Despite Injuries, Mead Panthers Gearing Up For Latest Challenges
Approaching the three-quarter point of its football schedule hasn’t altered Mead’s season-long plan.
“Our first goal was to eliminate teams one by one from the championship race,” said coach Mike McLaughlin. “What we’re looking at now is a two-game series.”
Game one, today at 7:30 p.m. at Albi Stadium, pits the 5-0 Panthers against 3-1 Gonzaga Prep. The following week Mead plays 4-1 Lewis and Clark.
The Mead-Prep game has traditionally been spirited, as befitting two schools with the Greater Spokane League’s best historical records.
This year both have proved opportunistic in victory.
The Panthers have a 15-to-2 takeaway-giveaway ratio on turnovers and the Bullpups are 13-2.
Gonzaga struggled offensively until Tyson Thielman moved into the backfield where he has averaged 133 yards in his last three games.
The Bullpups have also parlayed special teams play into scores.
“Offensively they’ve been conservative and taken advantage of breaks,” said McLaughlin. “Obviously we can’t give in to specialty play, not give up the easy (score) and sustain our drives.”
Mead has done that so far by averaging 360 yards per game, mostly on the ground. Like Prep the Panthers have taken advantage of opposition miscues.
“We always stress turnover ratio,” said McLaughlin. “With the injuries we’ve had, that allowed us to keep our offense conservative until Brandon got his feet wet.”
Brandon Muzatko is Mead’s lone quarterback since Nate Adams suffered a season-ending broken bone in his shoulder.
The Panthers also have lost Jake Troyer (knee) and Kyle Ellenz (elbow) for the year.
“This year was going real good and all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom,” said McLaughlin.
So far, the injuries haven’t hurt a team that is unbeaten and gearing for its latest challenge.
Rams nearly pull off surprise
It was difficult to determine which team was unbeaten and which was winless in Frontier League football when Riverside played in Clarkston.
The teams were tied 21-21 before Riverside was beaten on the game’s final play.
Statistically the teams were even with 290 yards each, a like number of first downs and a tie score until the 42-yard touchdown pass that decided the game as time ran out.
Clarkston is now 2-0 in league and the Rams 0-3.
“We palyed well four 3 quarters,” said Riverside coach Allen Martin. “The first two touchdowns were where we just missed a tackle or interception. Then we stuffed them.”
A pair of juniors, Ryan Patrick at running back and Danny Leaf at quarterback produced almost all of Riverside’s yardage. Patrick was in his first game since a knee injury sidelined him against Deer Park.
“One thing that helped us was getting our starting running back back,” said Martin.
Leaf hit Ryan Baker for a 15-yard touchdown after Clarkston took a 14-0 lead. Leaf tied the score in the third quarter on a one-yard sneak and again in the fourth with a 15-yard pass to Joe Beckham.
“Danny has been a great addition,” said Martin. “He’s not as mobile as Joel (Schurtz), but his leadership is probably better.”
Cross country reunion
At yesterday’s cross country meet at Manito Park, members of Mead’s 1976 team were reunited commemorating the 20th anniversary of the school’s first state championship.
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