Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Teams combine for 1,006 yards of total offense in barnburner
SPANGLE-A matinee contest on the gridiron in mild, sunny Spangle turned into one of the best games in Washington high school football this season. After Liberty made a furious third-quarter rally to erase a 23-point deficit, Davenport and its foe battled back and forth before the Gorillas managed to hang on for a nail-biting 51-50 victory Friday, Oct. 8.
Davenport and Liberty combined for 1,006 yards of offense in the shootout. The Gorillas racked up 456 yards on the ground, while Liberty senior quarterback Logan Wilson threw for 441 yards and six touchdowns.
The first quarter hinted at the potential for offensive fireworks. After Davenport junior running back Jayvee Fuduruch fumbled on the Gorillas' first play from scrimmage, Wilson found senior Wyatt Sego for a 25-yard touchdown.
It was a theme that would repeat several times throughout the game.
After Liberty's 2-point attempt failed, Davenport responded by marching down the field in a drive that culminated when junior Brenick Soliday raced untouched for a 35-yard touchdown. He kicked his own extra-point to give Davenport a 7-6 advantage.
It took Liberty 57 seconds to respond. Wilson found Sego running wide open on a deep post route to the left for a 69-yard score. Liberty led 12-7 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, the Gorillas put their foot down.
Junior quarterback Evan Gunning ran in two touchdowns on consecutive possessions, one being a short five-yard run up the middle and the second being an impressive 61-yard rumble through the left A-gap.
The half ended with another Davenport touchdown. In the Gorillas' lone passing attempt of the game, Gunning found senior Marcus Delafield on a well-executed screen pass for a 17-yard touchdown.
The Gorillas led 28-12 at halftime.
"They couldn't stop us running the football. We knew that going in, that they were going to have a hard time because we're just more physical than they are," Davenport head coach Justin Young said. "That contributed to all of our points, really."
Then, to start the third quarter, Davenport marched down the field again before junior Sam Schneider punched in a five-yard score. The score was now 35-12 Davenport, and it appeared the
Gorillas would run away with a convincing league road win.
It wasn't to be. Liberty began to chip away with a 39-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Sego, the pair's third hookup of the game. Davenport lost a fumble, and Liberty converted with six points again on a two-yard rushing touchdown by Ashton Stroble. Suddenly, it was 35-24 Davenport, and it only got worse for the Gorillas.
Davenport lost a fumble for the second-straight possession after Stroble's run, and Wilson found senior Josh Stern for a 20-yard score before Stroble ran in the two-point conversion. Suddenly, Davenport's lead was just 35-32 with 1:12 left in the third quarter.
Liberty then elected to try an onside kick. For the first time in three tries during the game, it worked.
Almost immediately, Wilson found junior Jake Jeske for a 46-yard catch-and-run score down the far sideline, and Liberty had rattled off 26 straight points to take a 38-35 lead.
"We modified our defense a little bit, and that seemed to help," Liberty head coach Brian Harrington said. "Once we started gaining momentum, we kept getting more and more in it."
Davenport had dominated the second quarter and Liberty had dominated the third quarter, so the fourth quarter was ripe for drama.
Both teams delivered.
Davenport was positioned in the red zone but were stuffed on fourth down. Liberty took possession on its own 10-yard line with a three-point lead, but Wilson's first pass was deflected. Jeske recovered the ball in his own endzone where Davenport senior Willie Waters swallowed him up for a safety to cut Liberty's lead to 38-37.
On the ensuing drive, Davenport re-took the lead on Soliday's second rushing touchdown of the game, this one from nine yards out. The 2-point attempt failed, and the Gorillas led 43-38 with 7:25 left.
In familiar fashion, Liberty responded in 69 seconds of game-time. Wilson found Stern deep over the middle for a 62-yard score. After the 2-point attempt was no good, Liberty led again 44-43.
Davenport continued its theme of running the ball up the middle. When the Gorillas didn't fumble the ball, Liberty couldn't stop the play all game.
Davenport ate up almost five minutes of game time and re-took the lead on Delafield's second score from 12-yards out. The senior then rushed in the 2-point conversion with 1:28 left to make it 51-44 Davenport.
Not surprisingly to anyone at the game, the drama was far from over. Liberty scored in 40 seconds, with Jeske finishing the drive with a 14-yard run. Davenport senior Jarrett Jacobsen broke up the 2-point passing attempt, however, and the Gorillas still led 51-50.
Liberty was forced to try an onside kick with 48 seconds remaining, and the Lancers successfully recovered the attempt for the second time in the game.
The Lancers had a chance to find a miracle and score two touchdowns in 48 seconds or less and seize victory, but on the fourth play of the drive from the Davenport 11-yard line, Jacobsen picked off Wilson's pass over the middle as time expired.
The Gorillas could breathe a sigh of relief as they escaped by the skin of their teeth with a victory.
"It was very stressful," Young said. "You never want to be in tight games like that, especially when you blow that big of a lead."
Delafield led the rushing attack with 169 yards on 24 attempts and a touchdown, in addition to his 17-yard receiving touchdown. Soliday ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns on 15 tries, while Gunning racked up 94 yards and two touchdowns on the ground on top of his passing touchdown. Schneider added 38 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Wilson carved up the Davenport secondary in the first, third and fourth quarters, in a legendary performance the Gorillas had no answers to until Jacobsen's final interception.
"He's always been a great leader, and a tough senior, and he always gets through tough situations when we need him to come through," Harrington said.
"We knew he could be deadly if we gave him some time, and he was," Young added. "He's a good quarterback."
Sego caught five passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns, while Stern had four receptions for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Jeske grabbed two passes for 81 yards and a score for the Lancers.
Liberty amassed 530 yards of total offense in the game, while Davenport had 471 yards of total offense.
"We've got some holes, but we know what we need to fix, and the guys do too," Young said. "I think some of that was complacency. When you're up (at halftime) ...you can't be complacent, because we've had this happen before, where a team comes back to beat us."
Davenport improved to 4-1 in league play and 5-1 overall with the win, maintaining their second-place position in the NE2B. Liberty, meanwhile, fell to 3-3 in league and overall.
The Gorillas head home for homecoming next Friday, Oct. 15 vs. Kettle Falls. Liberty, meanwhile, has a date with Northwest Christian (Colbert).
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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