Mead bounces Panthers
WENATCHEE – The calm demeanor and ruthless efficiency the Mead football team gained from playing so many close games in the Greater Spokane League this season paid big dividends during Saturday’s State 4A play-in game with the Wenatchee Panthers.
A few fortuitous bounces of the football in big spots didn’t hurt, either.
Mead (8-2) defeated Wenatchee, the top seed out of the Columbia Basin League, 21-7 at the Apple Bowl, and will advance to the state tournament at 7 p.m. Friday at Albi Stadium against GSL champion Ferris (10-0).
Mead’s beefy offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage and cornerback Max Kayser took away Wenatchee’s biggest offensive threat in wide receiver Kris Carlson.
“We’ve been in so many close games that our kids don’t panic,” Mead head coach Sean Carty said. “They come out prepared and ready to play, and a team is going to have to be pretty prepared to beat us.”
Mead quarterback Glen Reser threw touchdown passes of 16 yards each to tight end Dan Spitz and receiver Matt Lynch, the latter coming at the end of a 15-play, 90-yard drive that spanned nearly 7 minutes of the third quarter.
The march was kept alive by balls that found their way into Mead receivers’ hands after being tipped by Wenatchee defenders.
On third-and-5 at Mead’s 40 with a 14-0 lead, Reser fired a pass that went through the hands of Wenatchee nose tackle Michael Marboe and was caught by Ryan LaForte for a first down.
After Wenatchee stuffed two Panthers runs, Reser was again faced with a third-and-short situation. Looking for the 6-foot-6 Spitz over the middle, Reser’s pass went through Spitz’s hands and off Wenatchee safety Sam Chapin’s shoulder pads before Lynch snatched it away from cornerback Spencer Straight for a 12-yard gain.
Three plays later, Reser evaded a Wenatchee pass rush and found Lynch in the back of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown pass that gave Mead a 21-0 lead with 1:24 left in the third quarter.
“I’ll admit some of those tips were lucky,” said Reser, who completed 12 of 20 passes for 139 yards. “Our receivers never gave up on those plays and they kept that drive alive.”
Wenatchee took the field without senior running back Tyce Thomas, who gained 1,460 yards and scored 18 touchdowns during the regular season. Thomas sprained the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his right knee against Walla Walla on Oct. 26.
Thomas’ absence allowed Mead to focus its defensive efforts on Carlson, whom they limited to one catch for 1 yard in the first half and three catches for 27 yards in the game.
“You can’t discount the absence of their best player,” Carty said of Thomas. “A lot of things change for them without him in there.”