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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Greg Lee: Greater Spokane League favorites show mettle as 4A league play set to kick off

Gregl@Spokesman.Com (509) 844-8168

So now what do you think about Greater Spokane League football teams after two weeks?

We can rate some things for sure. There are teams elevating and teams struggling to get out of the blocks.

It’s abundantly clear that if the GSL crowned just one champion this fall, 3A Shadle Park (2-0) and Mt. Spokane (2-0) and 4A Gonzaga Prep (2-0) would be the front-runners at this point.

In fact, there’s clear separation. Shadle Park and Mt. Spokane are on a collision course to decide the 3A league title and the accompanying two play-in berths. There’s a gulf between them and Rogers and North Central.

In 4A, University is off to a 2-0 start like G-Prep but the Bullpups’ quality of victories speaks for itself.

G-Prep rallied to beat Richland last week 24-21 and then shut out highly regarded Bellarmine Prep 17-0.

Which 4A team or teams can challenge the Bullpups remains to be seen. U-Hi and Mead have an edge over Ferris, Lewis and Clark and Central Valley going into 4A league openers Friday.

U-Hi goes against Ferris (0-2) in the Thursday night game at Albi Stadium. On Friday, Mead (1-1) visits G-Prep and, in a game featuring a pair of 0-2 teams, LC goes to CV.

It’s not shocking that Shadle Park handled Richland 36-24 at Richland on Friday. What’s telling is the Highlanders controlled the game from start to finish.

The Highlanders’ final nonleague game before they turn their attention to the GSL is Friday at Lake City (2-0), which opened with a 29-0 win over Lewis and Clark and cruised past CV 57-21 last week.

A challenger emerges

When Shadle quarterback Brett Rypien threw for 613 yards in a game last fall, extending the single game record for 11-man teams statewide, many thought it would be a mark that wouldn’t be threatened anytime soon.

Amandre Williams of Tahoma leaped over the second-best mark, also held by Rypien (577). In just his second career start, Williams completed 37 of 50 for 579 yards and five touchdowns on Thursday night. He also ran for two TDs.

Williams arrived at 579 with 6 ½ minutes to play. But he ran on four of Tahoma’s last five plays to run out the clock in a wild 48-41 win over Rogers of Puyallup.

And Rogers’ quarterback Griffen Stacy had a prolific game. He finished with 500 yards, completing 29 of 52 attempts.

Don’t call it an upset

Some might consider 1A Lakeside’s 30-20 win over 3A Rogers an upset.

It more aptly should be called a quality victory.

Lakeside coach Brian Dunn called it the best win in school history in his 18 years as head coach. What he’s saying is it was a big win for a 1A school, which has an enrollment of about 400, over a 3A school, which has an enrollment of about 1,200.

On the field Thursday, the teams were evenly matched.

Now Lakeside jumps into what will be one of the more competitive leagues at any level in the state this fall. Defending state champ Freeman is favored. But Colville and Deer Park, both of which dropped down from 2A to 1A this year, will challenge along with Lakeside, which returned 17 starters, and Riverside.

The top three teams advance to the state playoffs.

The league openers Friday feature Chewelah at Lakeside, Newport at Freeman, Colville at Medical Lake and Deer Park at Riverside.