John Beck  / JP Beck Photographic Services

2012 Kickoff Classic
Presented by Farmers Insurance

Saturday, September 1  |  Roos Field, Eastern Washington University, Cheney

The 2012 Kickoff Classic, presented by Farmers Insurance Group, is Saturday, September 1, at Eastern Washington University.  Tickets for the Kickoff Classic can be purchased through participating schools or at the gate the day of the event.  Adults are $15 each, students (with valid ASB card) and seniors (62 and over) are $10 each, and children under the age of five are free.

Teams for this event are as follows:

The Nighthawks were led by the rushing attack of Craig Nelson and Clay Shelton. Nelson rushed for 208 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown, while Shelton added two touchdowns and 74 yards on the ground.

TOR took a 16-0 lead into halftime, with Nelson and Shelton each scoring. The biggest play of the half was Nelson’s second quarter 87-yard touchdown run. Nelson had 173 yards rushing at the halfway mark.

The second half was much of the same as the Nighthawk’s defense continued to shutdown Reardan’s running game, holding them to only four total yards in the third quarter.

TOR’s offense threatened to add to its lead in the fourth when quarterback Ryan Maley connected on a 22 and 18-yard completions.  The Indians stood firm and forced a fumble on the 2-yard line, keeping the score at 16-0. The Nighthawks’ defense answered with a Tyler Hanson interception and returned the ball 19 yards for the Reardan 4-yardline. Shelton converted the turnover into points on the ensuing run to secure the Nighthawk victory.

The TOR defense held Reardan to 81 total yards in the first half and 128 for the game and forced five turnovers. The Indian’s Charlie Eldred led the team in rushing with 55 yards on 19 carries.
 

Colville scored on all three of its possessions in the third quarter and then stopped a Freeman 2-point conversion attempt late in the fourth to hold onto a thrilling 20-18 victory in the second game of the 2012 Kickoff Classic presented by Farmers Insurance.
 
The Indian’s Omar Khater and Jordan Booth came up with the play of the game in a joint effort to bring down the Scotties’ running back Markus Goldbach on the two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game with 37 seconds remaining.
 
The Scotties jumped out to a 12-0 lead after scoring on a 25-yard run by Goldbach in the first quarter.  Freeman continued its rally when quarterback Wyatt Smith connected with Kellen Miller for a 36-yard touchdown.
 
Despite entering the second half in a double-digit deficit, Colville responded in the third quarter after capitalizing on Freeman fumble.  The Indians went 17-yards on six plays to end their scoring drought.
 
On the ensuing possession, Colville forced a Freeman punt and scored on a 13-yard touchdown run by Zach Shoemaker. The scoring drive included two fourth-down conversions.
 
Colville then recovered the football on the following kickoff at the Freeman 33-yardline. Colville scored on its third-straight possession when Omar Khater caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from Knight on the first play of the drive. Shoemaker increased the Indian’s lead to eight with a successful run on the two-point conversion.
 
A 25-yard punt return by Max Laib set up Freeman with great field position at the Colville 19-yardline, just under three minutes remaining.  The Scotties were able to score on another Miller touchdown, but could not tie the game.  The onside kick attempt was unsuccessful by Freeman.
 
Colton Vining and Shoemaker led the Indians in rushing with 82 and 81 yards, respectively.  Nick Warhus and Shoemaker scored rushing touchdowns for Colville, while Ben Knight finished with 71 yards passing.
 
The Scotties’ Goldbach had a game-high 83 total yards on 13 carries, while Smith finished with 10 completions for 111 yards.

The Red Devil’s David Garza was the hero in the contest when he caught Jordan’s West pass and raced down the sideline on a 71-yard touchdown pass to clinch the game with 41 seconds left.
 
East Valley struck first by taking advantage of short punt by Cheney. The Red Devil’s running back Oscar Martinez capped an 18-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Cheney answered on the next possession marching 60 yards on 10 plays. Theo Petropoulos split the uprights on a 27-yard field goal attempt to the Blackhawks deficit to 6-3 at intermission.

After a scoreless third quarter it was Petropoulos who tied the game at six with just over 10 minutes remaining.  The senior kicker drilled a 46-yard field goal. He finished 2-for-4 on field goals, making the 27 and 46-yarders, while missing a 41-yard attempt and having a 38-yard kick blocked.
 
For the Red Devils, West finished 12 of 25 passing for 158 yards and one touchdown. Sergio Reyna was the leading rusher for East Valley with 44 yards on nine carries, while Zach Janis had 6 receptions for 61 yards.
 
Andrew Graham finished with 251 yards passing on 18 of 39 attempts. Eric Igbinoba was his favorite target with eight catches for 68 yards, while Austin Kautzman led the ground attack for Cheney with 57 yards on 16 carries.