Lc Needs Ot To Nip Shadle
The Shadle Park-Lewis and Clark football game Thursday defined the Greater Spokane League season perfectly.
“I’m disappointed,” Lewis and Clark coach Tom Yearout said. “It doesn’t surprise me. Nothing in high school football surprises me.”
He was talking about his team failing to bury Shadle Park before edging the Highlanders 24-21 in overtime.
The Tigers led 14-0 after their first two possessions, but then missed two field goals and had two turnovers deep in Shadle territory, which is the type of football that has defined the many close games this year. Billy Sanchez kicked an 18-yard field goal in overtime after the Highlanders were stopped on fourth-and-1 from the 6 to start the Kansas tiebreaker.
“You know what’s written on the blackboard (in the locker room)?” Yearout asked. “`Finish.’ And we didn’t do it. It disappoints me because it has been such a point of emphasis with us.”
In the second game of the doubleheader at Albi Stadium, which drew 2,621 fans, Rogers defeated Gonzaga Prep 27-13 for third time in seven years after a 22-year drought.
Nick Scott passed for two touchdowns and returned an interception for a score to ice the game. “We just realized if we wanted any chance at the playoffs we had to win,” Scott said. “We gave up everything for this game.”
LC 24, Shadle Park 21 (OT)
The Tigers (3-1) controlled this game early, but didn’t close the deal and the Highlanders (1-3) wouldn’t give up.
Robby Jahn capped a nice opening drive with a 1-yard plunge and Jamie Black caused a turnover and then scored on a 16-yard run for the early lead. Shadle took advantage of a turnover to close to 14-7 at halftime but Kevin Edwards took the second-half kickoff 89 yards to make it 21-7.
“We were upset we didn’t play well in the first half,” Edwards said. “We needed something to get us going. Penalties killed us and Shadle is tough. They never gave up.”
Early in the fourth quarter on a busted LC play, Brad Hart picked up a fumble and rumbled 77 yards for a touchdown. Then after a shanked punt, the Highlanders went 41 yards, tying the game with 26 seconds left on Jeremy McVay’s 1-yard plunge. The drive was kept alive by an LC penalty on fourth down.
“I’ll tell you, give credit to Shadle,” Yearout said. “They have eight kids play both ways and all they do is play hard. We thought it was over and didn’t finish what we needed to do.”
He was right. LC piled up 27 first downs and 385 yards rushing. Jahn had 196 yards. Shadle had nine first downs and 158 yards on the ground. It was because of those numbers that the Highlanders went for the touchdown and not a field goal in overtime.
“We talked about it,” Shadle coach Mark Hester said. “We thought we needed a touchdown. I’m proud of our kids, they just played their hearts out. LC is a good club. We’re trying to get to be a good club. We got closer tonight.”
Shadle Park 0 7 0 14 0 -21 Lewis and Clark 14 0 7 0 3 -24
LC- Jahn 1 run (Sanchez kick)
LC- Black 16 run (Sanchez kick)
SP- McCracken 1 run (Bell kick)
LC- Edwards 89 kick return (Sanchez kick)
SP- Hart 77 fumble recovery (Bell kick)
SP- McVay 1 run (Bell kick)
LC- Sanchez 18 FG TEAM TOTALS SP LC
First downs 9 27
Rushes-yards 38-105 54-385
Passing 66 41
Comp-Att-Int 7-20-0 4-15-0
Punts 7-37.1 3-18.3
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-2
Penalties-Yards 7-50 10-100
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Shadle Park, McVay 19-94, Weiser 9-16, Harper 2-2, Gardner 1-1, McCracken 7-(-8). Lewis and Clark, Jahn 19-196, Edwards 16-86, Black 9-54, Coleman 4-29, Webb 5-21, Cochran 1-(-1).
PASSING-Shadle Park, McCracken 7-20-0-66. Lewis and Clark, Webb 4-15-0-41.
RECEIVING-Shadle Park, Bell 3-34, Leute 3-30, Weiser 1-2. Lewis and Clark, Denbeigh 2-17, Edwards 1-12, Sanchez 1-12.
Rogers 27, Gonzaga Prep 13
The Pirates (2-2) only got 14 points in the first half despite the pinpoint passing of Scott and outstanding catches of Raleigh Brown and Mike Perez. Both receivers found the end zone and Brady Smith helped out with three first-half interceptions.
“This week we came out and wanted to challenge them early,” Scott said. “We’re a big-play offense and the last couple of weeks we were conservative. We didn’t take any shots down the field. We made the plays and the offensive line was great. Tight end Gerald Smith really stepped up.”
The second half was quite different as a couple turnovers and a shanked punt pumped life into the Bullpups (1-2, 1-3). However, despite great field position, they only got one touchdown, turning the ball over on downs twice and throwing a fourth interception.
Then Mike Perez blazed 66 yards with a reverse around the left end to push Rogers up 21-7 with 19 seconds left in the third quarter.
“In practice we emphasized getting physical,” Rogers coach Dave Pomante said. “Like I said, kids need to come to play. When kids come to play coaches look good.”
Scott iced the game with a 27-yard interception return with 7:29 to play, offsetting Andy Bloom’s 69-yard punt return with seconds left.
Rogers 0 14 7 6 -27 Gonzaga Prep 0 0 7 6 -13
Rog- Perez 22 pass from Scott (Hawkins kick)
Rog- Brown 18 pass from Scott (Hawkins kick)
GP- Legg 1 run (Benham kick)
Rog- Perez 66 run (Hawkins kick)
Rog- Scott 27 interception return (kick failed)
GP- Dollar 69 punt return (pass failed)
TEAM TOTALS Rog GP
First downs 13 14
Rushes-yards 39-205 23-88
Passing 121 181
Comp-Att-Int 6-17-0 18-44-5
Punts 7-22.6 3-31.6
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-0
Penalties-Yards 4-49 4-31
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Rogers, Cody 20-126, Perez 2-73, Robideaux 4-9, Parratt 2-3, Scott 10-(-1), Smith 1-(-5). Gonzaga Prep, Legg 21-95, Stiffter 2-(-7).
PASSING-Rogers, Scott 6-17-0-121. Gonzaga Prep, Stiffter 14-34-5-125, Toney 4-10-0-56. RECEIVING-Rogers, Brown 3-67, Perez 3-54. Gonzaga Prep, Bloom 9-85, Dollar 4-43, Shogan 3-32, Wetzel 1-13, Legg 1-8.