GSL football off to rough start
One week is too small a sample size to draw any concrete conclusions.
Still, Greater Spokane League football teams were a combined 2-6 in season openers Thursday and Friday. Shadle Park and Mt. Spokane carried the league’s banner Saturday, as the Highlanders cruised past visiting Fife 63-14 and Mt. Spokane shut out West Valley of Yakima 24-0 in the Emerald City Kickoff Classic in Seattle.
Things could have been worse overall for the GSL. Consider that Mid-Columbia Conference teams were a combined 0-7 Friday.
One week of nonleague games down and one more for 4A teams and two more for 3A teams. Interspersed thereafter are crossover nonleague games before teams jump into league games.
• Gonzaga Prep had the best debut Friday, rallying to knock off visiting and talented Richland 24-21 in a back-and-forth tug of war.
True to form, the Bullpups rushed for 293 yards on 52 carries. Senior running back Jack Bamis did the heavy lifting, finishing with 197 yards on 27 rushes.
And G-Prep got the most out of two completed passes as both went for touchdowns. The Bullpups will not throw much, but defenses will have to be on the ready. Junior quarterback Liam Bell, a first-year starter, is capable when called upon.
Much was made of G-Prep having to retool its offensive line. The newbies were more than up to the task in the opener.
• University posted the other win Friday. The Titans opened a 55-21 lead over visiting Sandpoint only to watch the Bulldogs finish with four straight touchdowns in an entertaining 55-48 final more commonly seen in eight-man matchups.
Titans junior running back Bryce Williamson had 177 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns.
• Ferris had the longest road trip, falling 20-13 to Olympia in a tightly contested game.
“It was a mixed bag,” Ferris coach Jim Sharkey said. “We did some things well and struggled in some ways. It was a winnable game that we let get away.”
• Rogers led 20-13 late in the third quarter before visiting Eastmont rallied with three touchdowns for a 31-20 decision.
• Both Central Valley and Lewis and Clark traveled to Coeur d’Alene and left with bad tastes in their mouths. Lake City shut out the Tigers 29-0 and CdA handled CV 50-14.
Despite watching defending Idaho 5A champion CdA run roughshod over his team, CV coach Rick Giampietri sees good things ahead.
“It’s going to come,” Giampietri said. “We have a lot of young guys running around.”
Giampietri could have been speaking for the GSL in general. Time will tell.
Second-week matchups, by and large, don’t get any easier. Consider these: In a battle of the preps, Bellarmine visits Gonzaga; Moses Lake visits Lewis and Clark; Mead goes to Southridge in Kennewick; Ferris hosts CdA at Albi; Lake City goes to CV; and U-Hi travels to Post Falls.
• CdA and Lake City are off to 2-0 starts. The scary thing is as well as both have played, both have much room for improvement.
Lake City piled up 495 yards of total offense in its opener and 457 against Lewis and Clark. And the Timberwolves missed opportunities for more.
The encouraging thing for T-Wolves coach Van Troxel was the improvement from the first to second week in his team’s defense. A week ago, the T-Wolves allowed 572 yards and still managed to pull out a 39-37 win at Rocky Mountain.