Oct. 10—There's a lot of talk around the area and state about it being a "down year" in football for the Greater Spokane League. A look at the standings page on The Spokesman-Review website offers some evidence of that — only seven of the 17 teams in the league between 4A, 3A and 2A have winning overall records.
But try telling that to over-capacity crowd at Union Stadium Friday night.
According to the Wikipedia page for the six-year-old facility, the stadium's listed capacity is up to 5,400 for sporting and band events. To the untrained eye though, on Friday at the "Battle of the Bell," there appeared to be many more than that in attendance.
Every spot in the bleachers on both sides of the field was taken. The concourse was packed from the tailgate party two hours before the game throughout the contest. The line for concessions snaked back and forth four or five times in front of the stand, then past the bathrooms and out into the soccer field on the north side of the stadium.
That's not even taking into consideration the players, coaches, cheerleaders, bands and the several dozen neon-green jacketed photographers and videographers roaming the sidelines — and the group of folks from the "Great American Rivalry Series" and U.S. Marines who were in attendance.
The atmosphere at Union Stadium on Friday was electric — the stuff that "Friday Night Lights" is truly made of. Along with basketball's spirit week, State B and a few other dates on the annual calendar, it truly showcases the best of what high school sports in our area has to offer.
'Coming out party'
Mead has been one of the more consistent teams in the league this season, but the Panthers' performance against Mt. Spokane — winning the 29th edition of the "Bell" 49-16 — takes things to a different level.
Coach Kyle Snell referred to the game as a "coming out party" for receiver Kyle Killman — the senior had four catches for 130 yards and three touchdowns — but he may as well have been referring to his entire team.
The Panthers controlled all phases of the game against Mt. Spokane, hitting big plays on offense, creating three turnovers and three fourth-down stops on defense, and constantly gave themselves good field position on special teams.
Mead is averaging 38.6 points per game and is a solid 5-1 so far and has yet to play a 4A league game. With a gauntlet of Gonzaga Prep, Lewis and Clark and Ferris the next three weeks the Panthers have a chance to prove they deserve the league's top seed to the Round of 32 and a home game in Week 10.
Gaining steam
Gonzaga Prep (2-4, 1-0) won its second consecutive game, using a touchdown with 45 seconds left to edge Cheney 31-27. The Bullpups and Lewis and Clark are both 1-0 in league but the Pups have a big test this week against Mead to prove these past two wins weren't flukes.
LC (2-4, 1-0) continued its 'Jekyll and Hyde' season with a convincing win over Ferris on Thursday, and its matchup against G-Prep to conclude the regular season could mean the difference between a guaranteed playoff spot or a matchup in a dreaded Tuesday play-in game before Week 10.
Rolling along
There wasn't much change in the 3A race, as Ridgeline (5-1, 3-0) continued to roll with a 35-0 win over Central Valley. The Falcons average 37.3 points for and 5.6 points against this season.
The rest of the division is up for grabs. Cheney is 2-0 in league but with four losses overall, while University (4-2, 2-2) evened its league record on Friday with a 42-0 win over Shadle Park. The Titans' end-of-season game against Mt. Spokane (4-2, 1-1) could mean the difference in a postseason slot.
2A race
Despite what you might have heard, the GSL 2A race is not a foregone conclusion.
Yes, 10th-ranked West Valley (5-1, 3-0) earned a key win over Pullman (5-1, 2-1) on Friday, halting the Greyhounds longest unbeaten streak to start a season since 2007. But they don't give away league titles without playing all the games, and Rogers still has something to say about that.
The Pirates (5-1, 4-0) actually sit atop the division after Week 6 due to their extra league win at this point. They handled North Central at ONE on Friday and are anxious to get their shot against the presumed division favorites the next two weeks, hosting Pullman in Week 7 and playing at West Valley in Week 8.
Cru-sing
The Northwest Christian Crusaders — ranked No. 1 in 2B in the state coaches poll — cruised to another win on Friday, topping No. 7 Colfax 49-6 at Ridgeline HS. They've already beaten the other contenders in the league and only have one game left against a team with a winning record.