Landon Garner passes his way to history, Ridgeline outlasts Shadle Park in early ‘must win’ game

The Ridgeline Falcons were in need of a win. They got it, along with a record-breaking performance from their quarterback.

Landon Garner completed 22 of 29 pass attempts for 372 yards with six touchdown passes – three to Tanner Guard – and the Falcons outlasted visiting Shadle Park 48-44 in a Greater Spokane League 4A/3A game on Friday.

Garner entered play needing 227 passing yards to move past Shadle Park and NFL great Mark Rypien (4,965) into second place in GSL career yardage.

“I can’t even believe I just did that. It feels amazing,” Garner said. “I would like it to be a higher (margin of victory) for sure. But, I mean, in the end, it’s super fun. I’m proud of our guys for playing their hearts out.”

“I don’t know what his numbers were, but he’s just so accurate,” Ridgeline coach Dave Myers said of Garner.

“He’s so smart. He’s been doing this for such a long time, and obviously we depend on him and and it pays off.”

Garner’s top target, Brayden Allen, had seven catches for 88 yards and needs just 67 yards to pass Shadle Park’s Tanner Pauly at the top of the all-time receiving yards list. Allen already holds league records for game, season and career receptions.

Guard finished with four catches for 160 yards. His third touchdown reception – a 49-yarder late in the third quarter – put Garner over the hump.

“That is an honor, and one I’m not going to take lightly,” Guard said.

“I’m very happy to be here, and I love the privilege I got to be on the field. I just needed a chance, and, you know, we’re a team. We won, and it was awesome.”

“We knew that Braden was going to attract a lot of attention this week, and that they were going to try and take him away,” Myers said. “That would open things up for other guys. And we also knew that Tanner Guard is a hell of an athlete, and he made the most of his opportunities.”

Ridgeline moves to 2-2 on the season, while Shadle Park falls to 3-1.

“We knew this was a must win if we’re looking at making it back to the playoffs,” Myers said.

“We know that, you know, in the 3A level, (Shadle Park) is one of the best teams, and we had to get this one.”

Shadle Park quarterback Kaden Hooper finished 22 of 37 for 246 yards with two TD passes, and carried 31 times for 135 yards with two scores. Jacob Boston had seven catches for 105 yards with two TDs.

“The kid is tough,” Shadle Park coach Jim Mace said of Hooper. “We’re running him a lot more than we want to. We’ve had some injuries, and he’s just picking it up. And the kid keep making plays, plays hard. I mean, we just didn’t make a play at the end there. And that’s a good team we were playing against.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Hooper hit Jase Bower for 38-yard touchdown pass to make it 34-29.

But Camden Haddad returned the kickoff to midfield and seven plays later the Falcons scored on a Haddad 7-yard swing pass – Garner’s sixth touchdown throw of the night.

Shadle moved methodically down the field, and on the 14th play of the drive Hooper found Boston from 1 yard out to make it 41-36. The Highlanders recovered their second onside kick of the half and six plays later Hooper barrelled in from the 3. His 2-point conversion put Shadle up three with 1:43 to go.

Lincoln Duggan returned the kickoff to the Shadle 38. Garner found Allen down the right sideline for 20 yards, and hit Duggan for 16 yards to the 2, where Haddad crashed into the end zone to retake the lead with 38 seconds to go.

Hooper tried to get Shadle into scoring territory, but his long attempt was picked off by Duggan near midfield with 12 seconds on the clock.

“It was a must win,” Garner said, echoing his coach. “I don’t think we have a chance at playoffs if we would have lost this game. So it was a must win, for sure.”

Shadle turned it over on downs at the Ridgeline 2 on its opening drive, then Garner was sacked in the end zone for a safety. After a short Ridgeline punt, Hooper took no time finding Boston for a 16-yard touchdown pass and 9-0 lead.

Garner hit Guard on a seam route for a 24-yard TD to cut the deficit to 9-7.

Shadle answered with a 14-play, 80-yard drive, with Titan Rucker plowing in from 4 yards out. The kick missed and the Highlanders led 15-7 early in the second quarter.

Garner hooked up with Guard again, this time for a 44-yard touchdown, and the kick made it a one-point game.

Just before the half, Hooper tried an out route and Allen jumped it, making the interception in stride and racing to the Shadle 11. On the next play, Haddad took a swing pass to the end zone for a 21-15 halftime lead.

Shadle Park recovered an onside kick to start the second half. The Highlanders moved to first-and-goal, but four straight runs were stuffed and the Falcons took over on downs at their 1.

A 43-yard pass to Guard moved the ball to midfield and Garner hit Allen for a 13-yard TD score to go up 28-15.

Rucker busted outside for 46 yards to make Shadle into Ridgeline territory and Hooper finished the drive with a 7-yard TD run to get the Highlanders within six.

But Garner hit Guard on the same seam route for a 49-yard touchdown, eclipsing Rypien on the completion, to put the Falcons up 34-22.