Davenport knocks off No. 1

REARDAN – In a back-and-forth game to decide the best football team in the Northeast B-11 League, it would come down to whoever made the last big play.

To nobody’s surprise at Reardan’s Joe B. Johnson Field on Friday night, it was Davenport’s Luke Rodenbough – twice.

First, Rodenbough raced 54 yards to give the Gorillas the lead with less than 2 minutes left. Then, he intercepted a pass in Davenport’s end zone to preserve the fourth-ranked Gorillas’ 29-22 win.

“I don’t believe it. It’s crazy,” said Rodenbough, who gained 212 total yards, including 20 carries for 156 yards. “This was the state championship for us in the regular season. People have looked at this game as the state championship for B football.”

One of these two Lincoln County schools has won three of the last five state championships, and it appeared late that the top-ranked Indians (4-1, 4-1 NEB-11) would maintain their recent success in the rivalry.

After a well-played first half ended in a 15-all tie, both teams stumbled their way through the third quarter. Reardan fumbled the ball away twice and Davenport (5-0, 4-0) had a punt blocked and missed a field goal.

The fourth began the same way when the Gorillas’ first drive of the final frame went down to the 27-yard-line before a fumbled option pitch was scooped up by Reardan’s Austin Garner and returned 30 yards to the Davenport 38.

A five-play drive ended in Jon Jayne’s 4-yard touchdown run to give the Indians a 22-15 lead – and with 4:39 left, things looked bad for the Gorillas.

“I thought they had us at the end there,” Davenport head coach Harold Patterson said. “We have a tradition of doing a lot of running and I felt that they were in pretty good shape. If they keep their cool, they ought to be able to do it.”

Davenport took over at its 33, needing 67 yards to tie the game. A 5-yard run from Rodenbough and two of Reardan’s 10 penalties pushed the Gorillas across midfield, and they finished the drive with a 15-yard pass from Kyle Nelson to Rodenbough.

Reardan took over with just less than 3 minutes left, and in two plays, gave the ball back to Davenport on a fumble.

Rodenbough capitalized immediately, going off left tackle for a solid gain. When it looked like he was nearly down, he suddenly emerged from the pile to outrun everybody for the game-winning, 54-yard score.

“That last run by Luke, I’m still trying to figure out how he squirmed out of there,” Patterson said.

A last-ditch drive by the Indians included two long passes by Eric Everett, one to receiver Brad Alberts, who made eight catches for 105 yards. Facing a third-and-11 on the Davenport 19, Everett tried to go back to Alberts on a corner route, but Rodenbough was there to pick it off.

“They beat me, he just underthrew it,” Rodenbough said. “We prepared extra hard for the game, and that’s what made the difference.”

In other NEB-11 action, former quarterback Andrew Canning ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns on four carries, caught a 57-yard touchdown pass and returned an interception 44 yards for a fourth score as Liberty defeated Springdale (0-6, 0-5) 41-8 at Spangle. Dan Templeton registered 21 tackles and Andrew Smith added 20 for the Lancers (3-2, 3-2). … Nick Ashley ran for 139 yards and a touchdown and scored on a 50-yard punt return to lead Lind-Ritzville past Odessa (2-4, 1-4) 45-13 at Ritzville. Travis DeWald threw for 185 yards and two scores for the Broncos (4-1, 3-1). … Joel Sherwood ran for 201 yards and two touchdowns, including the decisive score in overtime, to give Wilbur-Creston (4-2, 2-2) a 20-13 victory over Republic at Wilbur. Jordan Hancock threw two TD passes for the Tigers (1-4, 0-4).

“J.C. Sherritt ran for 173 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries as host Pullman routed Riverside (3-2, 0-2) 62-7 in a Great Northern League game. J.T. Levenseller threw two touchdown passes as the Greyhounds (6-0, 2-0) built a 27-0 lead after one quarter. … Brandon Sager only ran for 35 yards, but he scored both Colville touchdowns in a 17-14 win over visiting Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls). Trevor Bateman threw for 135 yards for the Indians (4-1, 3-0), while Ryan Burgess led the Eagles (4-2, 2-1) with 110 rushing yards and a touchdown. … Brian Huffman ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third to lead Deer Park (2-4, 1-2) past visiting Chewelah (3-3, 1-2) 22-14.

“Michael Wittwer returned a fumble 25 yards for a touchdown and the Freeman defense scored a pair of safeties in an 18-13 win over visiting Kettle Falls (2-4, 0-2) in Northeast A League play. Wittwer also ran for 83 yards on 17 carries for the Scotties (4-1, 2-0). … Eric Betz blocked a punt and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown and David McFall caught a 65-yard touchdown pass as Newport (2-3, 1-1) defeated host Colfax 21-14. Josh Campbell ran for 157 yards for the Bulldogs (3-2, 1-1).

“Tekoa-Oakesdale/Rosalia scored three touchdowns in the final 8 minutes to defeat Dayton (3-2, 0-1) 22-14 and snap a 13-game losing streak in the Southeast B-11 opener for both teams. Nathan Bailey hit Josiah Tampien for a 35-yard touchdown pass with 7:33 remaining, and T-O/R (1-4, 1-0) tied the game on a Kris Widman 18-yard run. The Nighthawks then blocked a punt and put away the game when Alex Hovde threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Drew English with 25 seconds left. … DeSales (5-1, 1-0) began its league title defense with a 48-0 rout of host Waitsburg (2-2, 0-1). … Asotin (4-1, 1-0) defeated host Pomeroy (1-4, 0-1) 20-18 in double overtime.

“Royal (6-0), the top-ranked 1A team in the state, defeated Medical Lake (0-6) 56-0 in a non-league game at Royal City. The loss is the Cardinals’ 11th straight.

“Columbia running back Miles St. John ran for 282 yards and three touchdowns to lead the second-ranked Lions to a 46-6 victory over visiting Sprague-Harrington (4-1, 1-1) in a Northeast B-8 game at Hunters. Columbia (6-0, 2-0) complied 453 yards of total offense in a matchup that has decided the past three league champions. … Tanner Williams threw for 172 yards and ran for 162 and two touchdowns to lead Cusick to its first win in 14 years over Inchelium (2-3, 0-1), a 44-16 triumph at Inchelium. Miles Keogh also scored twice for the Panthers (3-3, 2-1).

“Brent Liefer ran for 272 yards and two touchdowns as St. John-Endicott upset third-ranked Colton-Pullman Christian (5-1, 2-1) 26-12 in Southeast B-8 play at St. John. Andrew Wolfe threw a pair of touchdown passes for the Eagles (3-2, 1-1), who gained 434 yards of offense. … Touchet (1-4, 1-1) earned its first win of the season with a 34-6 victory over host Jubilee Academy (3-3, 1-2) at Prescott… . Tyson Sullivan ran for 209 yards and four touchdowns and caught a pass for a fifth score as LaCrosse-Washtucna defeated host Prescott (0-5, 0-3) 70-22. Tyler Startin ran for 162 yards and a touchdown for the Tigercats (6-0, 3-0), who won their 41st straight game. Jared Ayers-Stamper threw for three touchdowns.

“Tiny Moses, Norbert Abrahamson and T.J. Flett each ran for three touchdowns as Wellpinit (2-4) defeated Curlew 82-62 in a non-league B-8 game at Curlew. Abrahamson added a touchdown pass as the Redskins took a 42-28 halftime lead. Dillon Strandberg matched Abrahamson’s feat for the Cougars (0-4). … Travis Bean ran for 100 yards and a touchdown to help Almira/Coulee-Hartline (1-4) snap an eight-game losing streak with a 32-6 win over Mansfield at Hartline. … Twin brothers Matt and Joe Campbell connected for two touchdown passes, and each ran for two scores to lead Tri-Cities Prep (5-1) past Garfield-Palouse (1-3) 44-30 at Palouse. Joe Campbell ran for 207 yards on 14 carries.