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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mt. Spokane uses three QBs to pound out win over Ferris

Mt. Spokane quarterback Colby Danielson celebrates his first-quarter, 6-yard touchdown run Friday that gave the Wildcats a 14-0 lead.  (Colin Mulvany/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)

With a seven-week season, every injury will be impactful.

So when Mt. Spokane lost its starting quarterback, senior Connor Marll, to a broken thumb following last week’s game, it became next player up.

Make that a committee.

Three Wildcats split time behind center and Mt. Spokane used a ball-control game to down Ferris 21-7 in a Greater Spokane League 4A/3A game at Union Stadium on Friday.

Colby Danielson, Kellen Franklin and Jamin Smith all took turns handing it off to a fleet of running backs and the Wildcats’ defense did the rest. Mt. Spokane rushed for 205 yards and attempted just four passes.

“They all have strengths, they all do something better than the other one,” Mt. Spokane coach Terry Cloer said. “You know, (Danielson) came in and did a nice job meshing with the kids and he knows a lot of our guys, so it was a seamless transition.”

Yet it was still in doubt with less than 3 minutes to play when the Wildcats’ Riley Buth picked off Paxton Page in the end zone to ice it.

“That’s just one of those plays I was in the right position right time, so glad to come out of it like that,” Buth said.

“(Ferris) just kept battling,” Cloer said. “I felt like we could have put it away early and give their kids credit, they battled and they kept themselves in the game.”

Tyler Alm carried 10 times for 90 yards and a score for Mt. Spokane (2-1). Danielson and Hudson Gilbert also scored on short TD runs.

“(Alm’s) a tough young man, he ran the ball hard,” Cloer said. “He just runs it at a different speed.”

At 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, Alm runs like he’s carrying 220.

“I’ve always gone against like older kids, like my brother and all his friends,” Alm said. “We played tackle football in the backyard and stuff. Maybe that’s how I’ve improved on my game.”

The Saxons were forced to punt on their first possession from their 22. The snap bounced back to Jide Olajoyegbe, who was smothered by a host of Mt. Spokane defenders. Three plays later, Gilbert rumbled into the end zone for a 7-0 lead not 3 minutes in.

After a turnover on downs, the Wildcats went right back to work, as Smith hit Jordan Sands down the left sideline for 28 yards. The Wildcats marched into the red zone and on first-and-goal at the 6 Danielson delayed, then found a seam in the middle and scooted to pay dirt.

In the second quarter, the Saxons mounted a drive into Mt. Spokane territory, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty stalled it. But the Wildcats had three drives end on fumbles and it remained 14-0 at intermission.

Mt. Spokane took the second-half kick at its 42. After Aiden Prado and Alm ripped off good chunks of yardage on consecutive runs, Alm pounded it in from the 7 to put the Wildcats up 21-0.

Ferris (1-2) pounded the left side of the Wildcats’ defense to get out to midfield, where Page connected with Anthony Aguirre down the right sideline for 38 yards to the Mt. Spokane 6. Two plays later, they hooked up on a fade route for a 9-yard touchdown to make it a two-score game.

In the fourth quarter, Ferris converted a fourth-and-6, then Page then hit Aguirre for a 30-yard gain to the Mt. Spokane 15 with 2:39 left. But Page’s pass to the corner was picked off by Buth to ice it.

Page finished 13 of 24 for 175 yards. Saxons sophomore Kruz Wheeler carried 21 times for 114 yards.