Saiki’s happy return

A year ago, Garrett Saiki was helping Lewis and Clark to a playoff appearance. Thursday night, playing for Ferris, the junior kick returner broke the Tigers’ heart.

Saiki’s 99-yard kickoff return to open third quarter staked the Saxons to a 12-3 lead and they added another score in the period to win 19-6 in an important Greater Spokane League football game between unbeaten South Hill rivals.

Until Saiki’s run, Ferris and LC had given ground grudgingly. The only points in the first half had come on a safety and pair of field goals, with the Saxons clinging at intermission to a 5-3 lead. Between them they had managed just 21 yards rushing and 146 total yards.

But Saiki, whose family moved from the LC district during the year, changed all that. Somehow keeping his feet out of his end zone while leaping to catch the kickoff, he cut to the left sideline and tight-roped his way to the opposite goal in 15 seconds to change the game.

“It was big, it was a two-score lead,” said Ferris coach Jim Sharkey. “Anytime you get a two-score lead, it puts pressure on the other team.”

Saiki said his score set the tone for the second half.

“We hadn’t scored a touchdown. I almost went into the end zone on the catch, checked the ref to make sure I wasn’t in and just went up the left sideline,” he said. “It was fun playing my old team.”

Neither team could manage a first down until late in the first quarter. Early, McKenzie Murphy had an interception for Ferris and a bad snap on a punt attempt sailed through the end zone for a 2-0 Saxons lead with 5:11 left.

The Tigers held following the free kick and moved from their 40 to the Saxons’ 15, but came up just short of a first down. They settled for Alex Gauper’s 32-yard field goal with 31 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Ferris’ initial first down came on the final play of the period, a 37-yard Jeff Minnerly-to-Andrew Weigand pass. That led to a 30-yard field goal by Dexter Belling and halftime lead.

After Saiki’s run and a defensive stand that provided excellent field position inside the 50, Ferris covered the yards in seven plays, including three runs worth 19 yards by Murphy and two Minnerly-to-Jared Karstetter completions, the last for a score.

“We did run the ball in the third quarter when it was key,” said Sharkey. “That was a big difference, too. I told the kids it was going to come down to who could run the ball and stuff the other team. For once, I think I was right.”

He heaped praise on the Ferris defense for its performance.

“It was great effort out of the kids,” he said. “They challenged themselves and are very self-motivated.”

Ferris (3-0), which had struggled a bit against running teams in its first two games, limited LC (2-1) to 44 ground yards and a net 23 factoring in the bad snap. Erick Cheadle added another interception late in the game.

The Tigers gave up only 45 yards on the ground and net yardage for both teams was similar. But LC could only manage two Gauper field goals so Saiki’s run loomed large.

The victory was important for the victors, but following next week’s non-league game with Shadle Park, the Saxons face in succession Gonzaga Prep, Mead, University and Central Valley.

“We kind of go murderers’ row,” said Sharkey. “We have to play a month of good football.”