G-Prep stands alone

There’s a reason they call it football.

It was Gonzaga Prep punter David Kries who did the legwork that made the difference in the Bullpups’ 24-10 victory over Ferris played out in front of 6,255 fans at Joe Albi Stadium.

His foot lifted three punts covering an average of 60 yards from deep within its territory that bailed G-Prep and its tepid offense out of harm’s way. Two huge field position shifts led directly to game-altering defensive plays that broke a 10-10 tie.

The first, a 71-yarder from his own 27-yard line, pinned the Saxons at their 2-yard line. A fumble two plays later set up the Bullpups at the 14. It took the offense seven plays, but it ground out a touchdown for a 17-10 lead midway through the second quarter.

The second, traveling 61 yards at the beginning of the second half was followed by an interception that led to Max Manix’s 28-yard touchdown for the game’s final score just 3 minutes into the second half.

Those were among five Saxons turnovers and, as it turned out, Kries had a hand in a couple of those as well with a late interception and fumble recovery.

Kries’ foot also figured in a bit of late-game drama when his punt attempt was blocked with 6:29 left in the game that gave Ferris one last good opportunity. But Prep’s defense – as both teams’ had done game-long – held tough.

“Field position is always big,” said Ferris coach Jim Sharkey. “Gonzaga is a great team and you can’t give them extra opportunities or they’ll take advantage of it.”

The game began with a bit of electricity when Saxon McKenzie Murphy took a delayed handoff and broke past Prep’s defensive surge, legging 65 yards for a 7-0 lead just a minute into the showdown between the unbeaten teams.

G-Prep (5-0, 4-0) answered on its possession with Matt Barker’s 43-yard field goal. After taking over at Ferris’ 27 on a failed fake punt, G-Prep took the lead on Manix’s 8-yard pass to Joel Curry.

Seven seconds into the second quarter Ferris knotted the score with Dexter Belling’s field goal.

From then on the rock-ribbed defenses on both sides took over. Ferris (4-1, 3-1) made it impossible for the Bullpups to move the ball, leaving it to Kries’ kicks to sway the outcome.

“I had it,” said Kries of his prodigious punting, “I just hadn’t shown it yet.”

The Bullpups had only 84 yards of first-half offense, but they had a touchdown lead when Johnny Jones plunged over from 1 yard out with 6:11 left until intermission.

They finished the game with just 137 total yards for the game, including Manix’s run following a nifty sell of a pitch that deked the Saxons defenders and left him in open territory for the insurance score.

By comparison, Ferris totaled 296 yards, 200 of it through the air. Jared Karstetter had 11 catches for 143 yards.

But the Bullpups prevented the big play after that game opener. John McKenna, Kries and Travis Long all picked off passes to thwart the Saxons.

“That’s a good football team,” said G-Prep coach Dave Carson. “They gave us everything we could handle. We kind of slowed them down until they handed the ball to us.”

But before that happened, Kries gave the Bullpups a leg up.

Mt. Spokane, 55, Rogers 13: The Wildcats (2-3) took advantage of a short field against the mistake-prone Pirates (0-4) for a quick 27-0 lead at Albi.

Their touchdowns came in a little more than a quarter as Brandon Jared scored on each possession. His fourth score came just a minute into the second quarter. During the four series, he rushed for 108 yards and caught three passes for 31 more.

Jared finished with 151 rushing yards and 74 receiving. His six touchdowns matched a GSL record, but left him two points shy of the 38 total points shared by East Valley’s Scott and Ryan Campbell.

Kyle Redmon completed his first six passes and finished 12 of 14 for 149 yards.

The game marked the season debut of Rogers quarterback Andrew Durant. Last year’s starter had missed a month because of injury. The rifle-armed junior finished with 14 completions for 204 yards and a touchdown.

East Valley 38, Central Valley 7: The Knights (3-2) ran at will and shut down visiting CV’s ground game to maintain their recent mastery over the Bears (2-3). Ryan Campbell and Ronnie Ridenbaugh did most of the damage in EV’s 312-yard rushing night. Campbell gained 143 yards on 14 carries and scored three touchdowns to stake the Knights to a 21-0 second-quarter lead.

Ridenbaugh added 106 yards on 11 carries to continue the two-pronged attack.

CV compiled just 71 yards on the ground.

The Knights had a 38-0 lead by the end of the third quarter before Luke Clift hit Shon Davis for the Bears’ only score.

Sandpoint 56, North Central 7: After the winless Indians scored first on Aaron Robinson’s 7-yard pass to Kory Olson, the host Bulldogs (2-4) rattled off 56 unanswered points in the non-league victory.

Kurt Stoll scored twice and finished with 175 rushing yards on 12 carries. Kyle Meschko also scored twice, his only two catches on plays of 31 and 30 yards going for touchdowns. Sandpoint rushed for 319 yards.

The Indians (0-5) were led in rushing by junior Anthony Elbert, who gained 126 yards on a workhorse 35 carries. NC had 155 yards of total offense.