Tigers hold off Bears

When Lewis and Clark travels to Central Valley, what would its football game be without a seat-of-the-pants finish? LC defeated the Bears 13-11 in its Greater Spokane League opener, its third triumph in the last four trips to CV.

But it took a harrowing final 2 minutes to secure the outcome.

“I don’t remember the last one here that didn’t have people on pins and needles,” said Tigers coach Tom Yearout.

That would be 1999, a 54-7 Tigers romp. This decade alone the even-year scores on Sig T. Hansen Field have been 15-13 (LC), 14-9 (CV), and 27-20 Tigers after trailing with 8 minutes to play.

Friday night’s opener between teams with questions to answer was a typical nail-biter.

After a relatively efficient first half and a 13-3 lead, the Tigers hurt themselves with an epidemic of penalties and CV, with less than 7 minutes to play, took advantage.

“The first half was a clean game and then we had a little spurt there where we tried to shoot off all our toes,” said Yearout.

CV quarterback Connor Janhunen had gone to the sidelines with cramps and sophomore Blake Bledsoe hit fellow sophomore Brad Whitley with a 20-yard TD pass, then converted the two-point pass. With 4:08 to go, the Bears needed just a field goal to win.

Janhunen came back for one last try in the game’s final 2 minutes, driving the Bears to the Tigers 36 with 32 seconds left. But the LC defense held.

That proved to be LC’s long suit the entire game.

Sophomore Taylor Eglet’s quarterbacking debut was a success. Eglet finished 10 for 12 for 102 yards and a touchdown.

“I think our front eight will grade out pretty well,” said Yearout. “We had a couple of problems in space, but the interior defense was pretty solid tonight.”

The game went as expected for teams with strong linebackers, but untested players in both lines and the backfield. Defenses dominated early, in particular Tigers linebackers Tyler Nanny, Colin Sears and Alex Shaw. CV finished the game with just 73 rushing yards.

“Our D-linemen were doing a lot of good work and giving me good looks,” said Nanny, who had a first-half stretch of three straight tackles.

Yet who would have guessed how large Janhunen’s early 46-yard field goal attempt that missed just to the right would loom?

He hit a 31-yarder with 5:18 left in the half. On LC’s last possession, though, Eglet played like a veteran. He completed five straight passes, including a 34-yarder to Mathew Henry-Proost, then hit Pete Arneson for the go-ahead score with 9.5 seconds to go.

In the third quarter, after big runs by Collins and Garrett Saiki covered 45 yards, Eglet found Henry-Proost on third-and-11 for 35 yards to set up the winning touchdown.

Ferris 20, North Central 3: The Saxons were struggling in the face of a 3-0 first-half deficit. Then their two-quarterback scheme produced results in the first game of a Joe Albi Stadium doubleheader.

Jeff Minnerly came in for mistake-prone Shawn Stockton and completed 4 of 5 passes, including a third-quarter 25-yard touchdown strike to McKenzie Murphy for the lead.

Stockton returned and wound up with 187 rushing yards and two fourth-quarter scores, including a back-breaking 62-yard dash.

The Saxons had five turnovers in the game – NC’s Casey Weaver and Jordan Daniels had interceptions.

Mead 56, Shadle Park 7: Veterans Luke Hattrup and Nick Proen led the defending champions to an easy season-opening triumph.

Hattrup rushed for 190 yards on just 11 attempts and scored four times. Proen caught six passes for 179 yards and three more scores.

Mead quarterbacks Glen Reser and Matt Johnson were a combined 8-for-11 passing and 200 yards.