Lakeland soars past Bonners in opener
RATHDRUM — After an quick feeling-out period in the first quarter, the Lakeland Hawks stepped on the gas, while the Bonners Ferry Badgers got stuck in neutral.
Senior Owen Dickens scored on a 35-yard touchdown run with 59 seconds remaining in the first quarter, sparking the Hawks to a 44-0 win over the Badgers in the season opener for both schools at Corbit Field on Friday night.
“I think anytime in a first game, you have those initial things that happen,” Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said. “But the kids responded well in the first half. Second half, offensively, we were trying to rotate some guys in and didn’t have a lot of continuity. Special teams and defense really stepped up and pulled us through. Our kids played well, Bonners played well.”
While it was a team effort, the case could have been made that Dickens might have responded after a sluggish start to the game.
“My first run, I fumbled the ball, then I missed an interception, and probably the first tackle I could have had, I missed that too,” Dickens said. “I just looked at it like it’s not going to happen again.”
Jared McDaniel ran for two touchdowns — both in the second quarter as the Hawks raced out to a 30-0 halftime lead. Junior Dylan Vahey set up another score following a 55-yard punt return early in the third quarter, scoring on a 1-yard run a play later to give Lakeland a 37-0 lead.
“It was really important,” Dickens said of winning the season opener. “After last season (Lakeland was 1-9), we’ve got to get that chip off our shoulder and show people we’re not that team from last year.”
Lakeland closed out the scoring on an interception by Nathan Johnson, who returned it 95 yards for a touchdown at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock.
“Owen has worked really hard, and a lot of our kids have worked hard in the weight room during the summer,” Kiefer said. “And that’s what it’s about is being stronger and faster than last year. It’s starting to pay off and it’s nice to see. I’m glad the labor they put in is starting to show on the field.”
Lakeland ran for 272 yards in the game.
Bonners Ferry returned 14 starters from last year’s team which advanced to the state 3A playoffs.
“We’re young in our offensive and defensive line, and it showed tonight,” second-year Bonners Ferry coach Cory Kramer said. “We just don’t have the numbers and they do. We kind of ran out of gas. We had a few drives going and made a few mistakes. We’ve got a lot of missing guys (due to eligibility and grades), and it killed us tonight. We had a couple of good drives, but shot ourselves in the foot with fumbles and an interception in the red zone.”
Next Friday, Lakeland travels to Colville.
Bonners Ferry 0 0 0 0 — 0
Lakeland 8 22 14 0 — 44
First quarter
LL — Owen Dickens 35 run (Dickens run), :59
Second quarter
LL — Jared McDaniel 1 run (Dylan Norman pass from Ryan Pote), 11:19
LL — Tanner Fuson 3 run (Pote run), 5:31
LL — McDaniel 5 run (kick failed)
Third quarter
LL — Dylan Vahey 1 run (JJ Mackesy kick), 8:37
LL — Nathan Johnson 95 interception return (Colin Bell kick), :00
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — BF, Minor 1-1, N. Sabin 7-1, C. Sabin 7-(-12), Varelman 4-10, Wasmere 7-24. LL, Neilson 6-42, McDaniel 9-35, Dickens 2-59, Vahey 3-29, Fuson 6-20, Norman 2-3, Johnson 3-39, Suko 1-8, Pote 5-29, Keller 2-(-2),
PASSING — BF, C. Sabin, 6-20-1-59, Stockton, 1-1-0-12. LL, Pote, 4-6-0-55, Siegford, 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — BF, Lavila 2-25, Stockton 2-8, N. Sabin 1-8, Harrington 1-12, Abel 1-18. LL, Mackesy 2-13, Vahey 1-34, Neilson 1-8.