Lake City proves it with big win
COEUR d'ALENE - Looking for a momentum-building victory heading into next week's showdown, the Lake City Timberwolves got one - thanks to an impressive fourth-quarter drive to take the lead, followed by a couple nice defensive plays to preserve it.
Gavan Rosteck's 2-yard run with 2 minutes, 9 seconds remaining erased a one-point deficit, and Lake City (5-2) went on to beat the visiting Chiawana Riverhawks of Pasco, Wash., 33-26 on Friday night.
"Tonight kind of proved that we can play," said Lake City coach Van Troxel, whose Timberwolves play host to third-ranked (5A) Coeur d'Alene next Friday in a 5A Inland Empire League showdown. "We still have a lot to prove, (but) we're not going to back away."
Chiawana (6-1), ranked No. 3 in 4A, Washington's largest classification, went ahead 26-25 late in the third quarter on an 8-yard run by Austin Urlacher, his third touchdown of the game. That capped a flurry of four touchdowns on four drives to open the second half.
After an exchange of punts, Lake City took over on its own 8 with 6:39 remaining. On the second play of the drive, Jerry Louie-McGee caught a pass in the left flat from his brother, Tucker Louie-McGee, then reversed his field and dashed back to the right, good for 38 yards.
Later in the drive, Tucker scrambled 23 yards to the Chiawana 7, and Rosteck ran it in three plays later.
Chiawana drove into Lake City territory. On second and 4 from the Lake City 39, Chiawana's Joey Zamora threw deep for Deion Singleton, but Lake City's Cory Cook broke it up at the goal line.
Two plays later, Jacob Ramey sacked Zamora for a 9-yard loss back to the 33, where on fourth and 19, Zamora threw into the end zone for Singleton, but the pass sailed long.
"It was a great high school football game," Troxel said. "Two pretty good football teams. They had us worried; they looked like they were going to steamroll us for a while. What I'm most excited (about), our defense came up and made plays when they had to in the fourth quarter."
Chiawana out-gained Lake City 387-311. The Riverhawks churned out 188 yards on the ground, with Urlacher running for 107 yards on 19 carries, Clifton Lozano 99 yards and a TD on 23 carries.
"We didn't come to play there for a while," Chiawana coach Steve Graff said. "We showed up for a little while, then we quit playing again. They wanted it a helluva lot more than our kids did; it was pretty obvious by the way they played. We'll be all right; I think it was good for us, to be honest with you. These kids needed it. You don't just show up and beat good football teams."
Midway through the first half, Jerry Louie-McGee picked up a Chiawana punt that appeared to have bounded off a Lake City player. He ran to the right, cut back and sped down the middle of the field for a 66-yard touchdown, increasing Lake City's lead to 12-0.
Chiawana answered, then Singleton, a transfer from Florida who is attracting recruiting interest nationwide, leaped for an interception, then returned it some 60 yards to the Lake City 14. Lozano scored three plays later, and the Riverhawks led 13-12 at halftime.
Held to 84 yards in the first half, Lake City came out movin' the ball after halftime. Tucker Louie-McGee connected with Rhett Damschen on a slant for a 32-yard TD. On the next drive, Tucker kept the ball on the option and scooted 12 yards for a 25-20 Lake City lead.
Tucker Louie-McGee passed for 200 yards and rushed for 52 more. Rhett Damschen caught five passes for 79 yards.
"Offensively, the whole group is starting to mature," Troxel said. "Tucker made some brilliant decisions; he's just real poised back there. And No. 10 (Jerry Louie-McGee) is special. He makes plays."
"Ten killed us; 10 got away from us," Graff said.
Chiawana 0 13 13 0 - 26
Lake City 6 6 13 8 - 33
First quarter
LC - Gavan Rosteck 14 run (pass failed), 4:42
Second quarter
LC - Jerry Louie-McGee 66 punt return (pass failed), 5:58
Chia - Austin Urlacher 25 run (Matt Winn kick), 1:36
Chia - Clifton Lozano 4 run (kick failed), 14.7
Third quarter
LC - Rhett Damschen 32 pass from Tucker Louie-McGee (Casey Bourque kick), 8:48
Chia - Urlacher 4 run (Winn kick), 6:49
LC - T. Louie-McGee 12 run (pass failed), 6:14
Chia - Urlacher 8 run (pass failed), 1:54
Fourth quarter
LC - Rosteck 2 run (J. Louie-McGee pass from T. Louie-McGee), 2:09
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Chia, Lozano 23-99, Zamora 4-(minus 18), Urlacher 19-107. LC, Rosteck 12-30, T. Louie-McGee 16-52, J. Louie-McGee 6-28, H. Damschen 1-1.
PASSING - Chia, Zamora 14-26-0-199. LC, T. Louie-McGee 12-17-2-200.
RECEIVING - Chia, Richie, 1-12, Singleton, 6-81, Bishop 4-84, Lozano 1-12, Dorton 2-10. LC, R. Damschen 5-79, Turner 3-57, Dahl 1-1, Rosteck 2-25, J. Louie-McGee 1-38.