Hawks take flight early

SPOKANE — A glance at Lakeland High’s combined varsity and junior varsity football roster — only 10 of the 62 players listed are seniors — suggest the Hawks might be a team to be reckoned with in the future.

On Saturday afternoon, after a slow start, Lakeland showed it might be pretty good this year as well.

After allowing Rogers a long touchdown drive on its first possession, Lakeland took over the game on both sides of the ball and finished off the Pirates of the Greater Spokane League 28-14 in the season opener for both teams at Joe Albi Stadium.

“A lot of it had to do with our kids not tackling well,” Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said. “They’re a big, physical team, and our guys are undersized. We need another 20, 25 pounds on each one of our guys. Aside from that, fundamentally, our tackling wasn’t what it should be. And gradually, the game speed, we caught up to it. We had a lot of kids, that was their first varsity game.”

Colton Boettcher was one of those playing his first varsity game for Lakeland. The junior tight end/linebacker ran for a touchdown, caught a touchdown pass and had an interception.

“I was really nervous; I was nauseous before the game,” Boettcher said. “It went away once we started playing.”

After allowing Rogers 169 yards of total offense in the first quarter, the Hawks held Rogers to just 147 the rest of the way.

“I think we just decided we didn’t want to lose, so we came back and fought,” Boettcher said.

The game had a bit of a “football follies” beginning, as two Rogers players crashed into each other trying to catch the opening kickoff. The ball bounded off of them and Lakeland’s Austin Russell fell on the ball at the Pirates 15.

But Lakeland gave the ball back on a fumble two plays later, and Rogers drove 95 yards in 10 plays, with sophomore Casey Jeske hitting Kadyn Bland down the middle on a 36-yard pass play for a 7-0 lead. Jeske was 4 of 4 for 100 yards through the air in the first quarter, but was just 2 of 8 with two interceptions after that.

The teams then traded lost fumbles, with Lakeland’s Gavin Peterson pouncing on a loose ball at the Hawks 23.

Lakeland, using a combination of the wing-T it has run for years, and mixing in a spread offense — a nod to new offensive coordinator Brian Etchison, who has a spread offense background — scored on three straight possessions to lead 21-7 at the half.

Griggs, Boettcher and Matt Foley — all juniors — took turns manning the two wingback positions, and the Hawks were most effective getting the ball on the outside with wingback reverses. Griggs totaled 91 yards on 9 carries, including a 10-yard reverse around right end — helped by a block by lineman Travis Derrick — to tie the game at 7 with 8:29 left in the half.

Boettcher then ran around the right end from 3 yards out for a 14-7 lead.

Boettcher then intercepted Jeske at the Lakeland 17, and returned it to the Rogers 45. Eight plays later, on fourth and 6 at the Pirates 15, Hawks junior quarterback Brandon Furey rolled right, and found Boettcher all alone in the end zone for a 21-7 halftime lead.

Rogers pulled within 21-14 with 7:12 left in the fourth quarter with an 18-play scoring drive kept alive by a defensive holding penalty that negated a Lakeland interception. Tre Phillips, who powered mostly between the tackles for 135 yards on 29 carries, scored from 2 yards out.

Rogers had a chance to tie it, but chose to punt on fourth and 9 at the Lakeland 45. Three plays later, Furey rolled right and found wide-open junior Isaac McArthur, who took it the rest of the way to complete the 79-yard score.

McArthur then capped the win with an interception.

Lakeland plays host to East Valley on Friday.

Lakeland 0 21 0 7 — 28

Rogers 7 0 0 7 — 14

First quarter

Rog — Kadyn Bland 36 pass from Casey Jeske (Victor Gomez kick), 6:12

Second quarter

LL — Ezra Griggs 10 run (Colin Bell kick), 8:29

LL — Colton Boettcher 3 run (Bell kick), 5:29

LL — Boettcher 15 pass from Brandon Furey (Bell kick), :25

Fourth quarter

Rog — Tre Phillips 2 run (Gomez kick), 7:12

LL — Isaac McArthur 79 pass from Furey (Ball kick), 2:31

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — LL, Hendry 17-63, Furey 5-3, Griggs 9-91, Foley 5-23, Boettcher 3-10, Asher 1-3. Rog — Phillips 29-135, Jeske 6-17, Anos 3-6, Jordan 1-(minus 1), Neal 2-1, Rupp 3-17.

PASSING — LL, Furey 10-13-0-190. Rog, Jeske 6-12-2-141.

RECEIVING — LL, Johnson 1-5, McArthur 3-123, Griggs 4-23, Boettcher 2-37. Rog, Bland 2-54, Rollins 2-21, Perry 2-26.