Week 2 prep football preview: Cheney looks to show Week 1 win no fluke; West Valley hosts Lakeside in early-season nonleague showdown

Week 1 in the Greater Spokane League had a little bit of everything: Perennial favorites off to a good start, some surprises, and some questions left to be answered.

The really intriguing thing about the GSL 4A/3A division is that with 10 teams, every game is a league game and could ultimately prove as a playoff tiebreaker. Simply put: Every game matters.

Do some games matter more than others? Sure. But no one can say if that Week 1 slip-up or Week 2 upset wasn’t a vital result until the last week of the season.

For now, we take everything at face value – and with a grain of salt.

All we know is that half of the upper division is undefeated and the other half winless.

The 2A division is much murkier: League play doesn’t start for another week, so they’ll have to battle again against nonleague competition.

That didn’t go so well last week, as only one of the seven GSL 2A teams (West Valley) won its opener, with four of the five losses coming to teams in smaller classifications. Lakeside and Colville from 1A and 2B Freeman are back again this week looking to knock off another GSL foe.

Let’s go around the league and take a closer look at the matchups for Week 2.

All games Friday at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Game of the week

Cheney (1-0) at Ridgeline (0-1): The Blackhawks, under second-year coach John Graham, outlasted Lewis and Clark 19-13 in double-overtime at Roos Field last week led by quarterback Connor Collins, who went 15 of 24 for 155 yards with touchdown passes to three different receivers.

The Falcons are still looking for footing after falling 38-10 to Gonzaga Prep. Ridgeline was contained to less than 200 yards in total offense by the Bullpups defense.

GSL 4A/3A

Gonzaga Prep (1-0) at Ferris (0-1): Friday 8 p.m. at ONE Spokane Stadium. G-Prep built a 38-0 lead last week en route to its Week 1 blowout and Jonah Keller had 188 yards on eight touches, including TD receptions of 80, 18 and 51 yards. The Saxons had nice offensive output but were outlasted by Shadle in a 28-24 Week 1 loss.

Mt. Spokane (1-0) at Shadle Park (1-0): Friday 5 p.m. at ONE Spokane Stadium. The Highlanders scored a go-ahead TD with 3:21 left last week, but run into a Wildcats team that dominated in all three phases of the game in their 42-0 win over Central Valley. Junior QB Cade Strocsher is a rising star for Mt. Spokane.

University (0-1) at Central Valley (0-1): The “Greasy Pig” rivalry game is the only matchup of winless teams in the upper division. CV had trouble moving the ball at Mt. Spokane, while U-Hi generated less than 200 yards total offense in its 42-7 home loss to Mead.

GSL 2A

Lakeside (1-0) at West Valley (1-0): Lakeside shut out Pullman 37-0 last week and has one of the best athletes in Class 1A in Jett Winger, who had nine catches for 188 yards and three TDs in the win over the Greyhounds. The GSL defending champion Eagles had little trouble dispatching Idaho 4A Timberlake, so this should be a good test for both teams.

Rogers (0-1) at Freeman (1-0): The Pirates got down big early against 4A A.C. Davis last week. They mounted a spirited comeback attempt in the second half but couldn’t overcome the early mistakes or nagging injuries and Week 1 cramping problems. The Scotties, who reached the 2B final four last year, felt little resistance from East Valley last week.

Riverside (0-1) at East Valley (0-1): The Knights hope to bounce back from their Week 1 thumping and face a Rams squad which suffered a three-touchdown loss to former league rival Newport, which now plays at the 2B level.

Colville (1-0) at Deer Park (0-1): The Stags had to travel to Issaquah on Saturday because of the smoke blanketing the region to face Meridian and took a tough 28-7 loss under new coach Dane Wadkins. They take on a Crimson Hawks team who outlasted North Central 33-26 last week.

North Central (0-1) at Chewelah (0-0): Akiylon Washington went 18 of 22 for 222 yards with two TDs through the air and one on the ground as the Wolfpack built a 26-12 lead entering the fourth quarter last week.

Moscow (2-1) at Pullman (0-1): The Greyhounds hope to make a better showing this week against Idaho 4A Moscow, which beat Clarkston last week 23-18.

Clarkston (0-1) at Lewiston (0-3): The Bantams draw an 0-3 Idaho 5A Lewiston squad which is averaging just 16 points per game and allowing 34.