Brady Coulter shoulders the load, Pullman beats North Central 28-14

Pullman senior Brady Coulter isn’t the biggest running back in the league. He doesn’t necessarily look like a guy that’s going to lug the ball 40-plus times in a game.

But what he may lack in size he more than makes up for in determination and toughness.

Coulter rushed 42 times for 203 yards with a rushing and a receiving touchdown and the visiting Greyhounds beat the North Central Wolfpack 28-14 in a Greater Spokane League 2A game at ONE Spokane Stadium on Thursday.

It’s the second straight week the Greyhounds (2-6, 2-3) played at ONE – they lost 28-14 to Rogers last Friday.

“We had a really tough one last week with Rogers, and it was a quick turnaround for those guys,” Pullman coach Kevin Agnew said. “I’m really proud of the grit and the determination that our kids showed tonight, on a short week, coming right back up here on a Thursday and making things happen.”

Pullman built a 20-point first-half lead, withstood a Wolfpack charge in the third quarter, then used heavy doses of Coulter to drain the clock in the fourth – he carried on 16 consecutive plays spread over two second-half possessions for Pullman.

“A lot of different guys can make a lot of different plays. It just happens to be which guy each week?” Coulter said. “It happened for me (this week) and I’m thankful for that, but really it’s my teammates blocking for me so I can run out there.”

“Man, (Coulter) was great,” Agnew said. “I love Brady. He’s a warrior. He brings energy. He’s the heart and soul of our team. And it was just great to see him have a big night tonight.”

Down 20-0 at halftime, North Central (1-6, 0-4) scored twice in the third quarter to make it a one-score game.

Agnew called Coulter’s number on seven consecutive plays, culminating with a 14-yard touchdown run to make it 28-14.

The Wolfpack missed a 27-yard field goal attempt, then Coulter ran it nine straight times to kill much of the fourth quarter. NC got to the Pullman 21 with less than 2 minutes to play, but two straight incompletions turned it over on downs.

Coulter picked up a first down, and the Greyhounds went to the victory formation.

“We wanted to play a complete game. Finish four quarters,” Coulter said. “All season long, we fell short. We would play three really good quarters or two really good quarters. But we just wanted to make an emphasis to finish and play each and every quarter hard this week.”

NC went three-and-out on its first possession, and bad snap on the punt gave Pullman the ball at the NC 18. Three plays later, Connor Stewart hit Coulter on a screen pass, and he waltzed untouched into the end zone from the 17.

The extra-point attempt was wide and the Greyhounds led 6-0.

On the first play of the second quarter, Pullman faced third-and-22 at its 31. Stewart hit Braden Barnett on a hitch route and he lateraled to Coulter, who streaked down the sideline for a 46-yard gain. Two plays later, Stewart found Evan Anderson in the corner of the end zone from 7 yards out, and the pair connected again on the 2-point conversion.

Pullman got the ball late in the quarter at its 41. Stewart connected with Caleb Ratliff for 24 yards, then a screen to Silas Wheatley went 35 yards for a touchdown. The Greyhounds led 20-0 at the half.

“That was a huge boost,” Agnew said of the first-half defensive performance. “Our defense has been great all year long, and tonight we were able to kind of balance that out and get our offense moving a little bit. It was just a good overall effort from our kids tonight.”

The Wolfpack got on the board midway through the third quarter a short punt set them up in Pullman territory. A four-play, 40-yard drive culminated with Andrew Ives’ 7-yard TD run.

After a stop, Trevelle Jones hit Killian Davis for 28 yards to the Pullman 16. Three plays later, Jones connected with Adie Wright on a 13-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 20-14.

Jones finished 16 of 35 for 224 yards and Wright made five catches for 83 yards.