GSL football: Mason Stinson catches 3 touchdown passes, Cheney upends Mead 24-14 inching closer to postseason berth

Cheney has been a member of the Greater Spokane League in two stints – from 2002-05 and currently since 2021. On Friday at Union Stadium the Blackhawks earned their biggest win as a league member.

Mason Stinson caught three touchdown passes from Connor Collins and the Blackhawks beat Mead 24-14 to further reinforce their standing as one of the three postseason teams in the GSL 3A division.

It was Cheney’s first win over Mead since returning to the league. The Blackhawks (6-1) host University (4-3) next week with a chance to clinch at least the second seed. Cheney and Mt. Spokane (6-1) are tied, each with a loss to Gonzaga Prep. They face each other in the last week of the season.

Cheney coach John Graham said the gameplan was simple.

“Just do what we do, same thing we’ve been doing,” he said. “We didn’t put any other new plays in. We’re just getting better at what we do. And we’re getting Mason deep and Tank (Best) inside on the short routes and our running backs are running hard. Our lines were overmatched and we’re undersized, but they fight.”

Stinson finished with seven catches for 180 yards and Collins went 13 of 24 for 276 yards.

“Our coach puts a lot of faith in us, man, and our O-line has done a great job of just pounding the rock all day,” Stinson said. “We knew they were gonna bite eventually, and we just took a few shots over the top, and Connor threw some great balls.”

Mead, which committed four turnovers, was led by running back Max Faagau with 24 carries for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Panthers starting quarterback Landon Thomas was injured on a third quarter punt return. Mead (5-2) plays at undefeated G-Prep next week.

Mead was limited to 111 yards passing – most of which came late.

“Our defense is just unbelievable,” Graham said. “We’ve got five seniors that play on both sides of the ball and they go out there and just give us everything they got and leave it on the field.”

The teams spent much of the first quarter trading blows and turning the ball over on downs between the 30s.

Late in the first, Thomas hit Lee Colomb for a 19-yard completion to the Cheney 28. On the first play of the second quarter Faagau took it off-tackle, broke to the outside and went the distance from 28 yards for the game’s first score.

Cheney responded. On the eighth play of the ensuing drive, facing third-and-17, Collins went up top and found Stinson streaking through the middle of the field. Stinson wrestled the ball away from a defender at the goal line for a touchdown and a tied game.

“He just makes plays every single time, just so clutch,” Collins said of Stinson. “We had been running our inside zone all game and knew it would be there. I just threw it up and (Stinson) made the play.”

“(Collins) took his shots and he completed them, so it was good to see,” Graham said. “And that’s kind of the next step that we’ve evolved these last four or five weeks. We’re getting some balls down the field hitting some big plays.”

Mead used a couple of long passes to get back into the red zone, but Faagau fumbled at the 3 for a turnover.

Cheney drove to the 36 but was forced to punt. On Mead’s first play, Cheney defensive back Christopher Wilson gathered an overthrow at the Mead 38. Two plays later, Collins hit Stinson on a fly pattern down the right sideline for a 36-yard touchdown and 14-7 lead.

Mead fumbled on the kickoff return, but Cheney couldn’t add on and led by a touchdown at the half.

The Blackhawks took the second half kick at their 20. On the second play, Collins found Stinson streaking down the right sideline for 67 yards before being pulled down from behind at the 6. Three straight incomplete passes resulted in a 28-yard field goal by Cade Adderly, his first of the season, and a 17-7 lead.

The Blackhawks were forced to punt on their next possession, and Thomas – who starts both ways and plays special teams – was injured on a short return and came out of the game in favor of junior Evan Drew.

Mead got a 7-yard TD run from Faagau early in the fourth to close to 17-14, but Cheney responded with two long passes to Tank Best – for 24 and 38 yards – then Stinson caught his third TD of the game from the 7 to make it a 10-point lead with 4:31 left.

A defensive stop, then one first down, sealed the victory.

“We say, ‘Go 1-0 each game,’ ” Stinson said. “We’re focused on next week already.”