Panthers prevail

On a night when special teams players on each side for Mead and University played the role of goat and hero, Mead Panthers kicker Chase Collings made good on his chance to be the latter in front of 2,740 fans at Albi Stadium.

Collings kicked a chip-shot 21-yard field goal in the second overtime of another Greater Spokane League football thriller Thursday, breaking a tie in the second tiebreaker overtime for Mead’s 27-24 victory.

It was Collings’ second field goal in the game. The first, from 24 yards, gave the Panthers a 17-14 lead with 3:22 remaining in the game.

His Titans counterpart, Aaron Gleason, kicked a 28-yarder with less than a minute remaining to force OT.

Both teams scored touchdowns following special teams mistakes. A bobbled Mead kickoff at its 23 allowed the Titans to forge a 7-7 tie right after intermission. The Panthers tied the score at 14-all in the fourth quarter after Chad Loncosty’s punt bounced off a Titan and was recovered by Mead.

Both teams scored touchdowns in the overtime. But after U-Hi missed a field goal on its possession in the second overtime, Collings made good after weathering some icing timeouts.

“Basically, I’ve just got to stay calm, cool and collected,” Collings said. “Mainly what I focus on is keeping my head down and seeing the ball go straight through the pipes.”

It was Mead’s second overtime adventure this season and the second straight game in which U-Hi’s chances to win came down to the final play of regulation. The Panthers lost to LC in its first OT. U-Hi was knocking on the door at the end last week against Gonzaga Prep.

“I think this game had it all,” said Mead coach Sean Carty. “The special teams were part of it, but our defense was rockin’ and rollin’ in the first half, and their offense was picking us apart in the second. Each section had its ups and downs, I feel, through the whole game. There was no part I could look back on and say that’s where we won it or where we lost it.”

The Titans could look back, perhaps, on their decision to eschew a field goal midway through the second quarter. U-Hi was trailing 7-0 and facing fourth-and-goal at the 4-yard line midway through the second quarter and decided to go for a touchdown. The pass attempt fell incomplete.

Right after intermission, Jordan’s plunge after recovering the fumbled kickoff tied the score.

On their next possession the Titans drove 71 yards in 13 plays to take the lead. Jordan hit Dalton Puyear from 5 yards out to cap a 71-yard, 13-play drive.

But Mead got its break when the punt hit turf and a Titan and was recovered at the U-Hi 16. On fourth-and-goal, the Panthers ran a nifty play, with quarterback Glen Reser going in motion to his left, then hitting tight end Todd Loncosty, who had come across the back of the end zone from the other side.

The teams traded field goals to send it to overtime then touchdowns. Reser hit Matt Lynch from 13 yards and U-Hi scored on a Tyler Carlson run.

Lynch had two touchdown catches, the first a 33-yarder on the team’s first possession. Carlson carried the ball 30 times for 118 yards, including 46 on three attempts to set up the game-tying field goal.

Carty said that U-Hi has shown all year that it is a team that fights to the end.

“They just keep coming and keep coming,” he said. “We knew we’d have to fight them off all four (quarters), and it looks like six quarters that we finally had to end up getting them.”

Sandpoint 40, North Central 7: Visiting Sandpoint (3-3) built a 33-0 first-half lead in a non-leaguer at Albi.

NC (1-4) had the football for nearly the entire second half, finally scoring with 1:03 remaining in the game. David Butler’s 15-yard catch of a Justin Materne pass capped a 15-play, 67-yard drive.

The Bulldogs took to Albi like it was home, scoring on their first four possessions. They drove seamlessly for their first two touchdowns after Kyle Gibson’s 85-yard return for a score on the opening kickoff was called back by penalty.

They converted twice more following NC turnovers for a 27-0 lead 2 minutes into the second quarter. The takeaways were among four by Sandpoint that ultimately led to TDs.

A number of penalties were about the only thing that went wrong on either side of the ball for the visitors.

Not that it mattered. Sandpoint scored again before halftime on Matt Shay’s 55-yard fumble return. Its final touchdown came after Sione Pauiloa lost a fumble at NC’s 19-yard line, but the Bulldogs got it right back.

Ethan Vest, who finished with 87 yards on eight carries, lumbered 22 yards for the score with 5:03 remaining in the third quarter.