Inspired Reardan Reaches Big Goals
Football
The little Reardan Indians are using quality, not quantity, to accomplish big things.
The Indians knocked off previously top-ranked Davenport 22-14 last Friday in a showdown for first place in the Northeast B-11. Reardan coach Dan Graham was at a loss to pick a star.
“We don’t have that one kid who’s a superstar,” Graham said. “It’s really hard for me to pick one kid out.
“That’s kind of the way we do things. All of the years we dedicate our year to the seniors. There aren’t many of them (this year), but they’re playing great.”
Reardan has five seniors on the field and one in spirit.
Mark Busse, inspirational in a battle with cancer until he passed away last month, is still an important part of the Reardan senior class. Some players have Busse’s number on their helmets.
“It’s up to the kids (how they remember Busse),” Graham said. “He’s still in our hearts and our thoughts.”
The other seniors are wide receiver/defensive back Robb Soliday, defensive tackle/offensive guard Pat Bennett, offensive tackle/ linebacker Neil Jernstrom, offensive guard/defensive end Jake Pietz and defensive lineman/offensive lineman Frank Blacker.
Just before halftime against Davenport, the Indians made a goalline stand while trailing 14-6.
“Our kids were excited,” Graham said. “We kind of felt if we could be in the game in the second half - not let them blow us out - we could play with them. (The Gorillas) haven’t had to play in the second half.”“It was just a total team effort. There were some breaks. They had a couple of bad breaks, we had a couple of good breaks. They dropped a pass in the end zone.”
Because of the Indians’ recent successes, Graham has been associated with bigger games. But the Davenport win was close.
“We’ve had games equal to this; I’ve been at this a long time,” he said. “For this group of kids, this is truly their biggest game. They came to play. They did a great job.”
Graham said his team may have created a monster.
“It wasn’t a fluke deal,” he said. “We deserved to win the football game. The scary part is we might have just turned Davenport into a great football team. They were a good football team. Sometimes a team gets rolling along and gets shocked and that really turns them around.”
Going home
The Greater Spokane League enters its final two weeks with nothing on the line except pride. Central Valley and Mead have wrapped up the first-round State AAA playoff spots.
CV has the top seed and home game against the Big Nine Conference runner-up. The Big Nine runner-up could be determined this weekend if Eisenhower wins at Pasco. If Pasco wins, that opens the door for Kamiakin, which plays at Ike the final weekend. Kamiakin whipped Pasco last weekend.
Mead is probably headed for Walla Walla. The Blue Devils need to beat either Kennewick or Davis to wrap up the top seed.
CV plays Ferris in tonight’s 5 p.m. game at Albi. The Bears can clinch their first outright league title. Tonight’s 7:30 game is a battle of teams looking for their first win, Rogers and North Central.
Friday, University meets Gonzaga Prep at 5:45. Lewis and Clark plays Shadle Park at 8:30. Mead has a bye.
Down the stretch
Barring upsets this weekend, the Frontier League’s lone State AA playoff berth won’t be decided until Cheney plays at West Valley next weekend. This week unbeaten Cheney (5-0) has a non-league game against Lewiston, Idaho, while WV (3-0-1) is at Riverside.
One team will be eliminated from the two-team playoff picture when Freeman (3-2) plays at Colfax (3-2) in the Northeast A on Friday. Newport (3-2) would also be eliminated if it lost at Deer Park (1-4) Friday. Despite last week’s loss to Chewelah (5-0), Lakeside (4-1) is playoff-bound if it beats visiting Medical Lake on Saturday and wins next week.
Tall orders await two NEB-11 teams in the playoff hunt for three spots. Springdale (4-2) plays at top-ranked Reardan (6-0) on Friday, while Sprague-Harrington (4-2) takes on former No. 1 Davenport (5-1) at Harrington. Republic (5-2) has a bye in preparation for next week’s game at Ritzville (4-2).
Tekoa-Oakesdale (3-0) can secure one of two Southeast B-11 spots by winning at Pomeroy on Friday. At Palouse, Asotin (3-0) meets Garfield-Palouse (2-1) with next week’s game against T-O on its mind.
Odessa (3-1) is at home against Lind (1-3) in the Northeast B-8. Odessa has the third and final spot to state in its sights but must play Pateros (4-0) next week.
LaCrosse-Washtucna (2-1) plays at Colton (2-1) in the Southeast B-8 on Friday. The winner will clinch one of three playoff spots.
Whitewash
O’Dea shut out Hale last weekend, the seventh zero for the Fighting Irish defense in seven games. That ties the record for most shutouts in a nine-game regular season established by Raymond in 1988. Raymond played a B-11 schedule that year and allowed 20 points.
O’Dea stopped Hale inside the 3-yard line in the final minute of the 41-0 win. Hale was at the 3 with 51 seconds left but lost 3 yards, was stopped on second down and fumbled away the ball on the final play of the game.
On its way to the AA state title last year, O’Dea allowed 26 points and had six shutouts. O’Dea has scored 311 points this year.
O’Dea junior Jim Skurski kicked a 54-yard field goal two weeks ago, tying him for the sixth-longest in state history.
Notable
Tahoma rushed for 483 yards in a 55-7 victory over Auburn-Riverside. Three players gained more than 100 yards apiece.
Mike Brown of Adna scored three touchdowns last weekend to give him 77 for his career, the best in Washington history. Brandon Jumper had 75 TDS for Eatonville from 1984-87.
, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Best boots State’s longest field goals with name, school, year and yardage: Kelly Imhoff, Kent, 1929, 62 yards Randy Jones, Ferris, 1994, 59 Kieron Walford, Fed. Way, 1973, 59 Randy Jones, Ferris, 1993, 57 Ben Cater, LC, 1991, 56 Jim Skurski, O’Dea, 1995, 54 Shawn Bogert, Jefferson, 1983, 54 Marty Greenlee, Ephrata, 1992, 54 Randy Jones, Ferris, 1993, 53 Paul Swansby, Ike, 1986, 53 Don Sarason, Lakeside, 1978, 53 Source: Paul Parietti, Prep Stats Northwest