In a battle of contrasting offensive styles, it was Shadle Park High School’s passing offense that prevailed over the Cheney Blackhawks last Friday night at Spokane’s Joe Albi Stadium.
The Highlanders overcame a 21-14 fourth-quarter deficit by scoring the game’s final 10 points. Seven came on a Ryan Schmidt to Logan Doyle 16-yard touchdown pass and the final three on a Camden Harlow 40-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in regulation to edge the Blackhawks 24-21 in nonleague action.
“We knew it was going to be a battle and it turned out that way,” Cheney head coach Bobby Byrd said. “In all phases, the effort was there. It’s just a matter of cleaning up some easy things.”
Much like last year’s 42-40 thriller in Cheney – a Blackhawks win – Friday’s game was a back and forth affair. Schmidt found Doyle on a 52-yard TD strike to give Shadle a first quarter lead. Cheney running back Dalton Harriett provided the equalizer with a 76-yard scamper in the second quarter to send the teams to the locker tied at 7.
Schmidt put the Highlanders back on top with a one-yard run in the third. Cheney’s Kaden Lizama tied it with a four-yard run, and quarterback Alex Long put the Blackhawks on top with a two-yard run early in the fourth before Shadle mounted its winning rally.
Cheney had 238 yards of total offense to the Highlander’s 403. The Blackhawks rushed for 178 yards, Harriett leading the way with seven carries for 98 yards and Gabe Gerber eight carries for 61. Long was 7-12 for 60 yards through the air, with Dusten Butikofer making three catches for 29 yards.
Schmidt was 24-35 for 245 yards passing with two touchdowns and one interception. Doyle rushed for 103 yards on 14 carries and caught eight passes for 89 yards.
Byrd said Cheney’s loss came down to failing to execute on some of the things that go unnoticed by fans, like missing assignments on defense and blocks on offense. Those “things” can be cleaned up, he added.
“Saturday film (session) was a great teaching exercise in why certain drills are run during practice,” Byrd said. “I can go back and think of things I could’ve done better.”
Cheney (2-1) returns home to face 1A Cashmere this Friday at Tom Oswald Field. The Bulldogs of the Caribou Trail are 3-0, thrashing Wapato 55-21 in their last outing.
Cashmere is led by junior quarterback Sam Keogh. According to MaxPreps, at 6-foot-2-inches, 175 pounds, Keogh is also the Bulldogs leading rusher. Through their first two games, wins over Ephrata 20-14 in overtime and 44-7 over Sultan, Cashmere has been averaging 190.5 yards through the air and 108 on the ground.
Byrd said the Bulldogs are athletic up front on offense, but not as big of a line as Shadle. Cashmere does well in mixing up its offensive sets, operating out of the shotgun, with a wing-T formation or using the run/pass option (RPO).
Defensively, Byrd said they are quick and rally well to the ball, using an “odd-man front” with three down linemen and two outside linebackers. Even though employing and even-man front, Byrd said Shadle was good preparation for what the Blackhawks will see on Friday night.
Cheney scored 12 points in the fourth quarter to rally for a 31-26 win in Cashmere last year. Byrd said last year’s game was a challenge for Cheney’s secondary, but feels the group is more disciplined this year in reading and responding to the run/pass option.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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