Ferris Dumps Bears

GSL

Life on the other side.

A line that opened holes and a running back that knew what to do with them. A defense that dominated.

That describes the Central Valley team that rolled to the State 4A football championship last year and the Ferris team that beat the Bears 28-7 Friday night in the season opener for both Greater Spokane League teams at Central Valley.

“I was really confident. We were looking good all week,” Ferris running back Nick Bozo said rushing for two touchdowns and handling all the Saxons kicking. “I can’t say I felt we would win but I could feel something.

“It’s a big boost. I feel we can do a lot of damage in this league if we keep our composure and work hard.”

The Saxons made great strides in that department, surviving an early 65-yard run by CV touchdown machine Tyree Clowe and an early turnover.

From that point, Ferris stuffed the Bears’ offense and put together three straight scoring drives to lead 21-7 midway through the second quarter.

“With (H.T.) Higgins coming over (from Gonzaga Prep), he’s putting a lot more emphasis on team defense,” Ferris linebacker Aaron Seddler said. “We’re not trying to make up for a mistake by the guy next to you, we’re playing together. It’s discipline and trust.”

Seddler led a linebacking corps that cleaned up everything that somehow got past the dominating front line.

“Holy smokes. That front line, front seven, is what I was worried about,” CV coach Rick Giampietri said. “That’s a tough one to play first.”

Clowe, who scored a GSL record 26 touchdowns last year, probably had more negative yards in this game than he did all of last season when he had a big, veteran line.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Clowe said. “We’re young. I think we’ll get better as time goes on.”

Around the league

There’s no question the Mt. Spokane and North Central football teams have offense - they combined for 1,144 yards of it.

The Wildcats amassed 585 total yards in an impressive 48-27 win in their Greater Spokane League debut at Albi Stadium. Mt. Spokane played an independent schedule last season in the school’s first year.

Wildcats coach Mike McLaughlin said Friday’s game is one his players won’t forget.

“It was huge,” McLaughlin said of his first GSL win. “Athletics are about memories. This is a memory they will have the rest of their lives.”

Lewis and Clark senior Pete Flatt made a memory Friday night, too.

Flatt scored a late-game touchdown that led the Tigers to a 7-0 win over Gonzaga Prep in the middle game of the tripleheader at Albi that attracted 7,675 fans. The LC victory avenged a 13-7 loss to the Bullpups in the 1997 opener, in which G-Prep scored the winning touchdown with 27 seconds to go.

“That was a bitter defeat for them,” G-Prep assistant Brad Meyer said. “Any time you lose like that it’s in the back of your mind to carry over for the next season.” In the third game Friday, University scored four times in the first half on the way to a victory over Shadle Park.

Lewis and Clark 7, Gonzaga Prep 0

Flatt scored on a 6-yard run with 8:21 left en route to a team-leading 78 rushing yards. Flatt also blocked a first-half fieldgoal try by Eric Byrd, who also had missed on a 41-yarder early in the first quarter.

And Flatt’s coverage of Bullpups receiver Kelvin Bacon on a fourth-and-16 play from the 39-yard line in the final minutes helped secure the win.

“Our defense held it well,” Flatt said. “We had a few too many penalties. We tend to have problems the first game of a season. “LC was slapped with five penalties for 43 yards.

“Both teams made mistakes and had lots of opportunities,” LC coach John Hook said. “I felt we were able to establish a rhythm in the second half and G-Prep wasn’t able to.” Hook lauded defensive end Zach Bankston, who recorded a key sack that pushed the Bullpups back to set up the long fourth down.

LC had a chance midway through the third quarter but failed to score when it moved inside the 20-yard line. On third down from the 10, Tigers quarterback Billy Etter attempted a pass to Colin Shields in the end zone, but Shields was swarmed by defenders and the Bullpups’ Garth Erickson knocked the ball away.

On fourth down, Flatt had his 27-yard field-goal try blocked by Mat McIntyre. The Bullpups were held scoreless just once in 1997, in a 10-0 loss to Kamiakin in the state playoffs.

They were held to 162 offensive yards Friday, 85 on the ground. “Obviously it’s a tough loss,” Meyer said. “The first game is always a hard one to get over because there are so many mistakes.”

Mt. Spokane 48, North Central 27

Wildcats junior running back Josh Wilson declared that his team could put up these kind of numbers every week. That’s possible, but Wilson will need more efforts like Friday’s.

He rushed for four touchdowns and finished with 172 yards on 13 carries and also caught four passes from quarterback Jake Swanson for 82 yards.

“This is a blast,” the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Wilson said. “We wanted to come out here and get our first GSL win.” Swanson threw for four touchdowns and completed 10 of 17 passes for 215 yards with two interceptions.

North Central senior quarterback Nick Frocheiser also had a big game, throwing for a GSL-record 405 yards to break the mark of 381 set by Josh Rataezyk at Ferris in 1991. Junior tight end Chris Guertz hauled in five of Swanson’s passes for 188 yards.

Ferris 28, Central Valley 7

Ferris 7 14 7 0 - 28

Central Valley 7 0 0 0 - 7

F-Bozo 4 run (Bozo kick)

C-Clowe 66 run (Libey kick)

F-Mundahl 20 run from Anderson (Bozo kick)

F-Jones 1 pass from Lee (Bozo kick)

F-Bozo 1 run (Bozo kick)

F C First downs 17 4 Rushes-yards 54-279 27-78 Passing yards 59 35 Return yards 4 45 Passes 5-13-1 4-12-0 Punts-avg. 4-27.8 6-30.8 Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-2 Penalties-yards 7-55 2-16

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Central Valley: Clowe 18-101, Gordon 1-3, Burnett 4-(minus-13), Gotfredson 4-(minus-13). Ferris: Bozo 33-186, Mundahl 11-85, Lee 4-14, Robinson 2-7, Oakley 4-(minus-13).

PASSING - Central Valley: Gotfredson 4-12-0-35. Ferris: Oakley 3-5-1-48, Lee 2-8-0-11.

RECEIVING - Central Valley: Libey 1-20, Gordon 1-9, Burnett 1-8, Clowe 1-(minus-2). Ferris: White 2-35, Bozo 1-13, Campbell 1-10, Jones 1-1.

Mt. Spokane 48, North Central 27

Mt. Spokane 14 14 13 7 - 48

North Central 6 13 0 8 - 27

N-Cumbie 1 run (kick failed)

M-Shuyler 7 pass from Swanson (Snyder kick)

M-Swanson 6 run (Snyder kick)

N-Johnson 68 run (run failed)

M-Wilson 5 run (Snyder kick)

N-Cumbie 2 run (Guertz kick)

M-Wilson 22 pass from Swanson (Snyder kick)

M-Gaston 47 pass from Swanson (Snyder kick)

M-Wilson 73 run (kick failed)

N-Guertz 38 pass from Froscheiser (Cumbie pass from Froscheiser)

M-Wilson 31 pass from Swanson (Snyder kick)

M N First downs 24 21 Rushes-yards 38-360 37-154 Passing yards 225 405 Return yards 36 19 Passes 10-17-2 17-37-1 Punts-avg. 2-32.5 2-37 Fumbles-lost 4-1 2-2 Penalties-yards 5-55 4-44

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Mt. Spokane: Wilson 13-172, Milette 13-146, Swanson 6-22, Binder 2-11, Dunford 1-5, Bafaro 2-3, Trainor 1-1. North Central: Johnson 8-103, Cumbie 21-70, Kelly 1-0, Mack 2-0, Froscheiser 5-(minus-19).

PASSING - Mt. Spokane: Swanson 10-17-2-225. North Central: Froscheiser 17-37-1-405.

RECEIVING - Mt. Spokane: Wilson 4-82, Gaston 1-47, Binder 2-37, Milette 1-29, Dunford 1-23, Schuyler 1-7. North Central: Guertz 5-188, Peterson 4-93, Cumbie 5-79, Erickson 2-28, Johnson 1-17.

Lewis and Clark 7, Gonzaga Prep 0

Gonzaga Prep 0 0 0 0 - 0

Lewis and Clark 0 0 0 7 - 7

L-Flatt 6 run (Winner kick)

G L First downs 6 15 Rushes-yards 28-85 46-196 Passing yards 77 3 Return yards 29 10 Passes 4-14-2 1-7-1 Punts-avg. 3-35 5-36.2 Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-0 Penalties-yards 4-30 5-43

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Gonzaga Prep: Hart 14-44, McIntyre 6-23, Pegg 7-16, Brucick 1-2. Lewis and Clark: Flatt 15-78, Coleman 11-61, Spurgetis 13-53, Etter 7-4.

PASSING - Gonzaga Prep: Pegg 4-14-2-77. Lewis and Clark: Lockridge 1-4-0-3, Etter 0-3-1-0.

RECEIVING - Gonzaga Prep: McIntyre 2-47, Bacon 2-30.