Teaming up on defense

The numbers speak for themselves as to why Gonzaga Prep is playing Friday in the first round of the State 4A football playoffs.

Bullpups defenders are stingy.

But numbers alone can’t explain the chemistry that has led to such impressive dominance on that side of the football.

“I don’t know what it is, but I know they’ve got it,” said G-Prep coach Dave Carson. “They have an ability to go up a level and most teams can’t come with us.”

It begins with a defensive front four so cohesive that Carson and his staff wanted to nominate them as a whole as Defensive Player of the Year when Greater Spokane League coaches sort out their all-league teams.

That team nomination will likely go to Spencer Savage, if only because he’s the All-GSL returnee among the veteran quartet.

Savage, at 265 pounds is the biggest of the lot, and third-year starter Cameron McMillan man the interior line. Ian Orlando and A.J. Allen are at defensive end. Three active linebackers are behind them.

They are among an inordinately focused and close senior class that has allowed more than one touchdown in just one game this year and given up more than 200 yards of offense just twice.

“Teams average less than eight points per game scored against us,” said Carson. “Do that and most won’t beat you.”

On Friday the Bullpups defense will be tested by Moses Lake, a team that has rushed for nearly 270 yards per game – although limited to 118 by Ferris – has a big, talented offensive line and is one that Carson said, “is not very complicated, but good football teams usually aren’t.”

He could have been talking about G-Prep.

There has been nothing complicated about the Bullpups’ season. They simply win. The seniors have lost only four games over the course of their four years at G-Prep. Most of this year’s starters were listed on the roster of the school’s 2003 state semifinalists, so they had incentive.

“Watching those upperclassmen helped a lot,” said Savage. “The seniors set the tone. They showed us how to succeed.”

The defensive linemen – Savage and McMillan also play on offense – are in their second year together as varsity starters. Savage said their responsibility is to contain the line of scrimmage, stay in their gaps during running plays and stay in their rush lanes during passes.

“One of the main things our coaches preach is trust,” Savage said. “Trust the call, trust your teammates, trust your coaches and great things will happen.”

While not particularly big, they are quick, focused and intelligent. Carson said that football is important to them.

“They know how to get to the ball in a hurry and with an attitude,” he said.

Savage is just one example. He attended City School in Spokane Valley and grew up playing football before enrolling at G-Prep. The sport has always been a high priority for him. His goal is to play in college and major in pre-medicine.

He prefers defense, but said, “On the offensive line if you get under a guy and keep driving, it’s a good feeling.”

The game is so important that when he recently suffered a displacement fracture of a finger, he wouldn’t have surgery unless they promised he could continue playing. He said game-time adrenaline anesthetizes the pain.

“Spence has got a good motor, plays hard and is physical,” Carson said. “He is a really, really good high school player, but they all are.”

This class was undefeated in the GSL as freshmen and has lost only one varsity league game the past two years.

“We feed off each other and play with a lot of emotion,” said Savage. “If someone gets a big hit, that’s the game right there. If it’s a punt block, an interception or a sack, that’s when we go crazy.”

While unable to predict what G-Prep’s playoff future holds. Carson said that this has been a special year.

“All coaches can do is enjoy a team like this for as long as they can,” he said.