Titans outlast Indians in longest game in GSL history: 4 OT’s

It was a game both teams had to win, and neither deserved to lose.

A 41-yard field goal with 37 seconds left, a 52-yarder 34 seconds later. A Greater Spokane League record four overtimes. Big stops and even bigger scores.

Finally, when Kris O’Connor dashed in from 10 yards out for his fourth touchdown, University was the winner, 44-38 over North Central before what was left of a crowd of 1,660 at Albi Stadium on Thursday night.

In the first game, Mead kept its 4A playoff hopes alive with a 35-14 win over Clarkston.

But that was long over by the time O’Connor went around left end, not only ending the longest game in GSL history but keeping U-Hi in the 4A playoff picture as well.

“Our character seems to surface in the most trying moments,” U-Hi coach Mike Ganey said, and nothing could have been more trying than the four overtimes.

The Titans (6-3 overall, 6-2 and in second-place in the GSL) thought they had rallied from a seven-point, fourth-quarter deficit to victory when Ken Wood tucked a 41-yard field goal just inside the left upright with 37 seconds left, giving them a 17-14 lead.

But a 26-yard run against U-Hi’s prevent defense by NC’s Derek Brown, part of his 141 yards on 29 carries, gave Kris Higgins a shot at a 52-yard field goal. It just cleared the crossbar on the right side, sending the game into overtime and tying U-Hi’s Rocky Visintainer for the sixth-longest in league history.

“We have practiced this,” Ganey said of overtime. “We just consider it an extension of the fourth quarter.”

And it was a long one as it turned out.

Each team scored on their two chances starting at the 25: NC (3-6 overall, 2-5 in the GSL with faint 3A playoff hopes) on quarterback Jacob Aspenleiter two 1-yard sneaks, U-Hi on a 26-yard J.D. Peterson pass to Matt Hanna in the corner of the end zone and O’Connor’s 7-yard run.

The third OT, starting at the 10, featured U-Hi’s Peterson hooking up with Chris Fairbanks for a 6-yard score and Brown going in from 10 yards out.

All six extra points – “as important as the touchdowns,” in Ganey’s view – were good.

But in the fourth OT, a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty pushed Higgins’ field goal attempt back to 27 yards, and that may have been the difference.

The kick just missed outside the left upright, and all U-Hi had to do was score.

O’Connor, who finished with 169 yards on 30 carries, took care of it on the first play.

“I knew I could get in,” the senior said, obviously drained after playing almost every play. “I can’t talk, I can’t talk.”

“We were fortunate being able to start on defense that fourth overtime,” Ganey said. “The kids knew if they could get a stop, they would win.”

They got one, but it was one of the few on a night where the teams combined for 735 yards in total offense. U-Hi had 395 of them, but the Titans also had the game’s only three turnovers.

“We were able to overcome those early turnovers,” Ganey said, “which just shows the character of this team. They are not going to quit.”

Mead 35, Clarkston 14

Call it the return of the big play. The Panthers (5-4 overall, 5-3 in the GSL) scored twice in the first three minutes – on a 36-yard Skylar Jessen run and a 46-yard pass from Andrew DeFelice to Jeremy Brett – before adding two more long scoring throws and a 79-yard game-clinching touchdown run by Jessen.

“Jeremy and DeFelice made plays tonight,” Mead coach Sean Carty said. “I mean, they were doing things that aren’t drawn up.”

Both of the later scoring tosses (57 and 26 yards) were from DeFelice to Brett as well, leading to an 8-for-13, 188-yard night for the junior quarterback, 177 of those yards covered by Brett on seven catches. Add a 207-yard rushing night for Jessen, and the Panthers had more than enough offense.

Especially since their defense was stifling the Clarkston rushing game.

The Bantams (3-5, 4-5) ran for 103 yards, but 70 came on a late scoring run by Kyle Beggs, who also had an 8-yard first-quarter touchdown. But 12 of Clarkston’s 24 attempts were for zero yards or less.

There wasn’t much success through the air, either, though Clarkston quarterback Jason Curtis did hit 18 of 29 for 242 yards. But the Panthers had three picks by three different defensive backs, squashing any Clarkston comeback hopes.

Mead played without senior offensive tackle Jesse Wilhelm, out for the season with a knee injury suffered last week against North Central.