Friday win over Titans fourth straight for Bears

A year ago Camren Ebat was Central Valley High School’s quarterback. By the second game of this season he was sharing the job.

“It was tough,” Ebat admitted after helping the Bears defeat University 31-7 Friday and bring the Greasy Pig football trophy back to CV.

“But the other quarterback, Nick Lallier, is great. And if coach say’s the best job is to share it, then I’m all for it.”

Against the Titans, Ebat went it alone. Lallier was injured and in street clothes on the sideline.

He rushed for 72 yards and passed for 60 more on 6-for-9 passing. Of those plays, he was involved in seven that went for first downs, nearly equaling U-Hi’s total for the game. The Titans had a total of eight.

Four of Ebat’s seven came on third down. On one he passed for a touchdown. On another, he had a 15-yard completion to sophomore fullback Tyler Cochran when the Bears needed 12 for the first down.

On two others he ran for first downs when needing five and seven yards. The latter was a fake dive handoff that he kept and cut back the opposite way for 19 yards during a drive that put CV ahead 17-0 with 6:04 left in the game.

“He made some throws for us early and got outside a little bit,” said coach Rick Giampietri of his quarterback. “Then obviously we were trying to milk the clock as much as we could.”

For a half, the teams neutralized each other up front with Titans Clint Moquist and Nate Thompson and the linebackers, including Codee Allen and Travis Lewis having big defensive nights.

CV limited U-Hi to just 52 yards of offense until the final 16 minutes of the 48-minute game.

The Bears led 10-0 thanks to a short-field touchdown following a long punt return by Zach Evans and a late 76-yard drive punctuated by back-to-back 19 and 25 yard runs by Cochran and Tyler Demars that resulted in a field goal.

Then CV’s line – which features four players averaging 271 pounds per person – took control.

“We just decided to make a stand,” said Ebat, “and just decided we weren’t going to let them dominate us on the line anymore.”

A 68-yard march that took up nearly six minutes of the fourth quarter and included Demars’ 11-yard TD run was countered by U-Hi 90 seconds later. Dan Jordan‘s 42-yard pass to Mike Conrad kept it a 10-point game. Sophomore Jordan finished 11-for-23 passing in the game for 133 yards.

But the Bears blew things open on Evans’ 28-yard run with 2:54 to play following a recovered onside-kick attempt by U-Hi. Anthony Bucknam’s third Greater Spokane League interception this year led to Demars’ 26-yard touchdown run.

Demars rushed for 105 yards on 18 carries. Evans added 92 yards on 20 attempts and Cochran, subbing for injured fullback Dane Knudson, added 40.

The victory was the fourth straight for the Bears (5-2, 4-2), three of them shutouts. They are part of a three-way tie for fourth place (third among 4A teams), and host Mt. Spokane Thursday.

U-Hi (3-4, 3-3) hosts Lewis and Clark.

•East Valley and West Valley meet at EV this week. It is the final Knights game against a 3A foe. The Eagles need a win to keep playoff hopes alive.

Junior Ryan Campbell rushed for 185 of the Knights’ 330 rushing yards and scored four touchdowns as East Valley (5-2, 5-1), remained tied for second in league by whipping Shadle Park 50-21.

He leads the GSL in rushing with 835 yards on 93 carries and is tied for seventh for most TDs in a single GSL season with 20.

Sophomore quarterback Bryan Peterson threw for 354 yards, fourth-best ever in a GSL game for WV (2-5, 2-4) which lost a tough 14-9 decision in Clarkston. He’s third among GSL passers with 789 yards, Jordan’s fourth.

Conrad continues to lead GSL receivers with 30 catches, 384 yards and five touchdowns.

Good to the last match

With victories on Tuesday night, University and Central Valley volleyball teams have taken their playoff aspirations down to the final night of the Greater Spokane League season.

The Titans (8-4) assured themselves at least a tie for their fourth straight District 8 appearance by beating Mt. Spokane 28-12, 19-25, 25-23, 25-18.

The Bears kept alive a shot at the post-season with an 18-25, 25-18, 26-24, 22-25, 15-8 victory over Ferris.

CV is assured its first winning GSL volleyball season since 1990. To make the playoffs, the Bears need victory today at Mt. Spokane and likely create a four-way tie for fourth place that would need to be broken Tuesday.

Unbeaten Mead and once-beaten Lewis and Clark are the league’s top two finishers and will have first-round in next weekend’s playoffs. Shadle Park clinched third after its Tuesday win over West Valley (3-9).

Mt. Spokane (8-4) and Gonzaga Prep (7-5) join the Titans and Bears in the hunt for three remaining playoff berths.

WV and East Valley (3-9) meet tonight to determine Nos. 2 and 3 District 3A seeds and the opponent for No. 1 seed North Central in next week’s tournament.

The Eagles and Knights are tied for second. Winner plays at NC Tuesday for top seed among three GSL teams who advance to regionals.

•During last weekend’s Crossover Classic tournament, featuring 52 schools from throughout Washington, U-Hi tied for ninth and Freeman tied for 13th from the championship bracket.

WV tied for 29th and EV tied for 31st in the bracket for No. 2 pool play finishers. The Eagles beat the Knights 25-11 in a head-to-head match.

Central Valley finished 43rd, winning the consolation bracket at Lewis and Clark.

Matches to set field

Friday’s GSL soccer season finales will determine the District 8 playoff order for 4A teams.

University, unbeaten prior to Wednesday’s match against East Valley, is at Ferris, 3:30 p.m., with top three playoff positions at stake.

The Titans had a one-point lead over the Saxons and two-point lead over Gonzaga Prep.

EV is top seed into the 3A district playoffs, which qualify three teams into regionals. West Valley has also qualified for district.

Both 4A and 3A district playoffs are at Spokane Falls Community College, Monday and Wednesday for 4A teams and Tuesday for 3A.