Gsl Opens With Thrillers Overtime Upset And Matchup Of Old Rivals Kick Off Season

Renewal of an old rivalry and overtime - a great way to start the football season.

Surprisingly, that encompassed two games at Albi Stadium on Thursday night.

University, expected to struggle this year, provided the first upset of the Greater Spokane League season by shocking Shadle Park 29-28 in overtime. The difference was in point-after kicks - the Titans were 1 of 2 in overtime after Shadle Park went 0 for 1.

In the second game of the doubleheader, played before 5,451 fans, Gonzaga Prep topped Lewis and Clark 13-7, but even those two old rivals had a tough time providing the excitement of the first game.

“We practice hard. We knew we had a chance,” U-Hi Titans two-way standout Jake Roberts said.

“The paper picked us last but we knew we were better than that.”

University 29, Shadle Park 28 (OT)

The Highlanders scored with 2:11 left in regulation to tie the game, and on the third play of overtime, Highlanders quarterback Chris Ryan swept 13 yards around right end for a touchdown. However, Tim Snell’s point-after attempt bounced wide off the left upright.

“I could sense the attitude on the sideline was positive,” U-Hi coach Mike Ganey said. “We were not going to be denied.”

On the next play, U-HI’s Nick Mattioda went over the right side, broke through several arm tackles and raced 25 yards to the end zone. Kevin Mace also missed the PAT kick but the Highlanders were penalized for roughing the kicker and Mace made the second one.

Mattioda, who didn’t start and had 3 negative yards in the first half, had 124 in the second half. Combined with Chris Short’s 139 yards passing, the Titans rolled up 289 yards of offense.

The key was two long drives. After the Highlanders opened the game with a quick score, U-Hi went 71 yards in 11 plays with Short hitting Roberts for a 6-yard touchdown.

Shadle missed its PAT and the Titans took an 8-6 lead with a Short-to-Roberts PAT.

“What was important was after their initial score we came back and matched it,” Ganey said.

Shadle Park was up 12-8 at halftime, but the Titans opened the second half with an 87-yard, 12-play drive that chewed up 5 minutes, 24 seconds. Mattioda went 4 yards for the score.

The Highlanders had 308 yards rushing but only 66 passing. They shocked the Titans with a 61-yard completion on the first play of the game.

G-Prep 13, Lewis and Clark 7

Tom Black picked off a pass at the Tigers’ 37 with under a minute to play, and two plays later Shane Wharton bolted up the middle to give the Bullpups the win.

“I’m really pleased,” retiring Prep coach Don Anderson said. “We had some opening-game things but for the most part I’m pleased with our execution. I think we moved the ball better than we did in the past against Lewis and Clark.”

If the offense was OK - 300 yards rushing - the defense was great. The only time the Tigers got past midfield was when Prep turned the ball over on downs in the waning minutes of the first half. However, Matt McIntyre ended that threat with an interception inside the 10.

LC’s score was a stunning 81-yard fumble return by Nick Spurgetis after Prep had marched from its 8 to the Tigers’ 6 after the opening kickoff.

Prep quarterback Kevin O’Connell, who carried 28 times for 172 yards, got that back with a 7-yard scoring run in the second quarter.

“I’ll do what it takes for the team, run 27 times, pass 27 times,” O’Connell said.”I’ll do anything for the win. Everyone else takes a beating. Just because I’m a quarterback doesn’t mean I can’t take a hit.”

The Bullpups continued to move the ball but couldn’t score, and the second overtime game of the night - and it had been 12 years between previous OTs - appeared likely.

Overtime might have been a good move for LC, which had 5 yards passing, minus-3 yards rushing and one first down in the second half - one a penalty.

G-Prep 13, Lewis and Clark 7

Gonzaga Prep 0 7 0 6 -13

Lewis and Clark 7 0 0 0 -7

L-Spurgetis 81 fumble return (Dahlstrom kick) G-O’Connell 7 run (Bettesworth kick) G-Wharton 18 run (kick failed) GP LC First downs 18 5 Rushes-yards 54-312 21-20 Passing yards 47 81 Return yards 4 12 Passes 4-10-0 6-17-3 Punts-Avg. 3-40.3 3-36 Fumbles-lost 4-1 3-1 Penalties-yards 7-92 3-18 Individual statistics Rushing - G-Prep: Wharton 20-133, O’Connell 28-172, Ramirez 6-(-11). LC: Flatt 13-34, Spurgetis 3-3, Lockridge 5-(-17).

Passing - G-Prep: O’Connell 4-10-0-47. LC: Lockridge, 6-17-3-81.

Receiving - G-Prep: Hartnett 2-27, Bacon 1-9, Ramirez 1-11. LC: Flatt 3-36, Love 1-26, Shields 1-12, Defour 1-7.

Attendance: 5451.

University 29, Shadle Park 28

University 8 0 7 7 7 - 29

Shadle Park 6 6 0 10 6 - 28

S-Ryan 3 run (kick failed) U-Roberts 6 pass from Short (Roberts pass from Short) S-Caballero 18 run (run failed) U-Mattioda 4 run (Mace kick) S-Snell 32 field goal U-Mattioda 34 run (Mace kick) S-Ryan 13 run (Snell kick) S-Ryan 13 run (kick failed) U-Mattioda 25 run (Mace kick) U-Hi SP First downs 18 20 Rushes-yards 35-152 57-308 Passing yards 139 66 Return yards 16 19 Passes 11-21-2 2-9-1 Punts-Avg. 3-34.7 1-22.0 Fumbles-lost 2-0 2-1 Penalties-yards 9-74 5-46.5 Individual statistics Rushing - University, Conrad 13-54, Short 5-(minus 23), Mattioda 17-121. Shadle Park, Peters 17-100, Snell 10-40, Sullivan 8-48, Caballero 12-68, Ryan 12-55.

Passing - University, Short 11-21-2-139. Shadle Park, Ryan 2-9-1-66.

Receiving - University, Ellersick 1-9, McMurtrey 3-47, Roberts 5-57, Long 1-5, Pulver 1-21. Shadle Park, Snell 2-66.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo