Win at G-Prep Friday could mean postseason for Bears

Central Valley has two Greater Spokane League football losses and four 4A teams are above them in the standings.

But it doesn’t mean the Bears can’t dream big, and their game Friday at Gonzaga Prep looms large.

Win and CV (3-2, 2-2) puts itself in position to prolong the season as one of three postseason qualifiers. Lose and hopes of a playoff berth would likely be dashed.

For the second straight year the Bears are completing a rugged four-game stretch against playoff-worthy foes. Mead, which beat CV both years, is currently unbeaten atop the GSL.

Last year Shadle Park made the playoffs, Lewis and Clark almost did and Gonzaga Prep was a State 4A semifinalist.

CV beat Shadle Park more convincingly two weeks ago than the year before and followed with a second straight shutout, over an LC team which it lost to last season.

Gonzaga beat the Bears just 10-7 before going on to miss by a point playing in its sixth state final. If comparisons mean anything, the Bears have hope.

•Last Friday, mistakes and one big play proved costly in West Valley’s 35-13 loss to Mead. Otherwise the Eagles (2-3, 2-2) played the league-leading Panthers on equal, if soggy, footing.

WV fell behind 14-0 in the game’s first 6 minutes, 32 seconds after Mead parlayed a fumble recovery and interception into two short-field touchdowns.

Afterward, the Eagles dominated the remainder of the first quarter on a rainy Friday night and halved the score when Camron Bowman picked up an errant center snap off the wet grass, cut right and raced 64 yards with 5:51 left until halftime.

Two other times WV got inside the Panther 25-yard line but couldn’t score and despite a 39-to-28 plays advantage, fell behind Mead 21-7 at intermission.

Before midpoint of the third quarter Mead scored on a 90-yard run and 95-yard pass interception to pull away.

But the Eagles scored once more, on a Bryan Peterson to Tyler Hobbs pass, and wound up with 304 yards of total offense to Mead’s 342.

•East Valley (3-2, 3-1) defeated its second straight 3A contemporary and is averaging 46 points a game against them after making short work of Clarkston 46-0.

Ryan Campbell, who tied his brother Scott’s GSL record of 38 points in one game the week before against Cheney, scored four first-half touchdowns, including runs of 71 and 58 yards, before calling it a night against the Bantams.

He rushed for 178 yards and quarterback Jye Lanphere threw for 131.

Up this week is the third of four 3A foes, winless North Central.

West Valley is at University (2-3, 2-2), which is seeking its third straight win.

Titans hang tough

Friday’s 3-1 Greater Spokane League soccer victory kept University unbeaten and a point ahead of Gonzaga Prep as the season passed its mid-point.

But there is still a long way to go.

U-Hi (7-0) has a two-point lead over Ferris and five-point advantage over three teams, including Mt. Spokane, whom the Titans played on Wednesday, and Mead.

The Panthers and Saxons still loom on their schedule.

Sophomore Abby Goss scored twice and had an assist against the Bears. Rachel Lopez had the other goal, which broke a 1-1 halftime deadlock 11 minutes into the final 40-minute period.

Loss dropped the Bears (4-3) into eighth place in league. Megan Wells was credited with goal that tied the match six minutes after Goss’ first goal, which had come suddenly, just two minutes into the contest.

East Valley (5-2) is one of the trio of teams that share fourth place. The Knights beat Lewis and Clark 2-0 with both goals coming in the second half, by Kayla Perno and team scoring leader Lindsey Moles.

West Valley (1-6) lost 6-0 to Gonzaga and played 3A rival Cheney on Wednesday.

Having a weekend run

West Valley and East Valley had a preview of 3A races to come during the Eagles’ Spokane Classic cross country meet at Plantes Ferry Park.

The host WV boys won a close race with 72 points. EV was third with 80, although Knights Nick Atwood and Tyler Thatcher finished 1-2 by a substantial margin in 15:48 and 16:03. The Eagles had three placers among the top 10, Richard Keroack fourth, Garrett Hanson sixth and Josh Gardner ninth, separated by 17 seconds.

WV’s Larsen Agee won the girls race in 19:39, although the Eagles finished sixth as a team, behind the meet’s top two, fellow 3A GSL schools North Central and Cheney.

EV’s girls were at the SunFair Invitational in Yakima and finished third among 3A teams with 87 points behind Bellevue’s 63 and WV-Yakima’s 66.

The race was run in seven flights with all seven EV runners placing 15th or higher.

University’s illness-plagued boys were 11th, although Bill McElroy could not finish his flight, and girls were 13th among 4A teams.

Central Valley competed in the Mount Baker Invitational. CV’s varsity girls finished second and junior varsity girls won their race.

The boys junior varsity also finished first and freshmen were second. Varsity boys took 15th, although they didn’t use their top runners.