Win puts Saxons atop GSL heap

Lightning struck twice in the first quarter when Ferris and Lewis and Clark squared off in a first-place showdown at Joe Albi Stadium on Friday night.

Then the South Hill rivals slugged it out in an old-fashioned football brawl.

The Saxons, who figured to survive this year on finesse, proved for the second straight week they’ll play smash-mouth football with the best, improving to 3-0 with a 17-14 triumph.

“We’ll play physical,” said Ferris coach Jim Sharkey, who has his team believing. “We’ve preached that from the beginning.

“This was a huge win for us.”

The physical game exacted its toll with Saxons quarterback Shawn Stockton sidelined with a broken clavicle on the game’s first series and LC linebacker/fullback Tyler Nanny and receiver Mathew Henry-Proost both sidelined with leg injuries.

It was not decided until the Tigers’ sophomore quarterback, Taylor Eglet, fumbled an exchange with his team at the Saxons 25-yard line and threatening with just more than a minute to go in the game.

Ferris quarterback Jeff Minnerly, who took over after the Saxons’ first score, led them to a pair of second-half scores, including Dexter Belling’s 30-yard field goal with 7:51 remaining in the game for the deciding points.

Early on, the Saxons rode their offensive workhorses, as Stockton, rusher-receiver McKenzie Murphy and wide receiver Jared Karstetter accounted for nearly all the yardage in a 66-yard, 13-play scoring drive.

Karstetter caught passes of 14 and 16 yards, the latter for the first-quarter score on a pass from Stockton, who at the point was already injured.

The Tigers countered, quickly covering 78 yards in eight plays, with Eglet and receiver Henry-Proost working their magic to tie the game.

They combined on four completions for 44 yards and the tying 9-yard touchdown pass.

Then the teams went nose-to-nose on defense until Minnerly and Murphy put Ferris ahead for good with 5:12 left in the third quarter.

A 27-yard Minnerly-to-Karstetter pass set up Belling’s field goal and 17-7 lead, but LC found hope following a fumble recovery. The Tigers scored with 3:37 left to cut the deficit to three points and had one more chance, with 1:53 remaining, before losing the ball.

In one change for the game, Sharkey moved Murphy from a slot back to fullback to get more rushing production and it paid off.

“Fullback’s my natural position,” Murphy said, “but they thought it would be better if I was an H receiver. The move to fullback gave me more options.”

He rushed for 71 yards on 16 carries and caught four passes for 21 more.

He was part of a hard-nosed defense that limited the Tigers to 57 yards rushing.

”(Coach) has got us playing with more passion and given us new ways to win,” said Murphy.

Minnerly passed for 18 yards and rushed for the go-ahead touchdown.

“Jeff stepped up big,” said Murphy.

The result is that Ferris has a half-game lead atop the GSL, ahead of two 2-0 teams, Gonzaga Prep and University.

Shadle Park 28, Rogers 7: Also at Albi, the Highlanders (1-2) did their scoring early before the game drowned in a sea of penalties.

They scored on their first two short-field possessions, covering 44 yards on five plays 4 mutes into the game. After a Pirates punt hit off the up back and ricocheted 19 yards backward, Shadle scored in three plays from the nine-yard-line.

Shadle added two more touchdowns before intermission, aided by two of the Pirates’ six turnovers.

Quarterback Ian Carlson threw for two touchdowns, completing 7 of 10 passes for 71 yards in the half.

Cameron Baker and Branden Hughes combined for 137 rushing yards and a touchdown apiece.

Rogers stiffened on defense, particularly in the line, abetted by Shadle’s misadventures.

All told, the Highlanders committed 17 penalties for 184 yards.

The Pirates scored with 2 minutes remaining in the third quarter, John Warman scoring from 26 yards out on a pass from Jacob Partridge.

Gonzaga Prep 37, Central Valley 14: At Gonzaga Prep, the Bullpups (3-0, 2-0) limited the Bears (1-2) to just one net rushing yard in winning easily.

Taylor Flemming rushed for two touchdowns and gained a total of 81 yards on eight carries. Quarterback Max Manix added 81 more yards and threw for a touchdown.

The Bears got 155 passing yards and a touchdown from quarterback Luke Clift.

University 21, Mt. Spokane 20: In a dramatic comeback, the host Titans (2-1, 2-0) scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns by Tyler Carlson to defeat the Wildcats (1-2).

Carlson’s game winner came with 1:01 to go. He carried the ball 20 times for 84 yards.

U-Hi got an early field goal from Ken Wood that offset the missed extra points on each of Carlson’s three TDs in the game.

A missed extra point on Mt. Spokane’s third TD proved the difference.