Mt. Spokane rallies past Cheney 45-29

CHENEY - Cheney has shown the ability to play with the some of the best teams in the Greater Spokane League this football season.

But unfortunately, the Blackhawks have not been able to fully finish those games, the latest being a 45-29 loss to league co-leader Mt. Spokane Oct. 14 at Tom Oswald Field.

The Blackhawks led 21-17 with 8 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in the third quarter on a Jakeb Vallance to Gabriel Bradley 11-yard pass, but the Wildcats (6-0 GSL, 6-1 overall) would score the next 28 points.

"Our players are completely capable of playing with them, and Mt. Spokane relied on past experience to get them through our initial success," Cheney head coach Bobby Byrd wrote in an email as he assessed the outcome.

The Blackhawks (2-5 GSL, 2-5 overall) and Wildcats basically traded scoring efforts in the first half with Mt. Spokane taking a 17-14 lead to halftime. Cheney responded to Mt. Spokane's first touchdown in lightning-quick fashion when Vallance connected with Kordell Laher for 80 yards on a one-play drive that took just 15 seconds.

Vallance would give the Blackhawks a 10-7 lead at 6:37 of the second quarter with his 1-yard run but Boden Gardner ran 93 yards for the go-ahead score moments later.

"The fortunate part to Jakeb's game is that every pass play has the potential to become a run play," Byrd said. "Our receiver corps and Jakeb have been able to feed off of each other."

Mt. Spokane's onslaught began with a pair of T.J. Haberman third-quarter touchdown passes, one to Rece Shuerman for 19 yards and another of 42 to Bradley Runge three minutes apart. The Wildcats turned to the ground in the fourth quarter when Matteo Saccomanno and Jackson Hale scored four minutes apart.

Vallance, who completed 18 of 27 passes for 285 yards, capped scoring with a second touchdown pass to Laher with 1:55 to play.

"A lot of things clicked for us," Byrd said. "Kordell Laher who has been our leading receiver in receptions had a big night in yards (108) and TD's."

Despite the 16-point margin of victory, not much in the statistical report pointed to any dominance by Mt. Spokane which only out gained Cheney 371-360 in total yards. Cheney held a 6-minute edge in time of possession and turnovers were even.

"Once again I think the production is an indicator we are getting better," Byrd said.

"Defensively, you take away a few plays and the night finishes completely different," he added.

Next for the Blackhawks is a 7 p.m. Oct. 21 game vs. Mead (5-1, 6-1) at Union Stadium.

"This game (Mt. Spokane) has proven once again that we are not a team to be overlooked," Byrd said. "We look forward to another challenge with a top GSL team."