Blackhawks edge Shadle Park in thriller at Roos

Quarterback Alex Long threw five touchdown passes, four to senior wide receiver Luke Martin, and Cheney ran up 430 yards in total offense as the Blackhawks outlasted visiting Greater Spokane League 3A Shadle Park 42-40 on the red turf at Eastern Washington University's Roos Field last Friday night.

And while those 48 words contain implications of a lot of big plays, none were bigger than one that took place late in the third quarter, and two more in the game's final seconds. The first was a missed point after touchdown by Highlanders' kicker Colton Kinder, helping Cheney maintain an eight-point margin, 42-34, heading into the final 12 minutes.

"I think if they don't miss, it's a tighter ball game," Cheney head coach Bobby Byrd said.

In the fourth, Shadle's defense continued to stymie a Blackhawks offense that had roamed up and down the field almost at will the first two quarters, and parts of the third. With 52 seconds to play, running back Klouse Albers took a handoff from quarterback Carson Doyle and scored from two yards out to pull the Highlanders within two.

But needing a two-point conversion to tie, Doyle's completed pass to wide receiver Xavier Atkins was met at the one-foot line by Cheney defensive backs Cole Williams and Dawson West, who kept Lambert from turning or falling the final foot for the score.

The drama wasn't over for the sizeable crowd at Roos. An offside penalty on the ensuing onside kick by Shadle - recovered by Cheney - enabled the Highlanders to try again, and this time they were successful, recovering the ball at the Blackhawks 46.

But an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Shadle's coach and an incompletion put the Highlanders in a third and 25 at their 38, and Doyle's desperation heave under a heavy Cheney rush with 16 seconds remaining resulted in a lofting pass picked off by Williams in front of the Cheney bench to preserve the win.

Even without the late-game theatrics, fans from both schools were treated to an exciting, often back and forth game. Long hit Martin on a 15-yard TD pass on Cheney's first drive to tie the game at 7, and after Shadle went back up on a Doyle to Kinder 41-yard strike, senior running back Camden VerStrate took a pitch around the left end and 63 yards to the house for a 14-14 tie.

After an exchange of punts, Long found Martin again, this time for 69 yards and the score early in the second quarter. The junior would find the senior wide open twice more before the half, one good for a 41-yard TD and the other a 22-yard score.

"I think Luke Martin was as surprised as the rest of us that he was as wide open as he was on those plays," Byrd said.

Shadle solved their Martin problem in the second half, but Long found another big target in the form of senior Jacob McGourin, who scampered 34 yards for a score in the third quarter that proved to be the winning points.

Long was 8 for 13 for 203 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions - the latter both coming in the second half. Martin had eight catches for 164 yards and four scores.

Cheney rushed for 227 yards, 140 coming from VerStrate on 15 carries. Mekhai Goodloe added 53 yards on eight carries, none more important than a three-yard run on fourth and 1 at Shadle's 31 to preserve the drive leading to McGourin's TD.

Cheney runs its record to 3-0, the first time its done that since the 7-0 start in 2015. The Blackhawks have a good chance to keep that going as they travel to 1A Cashmere of the Caribou Trail League this Friday.

The Bulldogs are 2-1, opening with a 28-13 loss to 2A Ephrata before following with wins over Sultan (32-12) and 2A Wapato (58-6). Byrd said Cashmere is much like Shadle in its use of a spread offense, but not as efficient as the Highlanders in the passing game.

Defensively, the Bulldogs employ a 5-2 front, something Byrd thinks will be good for the Blackhawks offensive line, allowing them to use some different blocking schemes.

"Our goal is to go 1-0 every week," Byrd said.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].