Friday Night (High)lights: Cheney matches season-best win total in Week 2; University pulls off 'Greasy Pig' victory
As one might imagine, a high school sports editor is pretty busy during the school year. It’s part of the job. That’s fine, because like students and teachers, the summer is (a little) less busy.
But from Labor Day to Memorial Day, it’s more than a full-time job. This isn’t me complaining – I knew what the job was when I signed up for it.
I got part of the day off Saturday (I still had to write this column). How did I spend it? Watching athletes I was privileged to cover in high school play local college football – and play a huge role in the outcome of the game.
In Idaho’s 20-6 win over Utah Tech, former Rogers star Aaron Kinsey made a diving interception – his first in college – coming out of the two-minute timeout in the fourth quarter to seal the Vandals’ win. That helped make Lakeland grad Owen Forsman’s first two career field goals stand up in the victory.
The Spokesman-Review wrote about them both when they were prep players. And once I got back from Moscow (after skipping the Corner Club and finally getting back into the house that I locked myself out of), I got to write about them again.
Now to the business at hand.
Let’s take a closer look at what happened around the Greater Spokane League in Week 2.
Clearing the bar
Entering play this year, Cheney had won just seven league games over five seasons, and no more than two in any of those campaigns. But after two weeks, the Blackhawks have already matched its season-high in GSL league wins.
Cheney never trailed in its 35-6 win over host Ridgeline on Friday. Andrew Houndonougbo returned an interception and kickoff for touchdowns, Christopher Wilson carried for 75 yards and a score, and the Blackhawks defense was flying to the football all game.
Coupled with their win over Lewis and Clark on opening night, Cheney stands tied with usual suspects Gonzaga Prep, Mt. Spokane and Mead atop the GSL standings.
“We’re getting there,” Cheney coach John Graham said about his team getting the hang of winning games. “They’ve put the work in since last November when the season ended. Weight room, all there in the summer. The kids, they’ve earned it.”
Graham, who was part of two national championship coaching staffs in college at Eastern and Central Washington, has gotten the players to buy-in, and the players understand who they have as a coach.
“Two-time national champion has just helped us with this mentality,” Houndonougbo said. “He knows everything about the game. Great teacher.”
Rolling along
As referenced earlier, G-Prep, Mead and Mt. Spokane all won again. That’s not so surprising. What might be mildly surprising in the ease in which each went 2-0.
The three beat Ferris, LC and Shadle Park respectively by a combined score of 134-14, with LC’s two touchdowns coming against Mead’s backups in the fourth quarter Thursday night.
All three are perennial playoff qualifiers. All three look very well primed to get back there again. But with several league schools seemingly in a “down cycle” right now, it’s tough to truly gauge just how good these teams are until they reach the playoffs.
It’s also complicated by the entire 4A/3A schedule being league games. There are no nonleague contests against the big Idaho schools or Big 9 teams to help us compare anymore.
So we watch. And wait. And hope that when the undefeated teams face off it’ll make for good games, and not the blowouts we’ve seen early this season.
Greasy Pig
The other 4A/3A game worth noting is the annual “Greasy Pig” rivalry game between University and Central Valley, which was won by the Titans 25-17. Why is this of particular interest, one may ask? It’s only the second time since 2014 – and third in the past 21 tries – that U-Hi has beaten it’s archnemesis.
Aiden Sautter passed for 141 yards and rushed for another 80 with a touchdown, helping the Titans erase a 10-point deficit early in the second quarter.
Still struggling
The GSL 2A teams had another rough week, going 2-5 after a 1-6 performance in Week 1. Northeast 1A member Lakeside won its second consecutive game over a GSL team, beating West Valley 28-13 in Millwood.
East Valley lost to 1A Riverside, and Deer Park fell to Colville. Pullman and Clarkston both lost rivalry games to Idaho schools.
The best news for the league came from Rogers, which bounced back from a lopsided loss to 4A A.C. Davis in Week 1 by knocking off 2024 State 2B semifinalist Freeman on the road 21-14.
The league slate starts next week.
Milestone reunion
Coeur d’Alene football reunited and celebrated the 40th anniversary of its 1985 state championship team at halftime of the Vikings’ 37-13 win over Sunnyside on Friday.
As I’ve written in this space before, my wife was a CdA grad, and I’m lucky to know many of the players and coaches on that team and count a couple of them as some of my very best friends in the area. So congrats to all on your achievements – and for the opportunity for so many of them to celebrate together 40 years later.