Mead Tops Prep, Avoids Tiebreaker

The Mead Panthers didn’t want to press their luck, so they took things into their own hands.

With a 24-7 win over Gonzaga Prep Thursday night at Albi Stadium, the Panthers clinched a playoff berth for the seventh straight year.

The last three years, however, the Panthers have had to survive multiple-team tiebreakers to get into the playoffs.

“That’s the best news of all, we don’t have to go through a tie-breaker,” Mead coach Mike McLaughlin said. “The third time’s a charm. That’s all.”

In the first game of the doubleheader, which drew 5,810 fans, Lewis and Clark beat Ferris 22-6.

Tonight’s games at Albi are North Central against Central Valley at 5:45 and Shadle Park facing University at 8:30. Rogers goes to Pullman for a non-league game at 7:30.

Now the Greater Spokane League representatives for the State AAA football playoffs are set. Sixth-ranked CV needs to beat NC tonight or Ferris next week to earn the No. 1 seed and the first-round home game.

Mead made the playoffs with a stifling defense and efficient offense.

The Panthers defense only allowed Prep to threaten twice and offensively they built a 14-0 lead and then went conservative after losing starting quarterback Jason Lewis with a sprained ankle.

“With a 14-0 lead, I didn’t want (sophomore backup quarterback Nate Adams) to be in a position to lose,” McLaughlin said. “I wanted to force them to win it against our defense. If it got tight, Nate could do it. It just wasn’t needed.”

Instead, Scott McGlocklin pounded the ball inside, rushing 26 times for 132 yards with 15 carries and almost 90 yards in the second half.

“We’ve been taught the fourth quarter is when you win football games,” McGlocklin said. “Once we get it going, I like to just pound harder.”

Meanwhile, Prep only had 134 yards rushing on 39 attempts.

“Ascolese. We knew if we stopped Ascolese we had a good chance,” Mead inside linebacker Larry Carnahan said of Prep running back Joe Ascolese, who was held to 48 yards on 11 carries. “Everybody just filled their gaps. This was the best overall defense we played all year.”

Carnahan, back in action after breaking his left hand two weeks ago, said his return was easy and exciting.

“It wasn’t hard,” he said. “In practice I would still go through the drills, I just stayed out of contact. It felt like the first game out there.”

, DataTimes