Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Vikings still in playoff hunt
With his team down 38-30 to Garfield-Palouse at the break between the third and fourth quarter, Pomeroy coach Sanford Bates instructed his players.
"No more running for 44. You’ve got to stop him," he demanded.
Back on the field, on the next play Pomeroy senior lineman Cody LaMunyan stuffed Gar-Pal’s No. 44 – Kevin Knauff.
"Let’s go D!" called out Bates.
On the next snap, Knauff took the ball up the middle for a 40-yard touchdown.
Later, with 4:08 left and Gar-Pal up 44-30, Knauff carried four tacklers to a first down to put the game away.
That’s the way it went in a close contest in Palouse Friday night, ending in a final score of 44-30.
Knauff led the team with 241 yards rushing on 36 carries.
"He makes a tremendous difference when he’s in there," said Gar-Pal coach Scott Thompson. "On both sides of the ball."
The Vikings (2-2 in league, 2-4 overall) remain in playoff contention.
Last Friday’s home game began with Gar-Pal and Pomeroy trading touchdowns until the Vikings’ Tyler Thurman intercepted a pass, and, with a long return, followed by a 27-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Hunter Woltering to Thurman. With 1:14 left in the second quarter, Gar-Pal led 28-16.
Thurman caught his third two-point conversion in a row to make it 30-16.
Pomeroy then drove, threatening, until Gar-Pal’s Ian Neibergs deflected a pass from Pirates’ quarterback Kade Snyder to end the second quarter.
At halftime, Snyder rehearsed a long, cross-field pattern with receiver Bryan McGreevy.
Taking the ball first in the second half, Pomeroy came out and ran the same play the two had just rehearsed.
It resulted in a long touchdown, cutting the Gar-Pal lead to six at 30-24.
The Vikings then answered though, with Knauff scoring on a one-yard run to put their lead back to 14.
But soon McGreevy got the ball again taking it 58 yards on a reverse for a touchdown.
At 38-30 with 1:06 left in the third, the game was still in reach.
But Gar-Pal held on the two-point conversion attempt and Pomeroy’s Coach Bates was soon directing his team about No. 44 at the quarter break.
"We played solid all night, just across the board," Thompson said. "Every guy doing his job."
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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