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Lake City gets it going in the second half to beat Lakeland

| August 28, 2021 1:30 AM

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

RATHDRUM — In the first half, Lake City looked like a team in its first game of the season, with many new starters, and a senior quarterback making his first start in two seasons.

In the second half, Josiah Weaver looked like a QB who led the Timberwolves to a league win when he was thrown into the fire as a sophomore.

Following a scoreless tie at the half, Weaver completed all nine of his passes in the second half — two for touchdowns — as 5A Lake City upended 4A Lakeland 14-3 in the T-Wolves' season opener Friday night at Corbit Field.

"It was a little rocky at the beginning; I think we were in our own heads," said Weaver, an all-league safety last season. "In the second half we came out and knew what we could do if we executed. We ran a few different plays (in the second half), but I think our energy, we just picked it up — ran faster, played harder, and I don't think they could keep up with us."

After going 10 of 23 in the first half for 84 yards and an interception, Weaver completed 9 of 9 in the second half for 94 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to Eric Bumbaugh early in the fourth quarter, and a 25-yard score to a wide-open Zach Johnson with 4:06 remaining.

"He had a great second half," Lake City coach Brian Fulp said of Weaver. "He's an athlete; he can run. He had some huge plays with his feet. That's what he brings to the table. The first half we missed some throws that we normally don't miss in practice, so we knew it was there. It was his first time starting a game in two years; everybody had to work through some things, and we did."

Each team had seven possessions in the first half. Lake City punted four times, turned the ball over on downs twice, and threw an interception. The T-Wolves totaled 108 yards.

Lakeland (0-2) punted four times, lost a fumble, turned the ball over on downs and the half ended on its last possession. The Hawks totaled 91 yards.

"I was thinking it looked like a first game," Fulp said of the first half. "The first half we just made a lot of mental mistakes, and we tried to work that out. But first game, there's going to be some stuff ... we corrected a lot at halftime. The gameplan didn't really change; we just executed better."

But Lakeland took the second-half kickoff and drove to the Lake City 12. Left-footed sophomore Owen Forsman kicked a 35-yard field goal to make it 3-0 Lakeland with 5:29 left in the third quarter.

On the next drive, Lake City overcame a first-and-29, with Weaver heaving it up to Zach Johnson down the left sideline for 23 yards on third and 21.

On third and goal from the Lakeland 5, Weaver looked to throw a swing pass to Bumbaugh out of the backfield but it didn't work out, so Bumbaugh kept running and snagged a pass in the back right corner of the end zone to put the T-Wolves on the board.

Lake City forced a Lakeland punt, then got out of a third-and-25 jam thanks to a late hit on Weaver on an incomplete pass. Three plays later, Weaver scrambled for 17 yards, then connected with Johnson three plays later.

Weaver finished 19 of 26 for 178 yards. Johnson caught eight passes for 103 yards. Brayden Ross ran for 75 yards on 22 carries — and covered perhaps another 75 yards zig-zagging around.

Lake City outgained Lakeland 273-134. John Cornish ran for 65 yards on 17 carries for the Hawks.

"We just need to start playing better," said Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer, whose team lost 7-6 last week in its opener to Preston in Butte, Mont. "We have yet to put all three phases together. We're not a big team, and our margin for error is small."

Lakeland plays at Columbia of Nampa next Friday.

After having its next game canceled, Lake City is idle until Sept. 11 when the Timberwolves travel to Seattle to play Garfield.

Lake City 0 0 0 14 — 14

Lakeland 0 0 3 0 — 3

Third quarter

LL — FG Owen Forsman 35, 5:29

Fourth quarter

LC — Eric Bumbaugh 5 pass from Josiah Weaver (Kyrus Condon kick), 11:26

LC — Zach Johnson 25 pass from Weaver (Condon kick), 4:06

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — LC, Ross 22-75, Weaver 9-13, Bumbaugh 7-7. LL, Cornish 17-65, Suko 10-24, Moore 2-10, Calder 1-(minus 5).

PASSING — LC, Weaver 19-26-1-178. LL, Suko 5-13-0-40, Loutzenhiser 0-5-1-0.

RECEIVING — LC, Hill 3-7, Ross 3-14, Johnson 8-103, McMeekan 4-49, Bumbaugh 1-5. LL, Thomas 2-33, Cornish 1-2, Calder 1-2, Waddington 1-3.

photo

MARK NELKE/Press Lakeland's Thomas Calder (4) is congratulated after intercepting a pass against Lake City in the first half on Friday night in Rathdrum.