If the Cheney High football team’s mission this year is to learn to finish games, they took a small step in that direction last Friday night in Colville.
The Blackhawks scored the game’s first 21 points, and then hung defensively as the Indians scored the final 20, eeking out a slim 21-20 season-opening win on the road against the defending 1A classification state champion.
Weirdly for a team that likes to grind down opponents with a running game, all of Cheney’s points came via the arm of senior quarterback Alex Long. Long connected with tight end Koby Holt on a two-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, and found the senior on a 31-yard scoring strike late in the second quarter to give the Blackhawks a 21-0 halftime lead. In between Long hooked up with junior running back Dalton Harriett earlier in the second quarter on a 35-yard touchdown pass.
True to form as champions, Colville didn’t go away. The Indians scored twice in the third quarter, getting a one-yard run by running back Grant Michaliszyn and a 46-yard pass from quarterback Tyler Baun to wide receiver Paul Skirko to cut Cheney’s margin to 21-14.
The Indians scored again late in the fourth quarter on Michaliszyn’s four-yard run, but Michaliszyn shanked the point after attempt, keeping Cheney’s one-point lead. Colville got the ball one more time, but Cheney forced a fumble, recovered by Tayvin Ewens and ran out the clock offensively to start the season 1-0.
The Blackhawks get a taste of a possible future this Friday as they open their home schedule by hosting Greater Spokane League 3A John Rogers High School. Cheney is slated to move into 3A next year, and could find themselves facing the Pirates regularly should the Spokane school remain in the classification.
Rule changes by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association in the off season allow the number of students receiving free and/or reduced meals to be incorporated into school enrollment counts used to determine classifications. This factor makes it uncertain where GSL schools such as Rogers, North Central and Shadle Park will fall once the calculations are done.
For now, the Blackhawks are facing a Pirates team that has yet to score in 2019, losing their season opener to Idaho 4A Lakeland, 49-0. Cheney beat Rogers last season 38-7 on the turf at Joe Albi Stadium, and the Pirates don’t look to have improved much in the off season.
Rogers main weapon is junior quarterback Casey Jeske, who threw for eight touchdowns and ran for another in 2018. The Pirates averaged just 10.3 points in going 1-9 last year.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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