Bears gamble, roll decisive deuce

In less than four minutes on two big runs by Skylar Jessen, Mead had a 14-0 lead over Central Valley. Football game over, right?

Not exactly.

The Bears, whose spirited second-quarter line play got them back in the game, benefited from a late break and gutsy call to rally for a thrilling 22-21 victory in a Greater Spokane League opener Friday night at CV.

Trailing 21-14 with just over 3:20 left to play and Mead moving the ball, a fumbled handoff was pounced on by CV lineman Brian Monigold at Mead’s 27-yard-line.

CV, as it had in wiping out the 14-0 deficit near the end of the first period and into the second, pounded away at the interior of Mead’s defense.

In five plays, quarterback Cameron Ebat scored his third option run TD of the evening with 1:01 left to play. Then, CV coach Rick Giampietri boldly called for a two-point conversion. Ebat hit a wide-open Tommy Kadoya for the decisive points.

“I wasn’t sure,” said Giampietri of his decision. “I just wanted to end the game if we could right there and – it worked.”

He added that it would have looked a lot different had it not, a sentiment echoed by disheartened Mead coach Shawn Carty.

“If we tackle the kid or knock (the ball) down we win. It’s that close,” Carty said. “One way or another, he made a gutsy call.”

A week ago, the Bears had given up 28 first-half points in a loss to Sandpoint.

“I thought we were going to be down 28-0 again,” Giampietri said.

Following a 47-yard-punt return shared by Mitch Ramsay, who ran about half of it before fumbling, and Matt White, who picked up the ball and covered the rest of the ground, Jessen raced in for the first score from 13 yards out.

On Mead’s next possession, it took three plays to score. Jessen, who gained 184 yards before cramping up and missing virtually all the fourth quarter, got outside and went 83.

Then something happened. CV’s line took it to the Panthers, pounding a total of 185 yards for two touchdowns. Its first came with 1:45 left in the first period. The second came with 6:03 remaining in the second. The Bears went inside with Dane Knudsen and Kadoya, outside with Zach Evans and finished them off with Ebat.

The defense, particularly Zach Chesher, held Jessen in check for the rest of the half.

“We’d spent practice working on outside contain on Jessen,” Chesser said. “We know that once he gets around the corner he’s gone.”

Jessen went back to work in the second half, gaining 79 yards as Mead kept the ball for virtually 15 minutes, capped by Andy Mattingly’s 27-yard run on a reverse from Eric Regalado, putting Mead ahead 21-14 with 9 minutes to play.

Limited to six plays until then, CV got a 49-yard kickoff return from Tyler Demars and drove to Mead’s 13. Four plays later, Regalado fumbled and CV capitalized.

“I tell you what,” said Giampietri. “It was a team thing with a lot of guys. That’s the biggest win we’ve had here in a long time.”