CV Takes Licking, Quits Ticking Bears Defense Can’t Stop Kamiakin; Gsl’s Run In State Aaa Playoffs Short

The whispers about Central Valley’s defense became a deafening roar Saturday afternoon as the Greater Spokane League bombed in the State AAA football playoffs once again.

The fourth-ranked Bears rolled up 459 yards in total offense but it wasn’t enough as No. 9 Kamiakin made the lone big defensive play and added 421 yards of offense for a 42-28 victory before a disappointing and disappointed crowd of 1,958 at Albi Stadium.

“We got into a track meet we didn’t want to get into,” CV coach Rick Giampietri said. “We missed some opportunities but we just didn’t play good defense.”

So, coupled with Mead’s 6-3 loss at Walla Walla, the GSL goes down in flames, getting swept in the first round by the Big Nine for the second straight year and third time in the last four. In fact, the Big Nine has gone 2-0 against the GSL four times since the last Spokane sweep in 1988.

”(They did) nothing we really didn’t expect, we just didn’t tackle,” Giampietri said. “We didn’t come up with any third-down plays (on defense). We played good, solid defense the last few weeks. We just didn’t see this coming.”

For example:

On the third play of the game, a third-and2, Jay Robinson ran a short hitch for the first down but made the defensive back miss, turning the pass from Scott Mitchell into a 65-yard touchdown.

On seven third-down plays, the Braves converted four times. After the TD on third down to open the game, the Braves got 14 yards when they needed 12, 19 when they needed 1 and 18 when they needed 15.

After taking a 21-14 lead with 1:58 left in the first half, Kamiakin (8-2) needed just 54 seconds to go 64 yards on passes of 38, 12 and 14 yards from Mitchell to Robinson to tie it.

With one last chance, the defense failed miserably. The Bears (9-1) trailed 35-28 with 5 minutes when they were forced to punt and the ball rolled dead on the Kamiakin 14. Seven running plays by Nick Freese, including a 41-yarder, put the clinching score on the board with 2:45 to play.

Freese ran the ball 22 times for 197 yards and two touchdowns, Mitchell was 16 for 20 for 237 yards and three TDs and Robinson caught 10 passes for 184 yards and two TDs.

But the back-breaker was a defensive play by Kamiakin - a 30-yard interception return by middle linebacker Jonathan Rettig with 7:22 left.

“It was just a regular play,” Rettig said. “I dropped back and the ball came right to me. From there it was touchdown all the way.”

Kamiakin coach Craig Beverlin said, “It was a big play defensively. He is our old fullback so he got to use those skills again.”

It’s unfortunate because CV quarterback R.J. DelMese had an excellent day to cap an excellent season. He threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns. The first came four plays after Mitchell’s first TD when fullback Luke Stavros turned a short pass into a 52-yard score. DelMese only threw one other interception this year, which Shadle Park also returned for a TD.

Wide receiver Ryan Millar also had a big game with nine catches for 199 yards, including scores of 33 and 29 yards, and tailback Giorgio Usai capped his season with his 10th 100-yard game, going for 160 on 21 carries.

“We had our eyes set a lot farther,” Giampietri said. “I thought we got tired in the fourth quarter. That might be one reason we missed tackles. We had a great string, we played some excellent games. I think they made plays and we were in position to make plays, too.”

Kamiakin 42, CV 28

Kamiakin 7 14 0 21 - 42

Central Valley 7 14 0 7 - 28

Kam - Robinson 65 pass from Mitchell (Maki kick)

CV - Stavros 52 pass from Del Mese (Martin kick)

CV - Millar 33 pass from Del Mese (Martin kick)

Kam - Freese 2 run (Maki kick)

CV - Millar 29 pass from Del Mese (Martin kick)

Kam - Robinson 14 pass from Mitchell (Maki kick)

Kam - M. Thompson 16 pass from Mitchell (Maki kick)

CV - Usai 1 run (Martin kick)

Kam - Rettig 30 pass interception return (Maki kick)

Kam - Freese 11 run (Maki kick)

K CV First downs 20 22 Rushes-yards 35-184 29-158 Passing yards 237 301 Return yards 35 1 Passes 16-20-0 14-30-1 Punts-Avg. 3-40.3 2-52 Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-0 Penalties-yards 3-20 5-36

Individual statistics

Rushing - Kam: Freese 22-197, S. Thompson 4-23, Mitchell 8-minus 47, Robinson 1-11. CV: Usai 21-160, Giampietri 4-11, Stavros 2-3, Del Mese 2-minus 14

Passing - Kam: Mitchell 16-20-0-237. CV: Del Mese 14-30-1-301.

Receiving - Kam: Robinson 10-184, Freese 3-11, Wright 1-13, M. Thompson 1-16, Grillo 1-9, Cornia 1-4. CV: Millar 9-199, Allen 3-42, Stavros 1-52, Giampietri 1-8.

Att - 1,958.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo