B Schedule Covered With Big Games

Area Class B football has rarely seen a weekend like this.

Games in each of the four local B leagues involve teams tied for first. Seven of the eight teams are ranked.

For highlights, try top-ranked Davenport against second-ranked Reardan. Both are 5-0 in the Northeast B-11 and 6-0 overall.

If that’s not enough, there’s second-ranked Pateros (3-0, 6-0) against fourth-ranked Inchelium (3-0, 5-0) in Northeast B-8; top-ranked Touchet (2-0, 6-0) against fifth-ranked LaCrosse-Washtucna (2-0, 4-1) in Southeast B-8; and seventh-ranked Tekoa-Oakesdale against Garfield-Palouse, both of which are 2-0 in Southeast B-11.

Davenport hosts Reardan at 7 p.m. Friday. The Gorillas won 21-20 last year, and despite having outscored teams 283-53, Davenport is expecting a battle, said coach Skip Pauls.

Said Pauls: “I think it’s going to be a close game Records and rankings don’t have anything to do with it.”

Davenport has averaged 500 yards per game, with nearly half coming from running backs Josh FitzPatrick and Travis Telecky.

A 49-14 thrashing from Davenport is Tekoa-Oakesdale’s lone loss in six tries. At 7 p.m. Friday in Oakesdale the Nighthawks host Gar-Pal, whom they beat 41-12 in a season-opening, non-league game.

Inchelium, at home at 1 p.m. Saturday against Pateros, boasts a mind-boggling statistic. In six games of the wide-open B-8 variety, the Hornets have allowed just 12 points.

“The way we’re playing defense has been a pleasant surprise,” said Inchelium coach Ron Washington. “We haven’t played an explosive team yet, so it should be interesting.”

Pateros is such a team. The Billygoats, who beat an injured Inchelium 42-14 last year, are averaging 54 points per game led by all-state quarterback Patrick Hunter.

Pateros lost last year’s championship to Touchet, which had a spotless record outside of a 28-25 loss to LaCrosse-Washtucna. The Tigercats try for two in a row over the Indians at 3 p.m. Friday in Touchet.

“It’s basically the same team, just older and tougher,” said L-W coach Jeff Nelson of Touchet.

Both teams score at a clip 45-points-per-game clip. Nelson is focusing on the Indians’ running game, and hopes L-W’s improved passing gives it an extra dimension.

Last chance to tie

The Greater Spokane League football race could come to a close tonight, which compared to recent history is a novel idea.

If Mead (5-1, 5-1) beats Gonzaga Prep (3-2, 4-2) in tonight’s 7:30 game at Albi Stadium, the Panthers clinch no worse that a tie for second against two teams they have already beaten, Lewis and Clark (3-2, 3-2) and University (3-2, 3-3). Mead has a bye next week.

Three years ago, three teams tied for the GSL title and had a round-robin playoff for two playoff spots. Two years ago it was three teams tied for second and one playoff spot. And last year five teams tied for second.

If Prep can halt a two-game slide against Mead, it’s time to talk tiebreaker. However, we can tell you, all hope is lost for University earning the second playoff spot even if the Titans win the rest of their games.

Tonight’s game at 5 is LC meeting Ferris (2-3, 2-4) in a dual homecoming game.

Central Valley already has clinched a playoff berth because even if the Bears end their season with two league losses they will have beat every team that could tie with them.

Friday the Bears (6-0, 6-0) face North Central (0-5, 0-6) at 5:45. It was NC that rallied to beat CV 17-14 the last weekend of the season, knocking the Bears out of second and into that five-way tie. Don’t expect that to happen again.

A win clinches the GSL’s top seed into the playoffs.

Friday’s 8:30 game is University against Shadle Park (2-3, 2-4). Rogers (0-6, 0-6) has a non-league game at Pullman at 7:30.

Still perect

Thirty-nine Washington prep teams entered last weekend with 5-0 records. The number that improved to 6-0 was 33.

The biggest attrition struck the Class AA ranks, where five of 13 unbeaten teams fell. Previously unbeaten Blanchet lost to AA top-ranked O’Dea 46-0. O’Dea has outscored its rivals 270-0.

Frontier notes

If Colville approached every Frontier League football game like they do Post Falls, they’d do just fine.

Two weeks ago the Indians upset the previously unbeaten Trojans in a road game 21-7.

“We beat them pretty much all the time,” said coach Ken Emmil about the stunner. “They’re not in league and we have no preconceived notions.

“We’d do better in the GSL,” he quipped.

Success carried over against Pullman last week, the Indians winning a rare league game 15-14.

“It was the longest game I was ever involved in,” said Emmil. “They threw 50 times.”

Emmil said Colville has played good defense this season but that an average of four turnovers a game, mostly in its own end of the field, has been costly.

Notable

Two-thirds of the way through the high school football season, eight of the 10 teams that participated in the Kingbowl last year can make it to Tacoma for Grid Classic I.

Only Montesano, which lost to Royal in the Class A final, is out of the running. Class B-11 champion Dayton has moved up to Class A.

Lakes junior QB Drew Miller completed 34 of 48 passes for 381 yards and four TDs last Thursday. Miller has passed for more than 300 yards in all six games this season. In Greater Spokane League history, just 13 QBs have thrown for 300 yards in a game. Miller’s season numbers are 152 of 236 for 2,188 yards, with 29 TDs and three interceptions.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: HIGH-FIVE CLUB Players who have scored five touchdowns in a game in Spokane Class AAA football league games: Mentor Dahlen, North Central, 1928 Marv Henthorn, North Central, 1960 Larry Eilmes, Rogers, 1961 Wally Gaskins, LC, 1962 Archie Grant, Ferris, 1970 Jay Floyd, Lewis and Clark, 1976 Matt Brandli, Mead, 1989 Jason Ailor, Mead, 1990 Brett Bellinger, LC, 1992 Giorgio Usai, Central Valley, 1995 Adam Morris, Mead, 1995