Blackhawks make it three straight with 35-7 win

Senior running back Austin Kline scored three touchdowns, two in Cheney’s 28-point second quarter, and the Cheney High School football team’s three-plus hour return bus ride from Sunnyside was made that much more enjoyable thanks to the Blackhawks 35-7 win over the Grizzlies.

Neither team managed to find the end zone in the first 12 minutes, with one of Cheney’s drives thwarted by a Sunnyside interception of a Josh Martin pass. In the second quarter, however, Martin and the Blackhawks found their rhythm.

Kline capped a pair of drives with touchdown runs of 3 and 4 yards for a 14-0 Blackhawk lead. After a defensive stop of the Grizzlies, Shane Hammel returned the subsequent punt 42 yards to the end zone and 21-0 lead.

Sunnyside answered with a drive of their own, capped by Fabian Gonzales 23-yard scoring toss to Timmy Martinez, cutting Cheney’s margin to 14 points. But the Blackhawks got their three-TD lead back quickly when Martin hit Ty Graham on a screen pass the junior turned into a 60-yard scoring run and 28-7 halftime lead.

“That play turned the game,” Cheney head coach Bobby Byrd said Sunday night.

Sunnyside seized the momentum in the third quarter, driving several times into Cheney’s half of the field. Each time, however, the Blackhawks defense rose up and produced a stop. In the fourth quarter, Cheney’s offense again found some rhythm, eventually driving for Kline’s third TD, another 4-yard run that put the finishing touches on Cheney’s third consecutive win in their fourth consecutive road game.

“It was a good test,” Byrd said. “The offense really started clicking in that second quarter. Defensively, we’re heading in a good direction.”

Cheney takes a 3-1 record into its fifth straight road game this Friday at East Valley. That said, Byrd feels compared to the other trips, the 20-minute bus ride to face the Knights in the Great Northern League opener for both schools practically feels like a home game.

Byrd said no one should be misled by East Valley’s 1-3 start — they’re a good team fully capable of making a run at a second straight post-season berth. The Knights return 11 starters, led by veteran senior quarterback, 6-foot-2, 195-pound Connor Ramm.

East Valley has been outscored 131-32 in a murderers-row run in losses to three good North Idaho schools: Lakeland, Post Falls and recently Sandpoint. Their only win came in the season opener, rallying with a pair of fourth-quarter Ramm touchdown tosses to beat Northeast A League Deer Park, 27-20.

Byrd said traditionally the Knights like to start fast on offense, getting a couple of scores to take the lead and hanging on from there. They prefer to spread things out with toss sweep passes, quick screens and a trick play or two here and there.

“It will be a test for us (offensively) to start fast,” Byrd said.

And while it will only be 20 minutes away, allowing for more Blackhawks fans to make the trip, Byrd said the Knights have always played Cheney well on their own turf.

“It’s going to be a tough challenge,” Byrd said. “As long as we execute and take care of the ball, I think our boys will have a good night.”

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].