Mike Vlahovich

The last team to qualify is the last team standing among Greater Spokane League 4A football playoff teams. Ferris put behind a season of frustration in one week and plays host to Kamiakin Friday, 7 p.m., at Joe Albi Stadium in the Saxons’ third straight state appearance. “It was a strange deal,” said coach Jim Sharkey, “not only with the errors we made, but that every one was just critical. Everything snowballed at times. We were two plays away against Gonzaga Prep, could have won against Central Valley and really imploded against Lewis and Clark.

There was nothing particularly fancy about Southridge’s offensive attack. Quarterback Stephen Garcia either handed it off to Dallin Palmer or he kept it. But the Mead Panthers defense, as stout as it was this season, could not get a handle on them for a half and fell 14-10 Friday night in a state play-in game against the Columbia Basin Big Nine No. 4 seed. The duo combined for 32 carries and 161 yards in the first half. The only time Garcia passed was late in the second period with his team trailing 10-7. But from the Panthers 35 yard line following a questionable penalty for a late hit out of bounds, he completed both for what proved to be the winning score.

Sunnyside got swallowed up in a sea of Mt. Spokane blue. Swarms of blue-clad Wildcats overwhelmed the Grizzlies on both sides of the ball Friday night at Joe Albi Stadium, leading to a 47-7 rout and berth next week in the first round of State 3A football. If Mt. Spokane wasn’t scoring quickly – three of its five first-half touchdowns took two or fewer plays, and the longest covered 73 yards in four minutes – the defense was forming a virtually impenetrable wall, most often in Sunnyside’s backfield.

Mt. Spokane and Mead play back-to-back games at Albi Stadium Friday bidding for State 3A and 4A football berths as part of a neighborly milestone. Six teams with state designs from one district (Mead) finished first or second in three fall sports – football, volleyball and soccer. It brought to fruition a dream, nay, the goal when Mt. Spokane was opened 13 years ago.

On postseason life support and needing a miracle, preseason Greater Spokane League football favorite Ferris got one last week. Tuesday night, in front of 2,050 fans at Albi Stadium, the resuscitated Saxons made the most of their second chance in a mini-game tiebreaker series that resurrected State 4A playoff hopes.

On postseason life support and needing a miracle, preseason Greater Spokane League football favorite Ferris got one last week. Tuesday night at Albi Stadium, the Saxons made the most of their second chance in a mini-game tiebreaker series that resurrected state playoff hopes. Ferris defeated first Gonzaga Prep 14-7, then University 10-0 to earn the third and final GSL berth to state-qualifying games against the Columbia Basin Big Nine.

Mt. Spokane’s destiny was essentially out of its hands nearly a month earlier. All it took was for some outside pieces to fall into place the final three weeks for the Wildcats to be outright Greater Spokane League football champions for the second time. “Obviously, our expectations were to challenge for the title,” said coach Mike McLaughlin.

Gonzaga Prep stood poised, leading 20-14 and deep inside the red zone, to land the final blow in a typical Bullpups-Lewis and Clark matchup of historical football heavyweights. But once more fate intervened to break another Greater Spokane League team’s heart.

In many ways, these are the most important races of the season for area cross country runners. All the work and all the racing this fall has pointed state hopefuls to this moment. Today and Friday, teams and individuals chase Nov. 7 state trips to Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco through various district and regional meets.

The question of whether Mt. Spokane would have to forfeit a football win was rendered moot before District 8 administrators tested the new WIAA oversight rule. The player in question was academically eligible after all. In an e-mail, Central Valley principal and this year’s Greater Spokane League president Mike Hittle explained that the youngster regained eligibility Sept. 28.

Big plays early on offense and stout defense throughout proved a winning formula for Mead football. Bouyed by a 136-yard, three-touchdown effort from diminutive back Paul Miller, the Panthers built a quick 16-0 lead.

The rest of the state apparently has discovered what the Greater Spokane League learned. A 4A-3A conference split is not all that bad. Because of the realization, University activities coordinator Ken VanSickle believes the GSL will likely remain much the same rather than having more schools drop to Class 3A next year as has been speculated.

Greater Spokane League smaller-school distance runners refused to take a back seat to those from larger schools during Wednesday’s District 8 4A-3A cross country meet. Shadle Park’s girls dominated their competition and North Central’s boys closed the gap on Ferris in a race that ended tied and was decided by the Saxons’ faster sixth-place finisher at Plantes Ferry Park.