GSL football: Rogers opens league play with first win over Clarkston in six years

If 2A Greater Spokane League football is down this year, Rogers didn’t get the memo.

For the first time in more than six years at the varsity level, Rogers beat Clarkston. The Pirates had much to celebrate at ONE Spokane Stadium.

From the looks of it, Rogers flushed a lot of heartache away in a 46-0 drubbing of the Bantams in both teams’ league opener.

“This is my eighth year at Rogers and we’ve never beaten Clarkston at the varsity level,” said third-year coach Ryan Cole. “This was a sweet one for us.”

Cole will give his team the weekend to celebrate and then they’re back to work Monday to prepare for in-city rival North Central.

“Every week the goal is 1-0,” Cole said. “We’ll celebrate this and get back to work.”

Cole’s Pirates (2-1) will meet him at the school’s weight room at 9 a.m. for a one-hour session. There should be a lot of smiles on faces for sure.

“We wanted to come out and show we’re the team to beat in the league,” Cole said.

It was a statement victory for sure.

After building a 14-0 lead by halftime, Rogers opted for trickery on the opening kick of the second half. A pooch kick was recovered in stride by Jelani Kabba at Clarkston’s 38-yard line.

Three plays later, quarterback Coby Spurgin dashed 2 yards, extending the Pirates’ lead to 20-0.

“It’s definitely a little sweeter because it’s something that hasn’t been done in (six) years,” Spurgin said of the win.

The blowout was on from that point.

A 58-yard run up Rogers’ sideline by Jerry Allen gave the Pirates a 27-0 lead with 5 minutes, 3 seconds to go in the third.

On Rogers’ next possession, Hands Warrick VI took a pass in traffic and weaved his way into the end zone to complete a 9-yard connection, and the Pirates led 33-0.

Rogers ran all over the Bantams. The Pirates rushed 36 times for 255 yards. Roman Gumm led with 133 on 17 attempts and a touchdown.

Spurgin completed 7 of 12 passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

Cole doesn’t know if the league is down or not. That isn’t his focus.

“It’s the nature of high school football – ups and downs,” Cole said. “We’re just trying to be the best version of ourselves.”

Rogers and North Central square off in the nightcap next Friday at ONE. Kickoff is at 8.