CV turns to Bear essentials
After two weeks of Greater Spokane League play, the Central Valley Bears were winless. They had been hammered by Mead and East Valley, and they were frustrated.
“We had been a little complacent to start,” said CV lineman Derek Nelson. “We knew 0-2 wasn’t us. We decided we needed to kick a little butt.”
Mission accomplished.
The Bears made it two consecutive shutouts Thursday night, dominating previously undefeated Lewis and Clark 24-0 in the early game at Albi Stadium before 1,255.
In the nightcap, University also won its second consecutive game, routing Rogers 42-6 as junior tailback Billy Sweetser scored three times.
So what did the Bears learn in their two league defeats?
“We learned we needed to get our (shoulder) pad level lower,” CV coach Rick Giampietri said. “We had to get a little lower and drive people, so we’ve worked on that hard the past two weeks. Now we’ve had two big wins in a row (after defeating Shadle Park 33-0 last week), and two shutouts in a row. I don’t know the last time that happened for us.”
The answer is 1993, though that included a non-league game against East Valley. Until Thursday, the Bears (3-2 overall, 2-2 GSL) had never posted consecutive GSL shutouts. Now they have, and they’ve been built up front, according to Giampietri.
“We had to start getting off blocks and making tackles,” he said. “We were too high and just got rolled over by Mead and East Valley. We got back to fundamental football, blocking and tackling. Pretty complicated, huh?”
Just like the Bears offense. They threw two passes all night – completing one – but ran for 197 yards on 44 carries, most of them between the tackles.
CV’s tailback tandem – Zach Evans and Tyler Demars – combined for 147 yards and three touchdowns. Other than Demars’ 23-yard run midway through the second quarter, the Bears duo ground out mainly 5- and 6-yard chunks.
“They both play defense, so we give them chances to rest,” Giampietri said of trading off his running backs. “Plus they bring us different things. One’s a slasher and one’s a plugger, though I’m telling anyone who’s who.”
Not that it made much difference. It was the Bears’ defense that earned this win.
It forced four turnovers (all interceptions), often giving the offense a short field. Of the four CV scoring drives, including Connor Janhunen’s 44-yard field goal, three came following turnovers and one after a 2-yard punt.
The Tigers (3-1, 3-1), who yielded just 14 points while scoring 70 in their first three games, were limited to 170 yards in total offense, including 74 on the ground.
Ethen Robinson, the GSL’s fourth-leading rusher coming in with 325 yards, was held to 69 on 19 attempts, only one of more than 10 yards. The senior found few holes against Nelson and linemates C.E. Kaiser, Pat Mealey and Neil Connors.
University 42, Rogers 6
The Titans scored in almost every way possible, including four touchdowns on the ground, one through the air and, on the first half’s final play, Eric Puyear’s 82-yard return of a blocked field-goal attempt.
Sweetser paced the Titans offense with 81 rushing yards in three quarters, part of an efficient attack that parlayed 188 yards of total offense into five offensive touchdowns.
Most of that came in the first half, as the Titans subbed liberally in the second half.
The Titans (2-3, 2-2) didn’t need to throw the ball often, but when sophomore quarterback Danny Jordan did, he looked for Mike Conrad. The senior wide receiver caught all four of Jordan’s completions for 58 yards.
The lone bright spot for the Pirates (0-5, 0-4) occurred right after halftime. Sean Adebayo, who almost caught Puyear on the long return, recovered an inadvertent onsides kick.
That led seven plays later to Andrew Durant’s 5-yard scoring toss to Anthony Swim.