Timberwolves break through
LOREN BENOIT/Press Lake City’s Anthony Chavez celebrates a two-point conversion score with Lucas Briner in Friday night’s game against Lakeland High.
Lakeland wide receiver Ezra Grigg runs the ball upfield as Lake City's Tallon Veneroso (22) prepares to make the tackle in Friday night's game in Rathdrum. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Lake City High running back Zane Lettau rushes the ball upfield against Lakeland High on Friday in Rathdrum. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Lakeland High tight end Curtis Johnson catches the ball and runs upfield for a gain against Lake City in Friday night's game in Rathdrum. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Lake City wide receiver Matt Whitcomb catches a pass for a touchdown in Friday night's game against Lakeland. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Lake City's Tallon Veneroso (22) applies pressure as Lakeland High quarterback Brandon Furey passes downfield during Friday night's game in Rathdrum. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Lake City quarterback Chris Irvin rushes downfield in Friday night's game against Lakeland High. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Lakeland High running back Eli Asher reaches for a touchdown during Friday night's game against Lake City. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Lakeland High's Trey McArthur rushes upfield between Lake City defenders during Friday night's game in Rathdrum. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
RATHDRUM — Chris Irvin improvised, Zane Lettau lowered his shoulder and barreled through the defense, and the Lake City Timberwolves were rewarded with their first victory of the season Friday night.
Irvin passed for 232 yards and three touchdowns, and Lettau rushed for 162 yards and three scores as visiting Lake City broke away from a halftime tie and defeated the Lakeland Hawks 40-27 in nonleague high school football at Corbit Field.
“The first half, we got in our own way a lot,” interim Lake City head coach Brian Fulp said. “It got pretty rough there for a little bit. In the second half, I thought we did a much better job of keeping our composure, and I think that really helped us separate. Lakeland played hard, played really physical. They gave it to us for a little bit. This one feels good, because this was a physical, hard-fought game.”
Irvin, a sophomore, hit fellow soph Matt Whitcomb for a pair of TD passes. On a few of his completions, Irvin rolled right, then threw back left over the middle to a receiver peeling back toward the middle of the field.
On the first possession of the third quarter, following a back-and-forth 20-all tie at the half, Irvin scrambled to his right. Lucas Briner snuck away from his man, took a short pass from Irvin and romped into the end zone to complete a 46-yard scoring play that put Lake City (1-3) ahead to stay.
“He started playing a little bit, which is great to see,” Fulp said of Irvin. “He played great. That’s not always what you want, when he’s throwing across his body, but he was getting to his third read, which was really impressive.”
Lakeland (2-1) pulled within 34-27 on Ezra Grigg’s 7-yard run with 6:25 left. But the Hawks couldn’t get Lake City off the field, as Irvin and Lettau made big plays to keep the drive alive. Irvin drew the Hawks offside on fourth and 1 at the 50, and Lettau’s 12-yard run with 1:10 left iced it.
One play earlier, Lettau broke loose for 18 yards to the Hawks 12. On the next play, he bounced off a tackler at the line of scrimmage, and rumbled in.
“You can’t go wrong there, right?,” Fulp said of handing the ball to the 5-10, 235-pound Lettau. “Just feed it to Zane; just give it to your best player.”
Penalties plagued Lake City in the first half. The T-Wolves committed five, four of them 15-yarders, one an unsportsmanlike penalty that kept a Lakeland drive alive after the Hawks appeared to be stopped at midfield and forced to punt. Lake City committed just two penalties in the second half.
Meanwhile, penalties killed Lakeland, particularly in the second half.
With the Hawks on their 37, Grigg sped around left end on a wing-T reverse, and took it nearly to the house. But there were two personal fouls behind the play, which pushed the ball back to the Lake City 48. On the next play, Lakeland was whistled for two more personal fouls.
After Grigg’s long run, Lakeland was mere yards away from tying the game. Four penalties and 60 yards later, the Hawks were backed up halfway to Hayden.
“The penalties obviously hurt us, but that’s not the reason we lost the game,” Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said. “The reason we lost the game was because we weren’t fundamentally tackling, we were making stupid mistakes — false starts, jumping offsides. Just not executing fundamental football.”
Grigg ran for 110 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries for Lakeland, which hurt Lake City on the edge with those reverses. Furey passed for 181 yards as the 4A Hawks went toe-to-toe with the 5A Timberwolves for the most part.
Next Friday, Lake City plays host to East Valley, and Lakeland is home vs. Post Falls.
Lake City 6 14 8 12 — 40
Lakeland 7 13 0 7 — 27
First quarter
LL — Curtis Johnson 6 pass from Brandon Furey (Colin Bell kick), 9:23
LC — Matt Whitcomb 20 pass from Chris Irvin (pass failed), 1:25
Second quarter
LC — Zane Lettau 9 run (run failed), 11:57
LL — Furey 6 run (run failed), 9:48
LC — Whitcomb 13 pass from Irvin (Anthony Chavez run), 6:36
LL — Furey 1 run (Bell kick), :21
Third quarter
LC — Lucas Briner 46 pass from Irvin (Whitcomb pass from Irvin), 9:14
Fourth quarter
LC — Lettau 3 run (run failed), 9:16
LL — Ezra Grigg 7 run (Bell kick), 6:25
LC — Lettau 12 run (run failed), 1:10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — LC, Lettau 27-162, Chavez 8-30, Irvin 7-(minus 8). LL, Hendry 9-25, Grigg 10-110, Furey 9-11, Asher 2-17, T. McArthur 2-4.
PASSING — LC, Irvin 16-22-1-232. LL, Furey 17-26-0-181, Grigg 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — LC, Cheyne 1-13, Jerome 5-57, Whitcomb 6-90, Briner 2-66, Chavez 2-6. LL, Johnson 4-43, Asher 1-4, T. McArthur 5-63, Grigg 2-7, I. McArthur 5-64.