Knights respond to beat Bears

This week during practice, East Valley football players were given an admonishment from Coach Adam Fisher that, in effect, said to either go hard or go home.

They took it to heart with a punishing first half and ultimate 28-13 triumph over visiting Central Valley in Greater Spokane League football Friday. It was the second consecutive year the Knights have defeated the Bears.

After misfiring on its first possession, EV scored on three of its next four series for a 21-0 halftime lead with quickness and by laying some spirited licks on its foe.

The Knights put the game away with a time-consuming march that took half of the fourth quarter. QB Jye Lanphere scrambled 17 yards for a 28-7 advantage.

CV (1-2, 1-1) managed just 36 yards of offense in the first half and EV had only one iffy defensive series, a 55-yard, third-quarter drive by the Bears that was aided by a pass interference flag. Quarterback Camren Ebat, who accounted for most of CV’s 139 yards of offense, ran in from 17 yards.

That might have been the only Bears touchdown, if not for a bad decision by EV’s second-team offense. CV’s other score came with 30 seconds remaining.

“Our coach said if we don’t run hard we’re not playing” said junior sprinter Anthony Laborin, one of EV’s backs-by-committee. “He said we had to hit the hole 100 percent and hold onto the ball.”

Laborin scooted 38 yards for EV’s second TD, four minutes into the second quarter.

The first, by Brady Brunelle with seven seconds left in the first quarter, capped a 71-yard drive in which five different players carried the ball.

Brunelle also had the third TD, ending an 80-yard, nine-play drive that included two Chase Courchaine catches, the latter a spectacular 26-yard layout and grab to CV’s 20-yard line.

Brunelle, along with Spencer Shaw, had a monster game on defense as well.

Sophomore Ryan Campbell gained 86 yards on 22 attempts. Lanphere had an efficiently productive night passing, completing 9 of 12 play-action attempts, five for first downs.

“He moved the chains when it was third down and we needed to,” said Fisher.

Fisher agreed that this was a different team than the one that had come into the game with a 0-2 record.

“We had potential, but just had critical, critical mistakes the first two weeks,” Fisher said. “One in every four plays either went backwards or there were turnovers. You can’t beat anybody doing that.”

This game, EV was nearly flawless. If the linemen didn’t open holes, the hard-charging backs were ripping out of tackles.

The defense made clutch plays, in particular stopping CV short on fourth-and-two at the Knights 30 early in the game.

“Our offensive line did a much better job. The backs ran harder, our DBs played better, we got off the blocks on defense,” said Fisher. “Overall, we made major progress and I have a smile on my face.”

Clarkston 27, Mt. Spokane 24

The Bantams (3-0, 2-0) continue to flourish, rallying from a 21-7 deficit with a minute left in the first half.

Clarkston raced 80 yards to score just before intermission on a 22-yard pass from Jason Curtis to Mark Reiner.

Curtis, who completed 23 of 36 passes for 291 yards, hit Reiner again after Mt. Spokane had gone up 24-14 through three quarters.

Brady Wilson added field goals of 38 and 37 yards, the latter coming with 50 seconds left in the game for the win.

Mt. Spokane’s Mike Jared scored on runs of 49 and 51 yards in the second quarter for the two-TD lead and wound up with 142 yards rushing on 10 carries.