Wicks, Shadle Park roll past Rogers 26-0

Have yourself a night, Xavier Wicks.

The Shadle Park junior turned the Albi Stadium turf into his own racetrack as he ran for 289 yards on 32 carries, helping his Highlanders in a 26-0 shutout over the Rogers Pirates on Friday night at Albi Stadium.

Shadle now sits at 4-3 overall and atop the 3A side of the Greater Spokane League standings.

“The game plan was we were running for 250 yards or we’re going home,” Shadle head coach Jim Mace said.

Mace said his team planned to run a bunch based on the weather forecast and his team’s past performance in the running game.

“We knew the weather could be bad but either way, our run game hasn’t been very good lately,” he said.

Luckily for Mace and the Highlanders, the skies provided no rain, and his team’s running game seems to now be working just fine.

Wicks carried the Shadle offense down the field throughout the night. He had 108 yards rushing in the first quarter alone. He scored Shadle’s first touchdown from 21 yards out and also had a nice 25-yard touchdown run where he was forced to reverse field.

Wicks set the tone by going for 24, 16 and 17 yards on the first play of Shadle’s first three possessions, respectively.

But despite the big night from Wicks, the Highlanders had a tough time finding the end zone early in the game.

Shadle threatened throughout the game but self-inflicted miscues prevented them from running away. Bad snaps, fumbles and interceptions meant Shadle only held a 6-0 lead at halftime, thanks to an early Wicks score.

But when defensive back Silas Say jumped on a loose ball that came from the hands of a Rogers running back, the tides began to shift.

Seven plays later, Carson Doyle threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Evan Eickstadt as the third quarter came to a close to give the Highlanders a 13-0 lead.

The score helped Shadle find its groove.

“We’ve been killing ourselves all season with self-inflicted turnovers,” Mace said. “We talked all week that if we just play and execute and don’t make mistakes, we’re good. When we make mistakes, anybody can beat us.”

Wicks’ 25-yard touchdown run and a 15-yard touchdown pass to Vinny Epefanio capped the scoring for the Highlanders.

Doyle finished 9-of-14 passing with two touchdowns.

Rogers found some success running the ball. Quarterback Eric McKay finished with 87 yards while running back Tre Phillips finished with 78.