Lake City speeds it up

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

COEUR d’ALENE — Go to any sporting event these days and you’re bound to hear the Neil Diamond classic and crowd favorite, “Sweet Caroline.”

Lake City High might want to consider playing another one of his hits, particularly during football games:

“Cherry, Cherry.”

Lake City junior quarterback Avrey Cherry passed for three touchdowns and ran for a fourth Friday night, as the Timberwolves pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 34-7 homecoming victory over the visiting Moscow Bears.

“He showed us who we thought he was,” Lake City coach Byron Hout said. “He was putting the ball on a lot of guys. We had a lot of drops in the first half, and in the second half the receivers stepped up and made some plays. We knew getting them the ball in space was going to be to our advantage.”

Cherry, in his first season as starting QB, passed for 161 yards — 105 of those in the second half — and connected with sophomore Jacob Hill on TD passes of 6 and 12 yards, and with Preston DeMarre on a 15-yard scoring play.

Cherry also scored on a 12-yard keeper, part of a 20-point Lake City fourth quarter.

“I think I was a little overwhelmed in the first half,” Cherry said. “I feel like I’m ready to take on any team.”

Leading 14-7 at halftime, Lake City (2-3) went up-tempo on offense in the second half, and racked up 192 of its 325 yards of offense for the game.

“Finding our rhythm on offense a little bit,” Hout said. “Changing up the tempo helped us a little bit. We do it in practice all the time. And when the time arises (during a game), we can go fast, and we can huddle, and we can do a multiple array of tempos. We felt like our guys were getting in a rhythm. The O-line was rolling off the ball, and the run game picked up. I think sometimes when we go fast it’s less thinking, just playing.”

Moscow (1-4) scored on its first possession. On its second play, junior quarterback Noah Velasco rolled left and found a wide-open Cadan Tiegen for 45 yards to the Lake City 9. Three plays later, Velasco punched it in from 2 yards out.

Lake City answered on its next drive. On fourth and 3 from the Moscow 6, Cherry threw over the middle for Hunter Profumo in the middle of the end zone. The pass was broken up but Hill, a few feet behind Profumo in the back of the end zone, snared the ball for the score.

“I was like, ‘Thank God,’” Cherry said with a laugh. “That was a very lucky play. I’m very lucky that Hill caught that.”

Late in the first half of a penalty-filled game, Moscow received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty following a punt, and Lake City took over at the Bears’ 32. Cherry hit Travis Usdrowski for 20 yards, then zipped a pass out in the left flat to Hill, who made a defender miss and trotted in with 49 seconds left in the half.

Early in the fourth quarter, a high snap on a Lake City punt led to Moscow taking over at the Timberwolves’ 22, with a chance to tie the game. But the T-Wolves sacked Velasco on fourth down and 14 to end the threat.

Lake City drove to an insurance score, Profumo zipping up the middle through a truck-sized hole for 20 yards and a 21-7 lead.

On Moscow’s next possession, Harman Gaby of Lake City forced a fumble and Austin Leighton recovered at the Bears’ 26. Cherry scored three plays later.

Two plays later, Leighton pounced on another fumble, this time at the Bears’ 42. That led to Cherry’s final TD pass.

“We’re resilient,” said Cherry, whose team was coming off back-to-back losses, including a 45-0 setback at Bishop Kelly last Saturday. “We fight to the end, and we don’t quit.”

Hill caught seven passes for 92 yards. Profumo rushed for 76 yards on 10 carries.

Velasco passed for 184 yards, but was sacked four times and Moscow finished with minus-27 yards rushing.

“It was a battle up until the fourth quarter,” Hout said. “We preach that to our offense, if we keep pounding, these 4- and 5-yard runs are going to turn into explosive plays. We know if we can get to the fourth quarter and have a chance, our guys believe; we know that.”

Lake City plays host to Sandpoint next Friday.

Moscow 7 0 0 0 — 7

Lake City 7 7 0 20 — 34

First quarter

Mos — Noah Velasco 2 run (Juan Miller kick), 8:14

LC — Jacob Hill 6 pass from Avrey Cherry (Kai Delio kick), 4:30

Second quarter

LC — Hill 12 pass from Cherry (Delio kick), :49

Fourth quarter

LC — Hunter Profumo 20 run (Delio kick), 8:36

LC — Cherry 12 run (kick blocked), 5:37

LC — Preston DeMarre 15 pass from Cherry (Delio kick), 1:37

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Mos, Qualls 5-(minus 5), Velasco 7-(minus 30), Prakash 3-5, Frei 1-3. LC, Profumo 10-76, Johnson 11-18, Cherry 7-44, Walker 1-4, Hawkins 9-39, Carmignani 1-1.

PASSING — Mos, Velasco 19-36-1-184. LC, Cherry 12-28-0-161, C. Oxenrider 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING —Mos, Tiegen 4-78,Frei 4-22, Qualls 3-31, Isakson 2-5, Young 5-52, Ausband (1-minus 4). LC, Usdrowski 3-45, Hill 7-92, Hawkins 1-9, DeMarre 1-15.