5 Washington high school football games you should not have missed in Week 7

Heading into a pivotal 4A Greater Spokane League game against Central Valley on Friday, Gonzaga Prep coach Dave McKenna said thought the Bears' 3-3 record was misleading.

Two of their losses came in overtime, and a third defeat happened in the final minute of regulation.

Expecting a dogfight - McKenna and the third-ranked Bullpups got one before posting a 28-21 victory to clinch the league's top seed to the 4A district crossover playoffs.

Quarterback JoJo Shortell's 3-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal at the midway point of the fourth quarter was the difference.

"(Central Valley) was physical. They were really physical tonight and challenged us from the get-go," McKenna said.

The Bullpups brought down three first-half interceptions and relied on running back Nick Bankey all night to keep the game in their control.

"I don't know how many touches he had, but the way he blocked – and his physicality – was awesome," McKenna said.

The win keeps Gonzaga Prep undefeated in GSL play, and sets up a game next week against Mount Spokane for sole possession of first place in the league.

EASTSIDE CATHOLIC PULLS AWAY FROM SEATTLE PREP

Eastside Catholic coach Dominic Daste captured his team's Metro League game against Seattle Prep on Friday it with one word - weird.

Kickoff was pushed back because of air quality, there weren't many fans in the stands because of the aforementioned air quality and the first half was a lot closer than expected.

But the No. 2 Crusaders rebounded from a slow start to handle the Panthers, 45-14.

"They did a good job putting together a game plan. They were doing a couple things in terms of blitzing our formation and things like that," Daste said of Seattle Prep. "We had to get that under control. In general, what they do is a little tough with the amount of movement they have."

For as hard as it was for Eastside Catholic to put scoring drives together in the first half, the Crusaders came out of the break in a big way.

Tyson Weaver fielded the second half kick off at the 17-yard line and ran it all the way back for the touchdown, pushing the Crusaders' lead to 17-7.

Outside of Weaver's big play, senior running back Masen Uribe came up big, with more than 200 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown.

NOOKSACK VALLEY TAKES PIVOTAL 1A NWC GAME

Following a loss to Lynden Christian last week, Nooksack Valley had no room for error in its Friday night matchup against Mount Baker.

With the winner putting themselves in the driver's seat for the second playoff spot out of the conference, the Pioneers' season was just about on the line and Nooksack Valley pulled through with the 28-20 victory.

Knotted at 14-14 at halftime, Mount Baker came out and scored almost immediately in the second half to take a 20-14 lead.

It was at that moment, Nooksack Valley coach Craig Bartl saw something different in his team compared to last week.

In the Pioneers' loss to Lynden Christian last week, Bartl said they started to feel sorry for themselves instead of doing something about it on the scoreboard.

This time around, the Pioneers' offense responded with 14 unanswered points and the defense shut the door on the Mountaineers to take possession of second place – and the final playoff spot – in the 1A Northwest Conference.

"Our guys just came together as a group and didn't want to lose," Bartl said. "They understand now how to bounce back after something like last week. We've been building up to this for the last few years – believing in the process and what we're doing – and I think we're starting to get there now."

COLVILLE GETS UPSET WIN OVER 2A GSL LEADER SHADLE PARK

Colville has a young, emerging group in search of a signature win.

And it came Friday night - 35-28 over 2A Greater Spokane League leader Shadle Park in a non-league showdown.

The game didn't start how the Crimson Hawks drew it up with Shadle Park getting on the scoreboard first.

But Colville's response couldn't have been much better. Cale Roy and Allan McKeraghan linked up for a 64-yard touchdown on the Crimson Hawks' first play from scrimmage.

"It was huge for our kids," Colville coach Greg Mace said. "I think it carried over in the rest of the game for us knowing we could really compete with these guys."

Colville and Shadle Park were locked in a back and forth battle the rest of the way, but the small-school Crimson Hawks pulled through.

The Crimson Hawks found a way to win despite turning the ball over three times.

"Last week at Freeman we turned the ball over six times and had a rough go with it," Mace said. "Coming into this week that's something we really talked about. Things are going to go wrong in the course of a high school football game. I was really pleased with the way we responded this week when things did go wrong."

Roy threw for 248 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Colville offense over the Highlanders.

LATE KELSO INTERCEPTION PRESERVES 28-26 WIN OVER MOUNTAIN VIEW

Kelso going down to the wire with Mountain View didn't surprise anyone, especially longtime Hilanders coach Steve Armine.

Recent history had matchups between the Hilanders and Thunder coming down to who made one more play.

This time around, it was Kelso in a 28-26 win Thursday night that clinched the Hilanders a playoff spot.

"It was a typical Kelso-Mountain View game. Going down to the last play again and thank goodness we made one more play than they did," Amrine said. "Our guys did a great job and played hard. It was just a good football game and a great rivalry. Happy for us to come out on the positive end."

Kelso's offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage, allowing the Hilanders' running backs to rack up more than 250 yards on the ground. Conner Noah led the way with 185 yards on 32 carries.

Despite Noah's big day rushing the ball, Zeke Smith stole the final spotlight.

With time ticking down and Mountain View nearing field-goal range, Smith hauled in a pass in the end zone for a turnover to give the Hilanders the ball back for a kneel down to end the game.