'Hawks keep undefeated season alive in 27-15 win

The Cheney High football team continues to tear through their Great Northern League opponents, after coming from behind to defeat West Valley, 27-15, Oct. 16. The Blackhawks snapped the Eagles’ three-game winning streak and handed them their first league loss.

After a fake punt on their first offensive drive, West Valley got on the scoreboard with Johnny Sage’s 1-yard rushing touchdown. Cheney answered with a 36-yard rushing touchdown from Ty Graham to make the score 7-6.

Chase Howat’s 23-yard field goal gave West Valley a 9-7 lead at the end of the first half.

Head coach Bobby Byrd said his team wasn’t clicking right away in the first half. He also complimented the Eagles’ fake punt, which threw off his defense.

“That was a good call by (West Valley) coach Craig Whitney,” Byrd said. “We were just grinding it out there in that first half. I told the boys ‘we’re only down by 2 points.’”

The Blackhawks took back the lead in the third quarter after quarterback Jake Martin’s 12-yard scoring pass to Trey Martin. Jake Martin was 4 for 10 for 33 yards.

Zech Herford’s 3-yard touchdown run gave West Valley a 15-14 lead with less than 10 minutes in the game.

Graham’s 2-yard touchdown run gave Cheney back the lead in the fourth quarter and his 3-yard TD run insured the Blackhawks’ win. He had 31 carries for 206 yards.

Byrd said he was glad to see his team exert better offense in the second half. He also complimented his defense for “coming out strong.” Four Blackhawks recorded interceptions: Cade VanWormer, Harrison King, Cam Hardt and Andrew Witt.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the boys in showing everyone that they were down, but never out,” Byrd said.

Cheney (2-0 GNL, 7-0 overall) returns to Tom Oswald Field to host Clarkston, Oct. 23, in their final regular season home game. Byrd said it will be good to come back to “friendly territory” after back-to-back road games. Clarkston (1-1, 5-2) is coming off a loss to East Valley (1-2, 3-4), 30-22, Oct. 16.

“Clarkston dropped the game to East Valley, but you can’t compare scores,” Byrd said. “It’s any given Friday and Clarkston has a sharp defense, as well as a high-power offense.”

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.