Undefeated Bears Not About To Look Past East Valley

For a game that means nothing in their respective leagues, Friday’s East Valley at Central Valley football game is awfully meaningful.

The Bears (8-0) have completed their first unbeaten Greater Spokane League season and undisputed championship.

The Knights (6-1-1) have finished at least tied for second in the Frontier League.

Friday’s game is CV’s tuneup for the state playoffs and an opportunity for the school’s first undefeated season since 1974.

“We need to play a good football team and East Valley is a good football team,” said coach Rick Giampietri. “We have to play a solid game before the playoffs.”

For EV it is the playoffs. The Knights are yet haunted by a missed field goal in Cheney that virtually everyone but the ruling official to this day says was good.

“We’re delighted to have the opportunity to play a team the quality of CV,” said Knight coach Jim Clements. “It’s a big test, for us to see how far we’ve come. They have to protect their ranking.”

What his team has accomplished over the past three years still hasn’t sunk in for Giampietri.

“At one point we we’re staying alive at .500,” he said. “It’s rolling along for us now.”

Bad moon rises on Eagles

The promise of West Valley’s football season came crashing down on a team that had anticipated more.

The 42-33 loss at Riverside belied the fact the game pitted a team which had scored only a handful of points in its previous four Frontier League football games, three of them losses, against one that had allowed only a handful of scores while compiling a 3-0-1 record.

Instead of hosting Cheney Friday night for first place in the Frontier League, the Eagles will play for redemption following the embarrassing upset that knocked them out of title contention.

“I don’t want to ‘what-if.’ We had a goal to try and get there and didn’t make it,” said Eagle coach Steve Kent, lamenting uncharacteristically poor tackling and assorted breakdowns.

Complicating matters was a season-ending injury to defensive standout Ty Gregorak.

In previous games teams gained 37 yards of offense to his side of the field. Riverside had 140 yards to that side after he went out.

Also hurting the Eagles was a fourth down completion by Riverside out of punt formation to set up the team’s initial score. WV was forced to play catchup the rest of the night.

With six minutes to go trailing by three points on third and 15, WV was in position to sack quarterback Joel Schurtz at the Ram 1-yard-line. Instead, he turned it into a first-down run and eventual score.

Neither team stopped the other very often. Justin Tichy rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown. Riley Allen threw for 125 yards and three TDs for the Eagles.

“We still want to go out, have fun and do the best we can (against Cheney),” said Kent of Friday’s season finale.

Result doesn’t reflect effort

The two-point conversion catch by Joe Jeffries was ruled no good, denying University a victory last week against Gonzaga Prep.

But the 18-17 loss can’t take away from the effort of Jeffries or the Titans. He made six, sometimes spectacular, catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. It was part of quarterback Casey Cornelius’s 15-for-21 passing night, good for 219 yards.

A victory at home against Lewis and Clark on Friday would leave the Titans tied for third in the GSL.

Bringing closure to controversy

University High’s second-place regional cross country finish and state berth healed a festering sore.

A disputed Titan victory over Mead which gave them second in league has hung over the team for nearly a month. On Saturday they brought closure to the controversy.

“I don’t think anyone took U-Hi seriously along the way,” said coach Steve Llewellyn. “It motivated the kids.”

The Titans are one of three Valley teams and several individuals who will run at state on Saturday.

East Valley’s girls showed why they are defending state champions with an easy win over West Valley, a team they beat by only a point in league.

Four runners finished among the top nine to enable the Knights to defend their state title.

“There was a lot of pressure on them and they stood up to the test,” coach Nick Lazanis said.

Team members are district champion Angie Simmers, Ann Marie Adams, Cara Smith, Holly Weiler, Jen Mills, Sally Wulf, who replaced injured Carmen Cook, and Korinda Godwin.

Even though East Valley and Riverside each had two runners finish among the top five, West Valley’s boys earned the state team trip by placing four runners ahead of the team’s fourth and fifth scorers.

Members are district runnerup Clayton Holmes, Matt Wheeler, Sean McLachlan, Allen Watke and Levi Lounder, who finished among the top 12, Eric Gorton and Dave McNeil.

Qualifying individually were EV district champion Chris Henderson and fifth placer Dustin Sletner, WV girls runnerup Jessica Riehle and fifth placer Heather Harmon, Central Valley regional fifth placer Jenni Saling and Freeman ninth placer Becky Brown.

For University, the second place victory was especially gratifying.

“We were happy to make it during a season of ups and downs,” said Lewellyn. “Emotionally it was tough for the kids but it was a blessing in disguise. The girls had to rise above themselves.”

Lindsay Daehlin struggled with asthma but was in good form Saturday, placing eighth in 19:13.

Packed up behind her were Shanna Delong and Taraka Campbell in 12th and 13th, Kelly Kearsley in 16th and Kelsie Bly in 27th with times between 19:25 and 19:50. U-Hi’s other two runners, Jaime Miller and Robyn Cross also broke 20 minutes

“Shanna had the race of her life,” said Llewellyn, who wants the team bunched even closer at state.

Six teams are strong enough to challenge for trophies, which said Llewellyn, is unusual.

“In other years this team would easily win state,” he said.

, DataTimes