Mount Spokane topples reigning 4A/3A GSL champion Gonzaga Prep, sets itself up for outright league title

After 31-27 win Friday, Wildcats need to beat Mead next week in regular-season finale to win league crown and nab No. 1 seed to 3A playoffs.

The view from the top was at stake.

And after a 31-27 Greater Spokane League victory Friday night over third-ranked and host Gonzaga Prep, it is Mount Spokane who is enjoying that vista with just one week remaining in the regular season.

The Wildcats' win does create a scenario that could see a three-way tie for the league crown after the regular season.

Mount Spokane (7-1 overall, 7-0 GSL) hosts Mead (7-1, 6-1) in a game that, at the least, will determine the No. 1 3A seed in the Week 10 playoffs. The Bullpups (6-2, 6-1), who beat Mead earlier this season, have a firm grasp on the GSL’s top 4A seed to the post-season.

A Wildcats' victory next Friday gives them the outright GSL title. A Panthers win creates the three-way tie at the top and sends Mead into the playoffs with the No. 1 3A seed from the league.

“It was a big game already, but now to have the implications,” Mount Spokane coach Terry Cloer said. “We’re both going to the playoffs. But it’s for bragging rights on the north side and the bell. And an outright title, or a split.”

To reach the current top spot in the standings, Mount Spokane outlasted a Bullpups team that took the initial lead just three plays into the game when JoJo Shortell found Bo Howell for a 50-yard touchdown strike. After that initial score, the lead in this one changed hands seven different times.

The final lead change came when TJ Haberman found Tristan Olson for a 17-yard touchdown pass with 7 minutes, 27 seconds remaining that gave Mount Spokane its 31-27 lead. It was Haberman’s third touchdown pass of the game, as he completed 15 of 22 passes overall for 262 yards.

Haberman’s performance offset the 332 rushing yards that the Bullpups piled up, led by Noah Holman’s 92 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Holman was not the game’s leading rusher, however. That honor went to Matteo Saccamanno for the Wildcats, who carried the ball 19 times for 111 yards and a score.

The Wildcats had to stop two final Gonzaga Prep drives but finally secured the victory when Maverick Kincaid intercepted a Shortell pass near midfield with 30 seconds to go.

The Gonzaga Prep possession previous to that, though, the Bullpups drove to the Mount Spokane 21-yard line before the Wildcats defense made the big play on a Holman fumble at the first down stick.

“Jackson Hale stripping that ball, that fumble in the end was huge as they were driving with about four minutes to play,” Cloer said. “Then to get a couple of first downs and run the clock down before the pick to finish it.”