Defenses dominate

Lewis and Clark and Mead packed a game’s worth of offense into the final quarter and beyond in the overtime nightcap of Friday’s Albi Stadium doubleheader, mainly because two rock-ribbed defenses dictated it.

The Tigers finally won 17-10 on the work of Alex Shaw in the Kansas Tiebreaker. It was a game where unrelenting defense had limited the two teams to a combined 74 total yards through the first three quarters.

The score was tied at 3 at that point because each team was able to take advantage of favorable field position.

“I was impressed with their defensive line,” said an upbeat Panthers coach Sean Carty upon completion of the mararathon contest. “Their line was fast and strong. Our guys are a pretty good offensive line and we couldn’t handle them.”

He didn’t get an argument from Tigers coach Tom Yearout who said it was the interior line efforts of defensive tackles Steve Johnson and Charles Taylor that caused problems for Mead all game long.

They weren’t alone in limiting the Panthers to 31 net yards through three quarters. Mead had only two first-half first downs, but kicked a field goal with a minute remaining after Chad Loncosty boomed a 56-yard punt that bounced off a Tiger and was recovered by Mead at the 20.

LC had scored first on Alex Gauper’s 42-yard field goal after he had pinned the Panthers at their 1-yard line with a punt, leading to a Tigers possession that began at Mead’s 31.

After the two teams managed a total of 18 third-quarter yards, the Tigers caught a break when Marcus Vogt picked off Glen Reser and LC moved 40 yards in six plays, including a key 17-yard screen reception by Shaw and Austin Ehlo’s 14-yard slant for the score with 10 minutes left in the game.

Mead tied it at 10 with 3:42 left to play when Reser went to work with Ryane LaForte, hitting him on passes of 39 and 30 yards.

When it went to the tiebreaker, it was Shaw whose five carries from the 25 resulted in the winner. Mead’s turn ended at the 7-yard-line with a dropped pass on fourth down.

“Again we’re living by the seat of our pants,” said Yearout. “They did a really good job of taking away our short quick passing game. They really had a good defense plan.”

Carty was pleased with his defense well, saying it played well enough to win.

“It was a great game,” he said. “It was fun to be a part of it.”

North Central 21, Mt. Spokane 19: A week after losing by 40 points and in the words of coach Grady Emmerson doing nothing right, the Indians came up big over their fellow 3A foe.

NC capitalized on early Wildcats mistakes for a 21-0 lead in a little more than a quarter and weathered Mt. Spokane’s second-half dominance that turned the game into a nailbiter.

“I’m so proud of our guys,” said Emmerson. “Last week we didn’t do anything right and this week they believed in the offense and those guys ran it and put some points on the board. That’s a big win for our program.”

NC drove for a score on the game’s opening possession and capitalized on the first of four Mt. Spokane turnovers for a 14-0 lead 7 minutes into the game.

Alex VanZandt picked off the first of three Indians interceptions and Materne struck again with a pass to Butler that covered 85 yards for a 21-0 lead at the outset of the second period.

Mt. Spokane quarterback Connor Haley was picked off two more times before intermission, but he brought Mt. Spokane back by engineering two long drives in the third quarter. He rushed for 52 yards and passed for 66 cutting the lead to 21-13.

When NC fumbled with 2:39 left in the game Haley gained 31 more ground yards to set up Brandon Jared’s second TD.

The tying PAT pass failed, however, and after recovering the onside kick with 1:22 left, Wildcats penalties proved costly.

Central Valley 36, Rogers 13: The Bears scored three first-quarter scores and had all their points before the Pirates scored.

Brad Whitley and Connor Janhunen each scored twice, Whitley with a 60-yard second-quarter run. He finished with 131 yards on 11 rushes. Pirate Cody Peterson scored both Rogers touchdowns in the fourth quarter, one a 75-yarder, and finished with 145 yards on 10 carries.

Ferris 35, East Valley 7: No details were reported. The Saxons improved to 2-0 heading into next week’s showdown with LC.

Gonzaga Prep 27, Bellarmine Prep 17: The Bullpups (2-0) scored twice in the fourth quarter to win in Tacoma. Kelly Henthorn scored on a 34-yard pass from Bryan Karwacki and Travis Long scored the second of his 3-yard runs.