Skyline takes down No. 10 Mead, 27-17

The Skyline Spartans, regular playoff qualifiers, played like they had been there before as they knocked off the Spokane school 27-17 in a Class 4A football first-round game at Joe Albi Stadium.

Skyline (8-3) advances to the quarterfinals and will host Spokane's last team standing, Central Valley (9-2), next Saturday.

The Spartans opened the second half with a kickoff that the 10th-ranked Panthers (9-2) essentially stood around and watched bounce near their sideline. Skyline junior Peyton Pelluer alertly recovered the ball before sliding out of bounds, giving the Spartans possession at Mead's 24-yard line.

Three plays later, 6-foot-5 junior quarterback Max Browne found receiver Mason Gregory wide open in the end zone from 11 yards as Skyline built a 20-9 lead.

"You can't make mistakes against a team like this," Mead coach Sean Carty said. "Our kick-return mistakes were costly. And we had some guys get hurt that we could not get hurt."

Mead was down to its fourth center at one point. Starting center Dane Crater sprained an ankle last week and didn't play. The Panthers went through three more Saturday.

"You can't keep plugging away like that without all your bullets," Carty said. "But we fought hard and they're a good team. I'm proud of our season."

After Mead cut the deficit to 20-17 on a touchdown with 10:49 left in the third quarter, Skyline added its final TD five minutes later when Browne hit Adan Lopez on a 37-yard connection.

The game started as if it might be a shootout. Skyline moved 80 yards in 14 plays on its opening possession, with Damian Greene scoring on a 2-yard run — his eighth carry during the drive.

But Skyline lacked its usual offensive flash.

"It wasn't sexy, but our defense was unbelievable," Skyline coach Mat Taylor said. "It's by far our best defensive game of the year.

"We're peaking at the right time," Taylor said.

Browne, who usually throws for big numbers, completed 12 of 27 attempts for 222 yards and three TDs.

"We've had a lot of success throwing the ball, but today showed that when we had to we can run the ball. I feel like our line was the key to the game," Browne said.

Skyline did a good job of stringing out Mead's fly offense.

"The biggest thing was is we stayed outside and tried to have our speed on the outside," Taylor said. "We wanted to make them try to cut it up (the field)."