hawkins and safety Tanner Gummersall.

“Our defense is putting up some solid work. I’m proud to be on defense,” Craig said. “Stuff was a little shaky in the first game. But we’re coming together as a team.”