GSL football: Mason Stinson makes impact all over field, Cheney beats Central Valley 37-7

There is little more beautiful watching a wide receiver break through a crowd of defenders and sprinting into open space for a touchdown. Mason Stinson accomplished the feat in the third quarter of Cheney’s 37-7 win at Central Valley on Friday.

“Caught it real quick, saw all my linemen get in front of me and my eyes lit up a little bit,” Stinson said. “Saw open field and just took off, broke one tackle and we all celebrated in the end zone.”

Early the teams were evenly matched, but Cheney broke through with the first touchdown of the game. The drive started with Christopher Wilson rushing for 12 yards to earn a first down. Connor Collins carried for short distances to inch toward another first down, and with the help of a 15-yard penalty on CV, Cheney entered Bears’ territory.

Stinson then hauled in a 17-yard pass to put the Blackhawks at the CV 31. After an incomplete pass, Collins threw a dart down the middle to Stinson for a touchdown. Stinson threw for the 2-point conversion, making it 8-0.

Around the 2-minute mark in the second quarter, Cheney scored their second touchdown. The play stemmed from Stinson’s interception around the 40-yard line, which he ran for over 20 yards. On the following play, Collins threw to the left corner where Ashton Huse was waiting for the catch in the end zone. The successful extra point made it 15-0.

Cheney really took off in the third quarter. The Blackhawks scored twice, and added a two-point conversion off a PAT fumble at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The scorers included Tank Best, Ashton Schwendiman and, of course, Stinson.

“He’s (Stinson) nothing but a great leader, he’s a great teammate, he’s a great student… just everything,” Cheney coach John Graham said. “He’s playing both sides of the ball, he’s making plays on offense, he’s making plays on defense – he’s one of the best players in the GSL in my opinion.”

Down 37-0, CV rallied. With 10 minutes to go, the Bears gained more than 20 yards due to two penalties called on Cheney, moving them to the Cheney 10, where Noah Krogh ran it into the end zone.

Now 5-1, Cheney will go on the road to play Mead (5-1) next week, followed by University and Mt. Spokane to end the season. Cheney hasn’t made it to playoffs since joining the GSL as a 3A team in 2019, but Coach Graham said they aren’t even worried about playoffs. Tonight, they were focused on CV and next week they’ll be focused on Mead.

“We’re taking one game at a time and that’s all we talk about,” Graham said.