Colville runs past WV
If you’re going to rely solely on your running game, putting the football in the hands of guys like Brandon Katzer and Casey Cox isn’t a bad idea.
It certainly did the trick Friday night.
Katzer had 19 carries for 164 yards and Cox ran the ball in for four touchdowns as Colville remained undefeated with a 34-21 victory at West Valley in Great Northern League action.
“(The win) means a lot,” said Cox, a 5-foot-10, 200-pound sophomore. “West Valley was supposed to be better than us this year, and we showed that they aren’t. The GNL championship is right there. If we can win a few more like that it’s going to be ours.”
Of Colville’s 396 total yards of offense, 5 yards came from three total pass plays and 391 yards from rushing.
“The kids work really hard on their running game,” Colville coach Randy Cornwell said. “We’d like to be a balanced team, but if we can run the ball like that, we’re going to stick with it.”
Early on, it was the Eagles (1-4, 0-2) who were in control, building a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
Quarterback Bryan Peterson connected on an 85-yard TD pass to Murphy McIntyre on West Valley’s first scoring drive and Peterson had a 1-yard TD with 2 minutes remaining on the Eagles’ next series.
The Indians (5-0, 2-0) evened the score, with Cox rushing for two of his four TDs before the half.
Colville’s Corbin Klinkhammer caught a 16-yard pass from quarterback Marc Smith to give the Indians the only points of the third quarter and their first lead of the game.
Peterson, who was picked off twice in the game, ran in for a 9-yard score in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 21, but Cox ran in two more touchdowns to seal the deal for Colville.
“This was important in the fact that we knew West Valley is a good team,” Cornwell said. “They were an extra point away from beating Pullman last week. They have a great quarterback and a receiver that’s hard to defend.
“Our kids gave a gutsy effort tonight – our offensive lineman worked their butts off and it seemed like the longer we went, the stronger we got.”
West Valley’s Parker Flynn, who is averaging more than 120 receiving yards a game, caught five passes for 122 yards, but no touchdowns.
The Colville defense was led by Grant Gorst and Morgan Fowler, who combined for 10 tackles and three tackles for loss for a total of 37 yards combined.
Cheney 18, Deer Park 0: At Cheney, Jesus Fregoso collected 94 rushing yards, D’Angelo Jones rushed for 110, and each scored a TD as the Blackhawks (4-1, 2-0) blanked the Stags (2-3, 0-2).
Deer Park was held to 82 total yards of offense.
Clarkston 35, Riverside 6: At Riverside, Isaac Woodbury completed 20 of 36 passes for 241 yards and three TDs as the Bantams (5-0, 2-0) defeated the host Rams (3-2, 0-2).
Dustin Martin scored Riverside’s touchdown on a 21-yard pass from Derek Martin.
Clarkston’s Brian O’Kelley had eight catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns.
Pullman 49, Medical Lake 0: At Pullman, Jared Byers finished with 50 yards on seven carries and scored four TDs as the Greyhounds (5-0, 2-0) ran over the visiting Cardinals (2-3, 0-2).
There is a four-way tie for first place in the GNL.
Clarkston, Colville, Cheney and Pullman are all 2-0 in league while Riverside, Deer Park, Medical Lake and West Valley are all still searching for a league victory.