Silver Valley Sports Wrap Oct. 16-Oct. 22
Photos by Josh McDonald Tiger quarterback Gryphon Todd rolls out as he attempts to find an open receiver during Mullan’s win over Timberline on Friday.
Mullan running back Skye Gallaway races toward the end zone.
Caitlin Wendt and Kat Rauenhorst show off their blocking skills during Kellogg’s win over CDA Charter last Monday.
Kellogg High School
Football
Friday, Oct. 20
Kellogg 56, Bonners Ferry 6: The Kellogg Wildcats dream season continued in a big way on Friday night as they romped past Bonners Ferry on their way to the outright Intermountain League championship.
The visiting Wildcats continued to show off a smashmouth offense that has guided them all season long, meanwhile their defense suffocated the Badgers, something that has been a trademark of the Wildcats all year long.
“We had 323 rushing and 109 passing yards on offense,” coach Dan Lucier said. “On defense we gave up 160 yards (66 passing and 94 rushing), most of which came on their last possession.”
This was the Wildcats fifth “road” win of the season, which is something that has Lucier very pleased, especially with tougher games on the horizon.
“We are very good on the road which will help us in the playoffs,” Lucier said. “I still think that we are quite a ways from maximizing our potential, which should come in the next month.”
Kellogg will now have a couple weeks to fine tune their game before they go on the road for their first round playoff game.
“We have progressed into a very good team,” Lucier said. “I am very happy with the way that we finished the regular season very strong. We have many positive qualities at this stage of the game, probably the one that stands out the most is our physical play and our ability to control the ball.”
Kellogg will take on Gooding in the first round of the Idaho 3A State Playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 4; should they win that matchup they will host the following game.
Volleyball
Monday, Oct. 16
Kellogg d. CDA Charter: Survive and advance, that is what the Wildcats game plan was on Monday night when they knocked off visiting Coeur d’Alene Charter in three sets (25-19, 25-12, 25-18). What they didn’t expect was just how quickly they would do it.
A loser-out game has the potential to bring out the best in a team, sometimes the best can look like desperation.
Bodies hit the deck, rallies lasted minutes at a time, and the Wildcats finally looked like a team who should be feared.
“We had a lot of energy tonight, and we communicated well which was a big bonus for us,” coach Hollie Yrjana said. “We tend to play better when we have high energy and good communication.”
Things started to get a little sloppy near the end of the third set, which has been a problem for the Wildcats all season.
“I had planned to put my subs in at the end, but got nervous when they let them back in,” Yrjana said. “I had to take a timeout to settle them down and refocus them.”
Kellogg got some really big play from their starters, including great hitting from Kaili Cates and great blocking from Kat Rauenhorst, but it was the serving of two seniors that kept the Wildcats in the lead.
“Maddie (Bush) went 15/18 from the serve line for us and Morgan (Nusz) went 15/15,” Yrjana said. “We do well when our serving looks like that.”
Kellogg advanced to the 3A District I Tournament, but fell just short of a state tournament berth.
In the opening round the Wildcats lost to Bonners Ferry (3 sets to 0).
In the loser-out game Kellogg beat Priest River (3 sets to 0).
This brought about another loser-out game against Timberlake, but unfortunately the Wildcats lost in three sets.
Mullan High School
Football
Friday, Oct. 20
Mullan 54, Timberline 28: The Tigers got their first win of the season and did so in dominant fashion as they raced past the Timberline Spartans.
Playing in cold, wet weather that only a duck could love, It was a back-and-forth first half, where neither team could gain a true edge.
But that changed in the second half as Mullan shut down the Spartans and raced to their first win of the year.
Tiger sophomore Skye Gallaway scored six touchdowns with nearly 400 yards of offense. Meanwhile senior quarterback and linebacker Gryphon Todd had 3 interceptions while throwing for five touchdowns of his own.
Coach Stetson Spooner was very proud of his squad after the game.
“Glad our kids got a W. They deserved it,” Spooner said. “They practiced well and played even better. I could go into detail about all of the kids tonight. Everyone played a hell of a game.”
Spooner even complimented his offensive coordinator Dan Fritz on his excellent play calling.
“Coach Fritz’s offensive game plan was near perfect,” Spooner recalled. “All the pieces fell into place tonight. I’m just so happy for our town and kids.”
Ever the consummate pro, Spooner also gave a tip of the cap to his opposition, a team which is very much in the same difficult position that Mullan has been in over the past few years.
“Hats off to the Spartans as well,” Spooner said. “They battled to the end and were outmanned a little bit. We have been there our share of times for sure. They are a group of classy, young kids that worked very hard.”
Mullan will host Clark Fork this Friday at 3 p.m.
Wallace High School
Volleyball
Saturday, Oct. 21
Genesee d. Wallace
MOSCOW — It was a tough outing for the Miners when they fell on the road in their annual District I-II play-in game against Genesee in three sets (25-13, 25-16, 25-18).
Coach Anali Spooner didn’t like what she saw from her team, but not necessarily during the game, in fact she thought they were very well prepared, but the neutral site game trip got them off their plans
“A two and half-hour bus drive didn't help us get our heads in the game,” Spooner said. “I think it actually psyched us out in a way. We watched their game film all last week and we adjusted our defense to their really good hitters and we just weren't able to get exactly where we needed to that day. The first few points of the first match were terrible and I was hoping that it wasn't setting the entire game up for us, but it did. We had silly mistakes that added to their score and we weren't able to catch up.”
In fact, Spooner thought that the Miners were playing their best volleyball of the season prior to Saturday.
“If we would have played against them the way we did against Kellogg and Kootenai, we could have come off with a win,” Spooner stated.
The way Wallace is forced to prepare for their district matchups has proved to be one of the more difficult things about being in a split district, but that won’t stop Spooner from being proud of her team and the way they fought until the bitter end.
“Even with it being an off night for the girls, I'm still so extremely proud of them,” Spooner said. “It's tough for us to play teams all season and then not get to be in our league tournament because we are District I and everyone else is District II. It’s a tough pill to swallow sometimes when I remind the girls all season that each and every game is being played just to get us ready for that Play-in game. Again though, I'm so proud of my team and so proud to be their coach.”
Football
Saturday, Oct. 21
Lapwai 42, Wallace 6: The Miners were mathematically eliminated from state playoff consideration on Friday when they lost to the host Wildcats in Whitepine League play.
Wallace suffered from several injuries during the game, which led to them forfeiting the contest midway through the third quarter.
Wallace will be on the road this Friday, for their season finale against Troy at 6 p.m.
No further information was given for this game.
Swimming
Saturday, Oct. 21
MOSCOW — The Wallace swim team competed at the University of Idaho over the weekend. Miner swimmers competed in the 100- and 50-yard freestyle event as well as the 100-yard backstroke event.
WHS swimmers, their events and results:
Freshman Eli Bishop: 100 Free, 1:39.20; 50 Free, 43.77.
Sophomore Kegan Larson, 100 Free, 1:34.05; 50 Free, 40.44
Senior Brayden Peyer, 100 Back, 1:26.78; 50 Free, 30.09