Republic Bags No. 1 Gorillas
B-11
Inconclusive after four wild quarters Friday in the heart of wheat country:
Who’s the best football team in the Northeast B-11?
Should coaches seek advice from their players?
Fifth-ranked Republic (6-0, 6-0) certainly can stake claim to No. 1 after edging top-ranked Davenport (5-1, 4-1), the defending state champion, 20-19.
Yet the win comes with an asterisk, given Davenport’s advantage in total yards (354-182) and first downs (22-7).
As for consulting kids, opportunistic Republic would vote yea and Davenport’s fans likely left the field saying nay.
Republic quarterback Jason Baldwin suggested a QB sneak to coach Don Beazizo when the Tigers recovered a fumble at the Davenport 3 with 3 minutes, 7 seconds left. Beazizo concurred, and Baldwin’s touchdown garnered a 20-13 lead.
The Gorillas responded by launching a 79-yard touchdown drive that was capped by Travis Telecky’s 3-yard run with 23 seconds left. Davenport coach Skip Pauls asked his players, “Go for the tie or the win?” and they opted for the 2-point conversion try. To their chagrin, QB Dale Buchanan tripped slightly on the running attempt, and Mark Rickard wrapped him up.
“I would have done the same thing,” Beazizo said. “You’re at home, and it’s the last home game for your seniors.”
Davenport’s downfall boiled down to Josh FitzPatrick’s fumble at the 3, Telecky’s missed extra point kick after the Gorillas’ second TD and Eric Orvis’ decision to field a third-quarter punt.
Orvis, back to block Aaron Moores on the play, muffed the lined kick and couldn’t beat Moores to the ball at the Gorillas 19. Baldwin threw a 10-yard score to David Hanks four plays later.
It was just the second completion for Baldwin, but the other was a 3-yard TD strike to Rickard in the second quarter. Baldwin eclipsed 5,000 career yards and has 56 TD passes.
Rickard’s TD was his 38th. The senior also intercepted a pass to tie his coach for No. 2 all-time in the state, with 27.
Telecky (130 yards) and FitzPatrick (123) both outrushed Republic (102).
“I was pleased with the kids, especially the way they played when we were down,” Pauls said. “We’re all right; the kids know that.”
No other NEB-11 thrillers
The other four league games couldn’t match Republic-Davenport for suspense, as Liberty’s 22-6 win over visiting Springdale (1-4, 1-3) was the next-closest score.
Ninth-ranked Reardan (5-1, 3-1) rebounded from last week’s loss to Wilbur-Creston with a 46-20 stomping of host Selkirk (1-5, 0-5) at Ione; W-C (4-2, 3-2) kept up its torrid pace with a 52-16 win over visiting Curlew (2-4, 1-4); and host Ritzville (4-2, 3-2) dashed to a 41-14 win over Almira/Coulee-Hartline (2-4, 1-4).
Running crazy
Ritzville’s Jason Warriner plowed for a league season-high 323 yards on 20 carries, including four TD runs of 23 yards or longer. … W-C’s Joel Waters continued to astound. The senior, who scorched Reardan for 300 yards last week, dashed for 158 yards on five carries. Waters has rushed for 608 yards in the last three games. … Casey Kuchenbuch, whose family in Wilbur houses Creston native Waters during the school week, had 109 yards in six carries. … Reardan fullback Scott Eller topped 100 yards and scored four times. … Scott DeGon of Liberty (2-4, 2-2) piled up 195 yards on 12 carries.
No sophomore jitters
Jeremy Engle of Liberty, filling in for injured QB Tim Horlacher, completed 4 of 6 passes for 51 yards.
Getting dirty for a dozen
Ritzville’s Alan Hille, Kris Boness and Damon Roth all had 12 or more tackles.
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