Campbell’s three TDs propel Knights to victory
Ryan Campbell came into the football season as a bit of an unknown, despite rushing for 808 yards last season. But anonymity is no longer in the cards.
Not with the statistics he’s been putting up for East Valley.
Thursday night was typical. The junior running back scored three times – he leads the Greater Spokane League with 158 points, third-best in GSL history – while rushing for 149 yards – he leads the GSL in that as well with 1,178 yards – in East Valley’s 50-20 rout of the Rogers Pirates.
In the first game of the Albi Stadium doubleheader that drew 1,899, Mt. Spokane did all of its scoring in the second quarter to defeat Shadle Park 21-14.
“He just doesn’t make mistakes,” said East Valley coach Adam Fisher of Campbell, who played just a half against the Pirates. “Yeah, he’s fast and he’s strong for being what, a buck fifty, but his strength is he just doesn’t make a mistake reading blocks. He’s the best at that we’ve had in six years here.”
Campbell’s running may spark the Knights’ offense, but it proved Thursday it also can fly, with quarterback Jye Lanphere passing for 161 yards (on 11 of 16 attempts), including a 65-yard hookup with Chase Courchaine for the Knights’ only non-Campbell first-half score.
“In the playoffs, you have to be able to pass the ball,” said Fisher, whose team, ranked ninth in the state 3A, is headed for a play-in game against the winner of tonight’s Mid-Valley League contest between West Valley (Yakima) and Ellensburg. “When teams are even in the special teams and even defensively, you have to pass it. We’ve improved on that.”
His offense may have gained 559 yards in total offense, but the other side of the ball bothered Fisher.
“Frankly, we’ve played better than we did tonight, we’ve rallied to the ball better,” he said of the EV defense that limited Rogers to 143 total yards. “We need to stay aggressive, and everyone has to know his teammate is sprinting to get to the ball so if he makes a mistake, he knows his teammates are behind him.”
Despite Fisher’s misgivings, in the first half, when the Knights (7-2 overall, 7-1 in the GSL) had their starters on the field and their blitz package smoking, Rogers’ Gun Option offense managed minus-5 yards in total offense. The Pirates did have four first downs, however, though two were due to EV penalties.
The highlight of the night for Rogers (0-9, 0-8) was an 87-yard kickoff return by Sean Adebayo after Campbell’s first score.
Adebayo didn’t score, though, thanks to the speed of EV’s Cole Abramson. After Adebayo burst through a hole on the right sideline, Abramson sprinted from the left side of the field to drag him down at the 1-yard line. No matter. Rogers’ quarterback Andrew Durant got it into the end zone on fourth down, finding a hole on the left side for a 1-yard score.
Mt. Spokane 21, Shadle Park 14
A three-touchdown burst in the second quarter carried the Wildcats past the Highlanders in the opener.
Shadle Park drew first blood on a 14-yard pass from Clay Scribner to Mitch Kamstra near the end of the first quarter. The Highlanders (3-6, 2-6) kick-started the drive near midfield when Scribner, about to hit the Albi turf, flipped the ball downfield to Perry Hunter to pick up a third-and-5.
But the score just seemed to fire up the Wildcats, who scored on their next three possessions.
Nick Petrie, who finished with 84 total yards and an important fourth-quarter interception, got the scoring barrage started with a 31-yard sprint around left end. Brandon Jared then put Mt. Spokane (4-5, 3-5) on top with a 23-yard run before quarterback Kyle Redmon teamed with Nick Ellis for a 47-yard pass-and-run for the final first-half score.
The Highlanders last score came with 10 minutes left in the game – a 2-yard run by Cameron Baker – but Petrie’s interception stifled their next drive and Mt. Spokane, behind the running of Ellis, who had a game-high 102 rushing yards, killed the final 6 minutes.
Scribner connected with Kamstra five times, accounting for 74 of Shadle’s 243 yards of total offense.