Beckett Ensminger scored two touchdowns to lead Shadle Park over West Valley 28-14

Beckett Ensminger wanted to be patient.

For a running back with a quick first step, great balance and strength gained one rep at a time over a summer spent in the weight room, a little patience is a virtue.

“I wanted to be patient and let my linemen get their blocks,” the Shadle Park senior said.

Ensminger ran for a touchdown and threw for another in the second half, all while pounding into and through West Valley’s defense to key the Highlanders’ 28-14 victory over the Eagles on Friday night at Ridgeline High School in Liberty Lake.

A week after Ensminger ran for Shadle Park’s only score in a 7-3 win over Class 1A Riverside, the Highlanders came into their first Greater Spokane League game with a healthy amount of respect for the Eagles.

“We knew this was probably going to be one of our toughest league games and we thought their defensive line was going to be pretty good,” he said. “We wanted to just pound the ball and see if we could wear them down.”

The teams traded turnovers early.

Tre Dickerson was picked off on Shadle Park’s first play from scrimmage. Looking to find Jordan Dever on a short out pattern, his pass instead found West Valley cornerback Ashton Zettle, who jumped the route and returned the ball to the Highlanders’ 26-yard line.

But the Eagles offense would gain just five yards and turned the ball over on downs at the Shadle 21.

Ensminger broke free for a 55-yard run on the next series to get Shadle Park deep in West Valley territory, but the Eagles blocked a 24-yard field goal attempt to end the threat.

Dickerson launched a 39-yard touchdown pass to Dever on the next series to give Shadle Park the lead.

West Valley found success running the ball into the middle of the Shadle Park defense, driving for a tying touchdown on a 12-yard run by Judah Clark.

Dickerson leaned in from the 1 for a touchdown, but the Eagles answered with an artful 28-yard touchdown pass from Raesean Eaton to Reese Hansen, who stretched all 5- foot-10 to pull in the pass while dragging a toe in-bounds for the score to tie the game with two seconds left in the first half.

“We talked about cleaning up a few things at halftime and just maintaining our focus,” Ensminger said.

It helped that West Valley’s defenders insisted on trying to tackle the Shadle running back high on his body and the senior frequently carried one or two would-be tacklers with him.

The Highlanders got their biggest break on their first series of the second half. After the drive bogged down at its own 35, Shadle Park punted and the ball caromed off the back of a West Valley defender, and the Highlanders recovered at the Eagles’ 25.

Ensminger slashed his way to the end zone on a 7-yard run to put the Highlanders on top for good.

After a fake punt failed with an incomplete pass , Ensminger launched a halfback pass to Dever, who worked his way behind the deepest West Valley defender for the touchdown.

“It feels so good to get our first league win,” Ensminger said. “This was a strange week. We couldn’t practice on Monday because of the smoke, but we still got things locked in.

“Now to come out and get the win, it feels great.”