PREP FOOTBALL: Lake City overcomes 'flat' start, blanks Eisenhower

YAKIMA, Wash. — A big play in the opening quarter and a long, steady drive late in the game allowed the visiting Lake City Timberwolves to earn a 14-0 nonconference win over the Eisenhower Cadets on Friday night at Zaepfel Stadium. 

The game, scheduled for a 6 p.m., kickoff was delayed an hour due to one of the buses transporting Lake City to the game blowing out a tire some 25 miles east of Moses Lake.

Lake City quarterback Avery Cherry hit Preston Beamesderfer on a quick slant, then Beamesderfer broke a tackle and sprinted 75 yards for the score up the right sideline, putting the Timberwolves ahead 6-0 with 2:52 left in the first quarter. 

Neither team could sustain long drives the rest of the game, trading punts, penalties and big defensive plays. Michael Martindale had two interceptions for Lake City, although the ball was stripped away by Cadet receiver Finn Hopkins as he returned the second one. 

Lake City (3-2) held the Cadets (1-3) to 116 yards in the game and only 17 net yards after intermission. The T-Wolves clinched the victory with a 13-play, 54-yard drive that ended on Gabe Wullenwaber’s 3-yard TD run with 1:54 remaining. Wullenwaber also ran in the conversion. 

Cherry and Tyson Ruggiero both saw time at quarterback for Lake City, with Cherry throwing for 178 yards. Wullenwaber had 66 yards rushing on 17 carries and Brayden Van Leuven added 45 yards on nine carries for the T-Wolves. 

"Really proud of the kids, the way they handled themselves," Lake City coach Byron Hout said. "We had a slow start in the first half; we didn't get the push we wanted. The defense kept getting three-and-outs, and getting us the ball back, but it was penalties that hurt us. The second half we ran the ball better, and it opened up the passing game. We also played Tyson Ruggiero; that was planned ahead of time. We wanted to get the backup quarterback some game reps. He got a couple of series out there and he shined. Both of them (Ruggiero and starting QB Avrey Cherry) really shined."

Michael Martindale had two interceptions for Lake City.

Eisenhower quarterback Moses Spurrier completed 7-of-19 passes for 74 yards, and led the Cadets into field-goal range on their opening drive. But a 32-yard field goal attempt was wide and the hosts would come no closer to scoring the rest of the way. 

Lake City hosts Sandpoint next Friday.

Lake City     6     0     0     8     —     14 

Eisenhower     0     0     0     0     —     0 

First quarter 

LC — Preston Beamesderfer 75 pass from Avery Cherry (kick blocked), 2:52. 

Fourth quarter 

LC — Gabe Wullenwaber 3 run (Wullenwaber run), 1:54 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

RUSHING —  LC, Wullenwaber 17-66, Van Leuven 9-45, Cherry 6-25, Ruggiero 2-24, team 1-(-18); Ike,  Cunningham 9-30, Spurrier 10-13, Sartain 4-4, McClellan 1-(-5). 

PASSING — LC, Cherry 8-15-0-178, Ruggiero 1-4-0-7; Ike, Spurrier 7-19-2-74. 

RECEIVING —  LC, Hill 4-64, Oxenrider 2-31, Beamesderfer 1-75,  Leonard 1-8, Johnson 1-7; Ike, Herrera 2-19,  Hopkins 1-35, Johnson 1-13,  Sanchez 1-6, Sartain 1-3, Castillo 1-(-2). 

Timberlake 41 

St. Maries 16 

SPIRIT LAKE — Junior Johnathan Hansen ran 50 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first play, and the host Tigers went on to defeat the Lumberjacks on homecoming at Van Tuinstra Memorial Field. 

Hansen added a 14-yard scoring run in the third period, and finished with 148 yards on 15 carries for Timberlake (2-4). Westin Herbert ran for 94 yards and two scores for the Tigers, who totaled 276 yards on the ground. 

“Homecoming week is always challenging for any high school kid,” Timberlake coach Kelly Amos said. “We came out offensively and were able to run the ball. Defensively, we did a good job keeping them out of the end zone.” 

In the second quarter, Timberlake defensive end Jeremy Hurlbert deflected a lateral toward the sideline, and Cayden Knight picked up the ball and raced 71 yards for a touchdown. 

Julien Ceja-Grimaldo scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns for St. Maries (0-5), one on the ground, one on a pass from Jack Barta. 

“St. Maries always plays tough,” Amos said. “They always play tough every play.” 

Next Friday, St. Maries travels to Grangeville for a Central Idaho League game, and Timberlake plays host to Lakeland. 

St. Maries     0    0    0    16    —    16 

Timberlake    13    14    14    0    —    41 

First quarter 

TL — Johnathan Hansen 50 run (Archer Higgins kick) 

TL — Westin Herbert 3 run (PAT failed) 

Second quarter 

TL — Nate Dykeman 5 pass from Lucas Vallieres (PAT failed) 

TL — Cayden Knight 71 fumble return (Hansen run) 

Third quarter 

TL — Hansen 14 run (Higgins kick) 

TL — Herbert 10 run (Higgins kick) 

Fourth quarter 

SM — Julien Ceja-Grimaldo 9 run (Ceja-Grimaldo run) 

SM — Ceja-Grimaldo 12 pass from Jack Barta (Brock Barta run) 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS  

RUSHING — SM, Dittman 25-95, Ceja-Grimaldo 8-50, J. Barta 5-7, Defoort 1-(minus 2). TL, Hansen 15-148, Herbert 16-94, Knight 2-19, Hendren 1-15. 

PASSING — SM, J. Barta 6-12-0-108, Ceja-Grimaldo 0-1-0-0. TL, Vallieres 5-9-1-48. 

RECEIVING — SM, Ceja-Grimaldo 3-66, Defoort 2-27, Gustaffe 1-15. TL, Hendren 1-6, Dykeman 1-5. 

Kellogg 43

Orofino 0

OROFINO — The Wildcats improved to 2-0 in Central Idaho League play with a romp over the Maniacs at Orofino High.

Kellogg (2-3) hosts Bonners Ferry next Friday.

Orofino (1-3, 0-1) hosts Grangeville next Friday.

Deary 60 

Coeur du Christ 24 

DEARY — Greg Hayes ran for a pair of touchdowns for the visiting Saints, who fell to the Mustangs in nonleague play. 

Grant Clemens threw a TD pass to Ben Connelly for Coeur du Christ (1-4), which has a bye next week, then plays Lakeside on Oct. 11 at the Marimn Health Coeur Center in Worley. 

Deary is 2-3. 

    MARK NELKE/Press Julien Ceja-Grimaldo (4) of St. Maries hauls in a pass as Wade VanGundy (1) of Timberlake defends on Friday night at Van Tuinstra Memorial Field in Spirit Lake.