MOSCOW —Whether the game was played at Lake City, or the Kibbie Dome — or on Madden — the young Lake City Timberwolves couldn’t have asked for a much tougher opener on Friday.

The junior-laden T-Wolves, with just three returning starters, were overrun by second-ranked Rocky Mountain of Meridian 49-21 in the season-opening high school football game for both teams.

“We’re young, inexperienced, we’ve got to learn from our mistakes and get better,” Lake City coach Van Troxel said. “There’s definitely some positive things on our side, there were some negative things, but you have to go through those scenarios to get better. Our goal, as a program, it’s not how we start, it's how we finish."

Rocky Mountain scored on five of its seven first-half possessions for a 35-0 bulge at intermission, then made it 42-0 early in the second half before turning it over to backups.

Jake Roper, the Grizzlies’ returning first-team all-Idaho running back, rushed for 149 yards and four touchdowns on 15 carries, all in the first half. Rocky outgained Lake City 296-40 in total yards in the first half; for the game, it was 455-272.

In a game moved from Lake City to the Kibbie Dome due to concerns over poor air quality, Lake City drove to the Rocky 24 on its first possession, then was backed up by a sack, and a 48-yard field goal try fell short.

Rocky scored in six plays for a 7-0 lead. Lake City went three and out, then snapped the ball over the punter’s head deep in its own territory. Rocky took over at the Timberwolves’ 2, and Roper scored his second TD on the next play, and it was 14-0 halfway through the first quarter. Lake City turned the ball over on downs in Rocky territory early in the second quarter as well.

Jacob Shaw caught a pair of wide-open touchdown passes from Christian Blaser, for 48 and 67 yards. He caught three passes for 148 yards.

“We knew going in, Rocky’s one of the best teams in the state, and if we don’t make key mistakes early in the first quarter, maybe it’s a little closer game all the way through,” said Troxel, who coached the game from the press box, with defensive coordinator Travis Harmon running things down on the sideline. “But that’s part of the inexperience. I’m excited; we’re going to get better.”

Scott Helsper ran for two second-half touchdowns for Lake City, before leaving with a cramp in his left leg. He finished with 59 yards on nine carries, and also caught three passes for 35 yards. Starting fullback Dakota Kielblock aggravated a lower back injury in the first half and did not return.

Lake City outscored Rocky 21-14 in the second half.

“It’s about us growing,” Troxel said of his halftime message to his team. “What I really talked about to them was character. What are we made of? What does it say on our chest? Are we going to have the character to wear this jersey, or are we just going to roll over? I was real pleased, I thought we came out and play way harder, better, all the way around.”

“It’s a moral victory, but right now, we’ll take it,” Troxel said.

Lake City plays Lewis and Clark next Friday at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.

Rocky Mountain 21 14 7 7 — 49

Lake City 0 0 14 7 — 21

First quarter

RM — Jake Roper 1 run (Jonah Dalmas kick), 7:00

RM — Roper 2 run (Dalmas kick), 5:56

RM — Jacob Shaw 38 pass from Christian Blaser (Dalmas kick), 2:24

Second quarter

RM — Roper 14 run (Dalmas kick), 6:45

RM — Roper 4 run (Dalmas kick), :37

Third quarter

RM — Shaw 67 pass from Blaser (Dalmas kick), 8:42

LC — Scott Helsper 34 run (Murphree kick), 5:39

LC — Helsper 7 run (Murphree kick), 1:07

Fourth quarter

RM — Josh Kraft 23 pass from Tommy Perkins (Dalmas kick), 10:23

LC — Collin Hunter 1 run (Murphree kick), 7:35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — RM, Roper 15-149, Gillespy 3-9, Blaser 8-32, Kuehl 9-48, Perkins 8-(minus 13), McKenney 2-4, Rinker 1-6. LC, Kielblock 7-12, Hunter 8-30, Chun 10-21, McMaster 3-8, Lettau 8-27, Helsper 9-59.

PASSING — RM, Blaser 6-9-0-172, Perkins 3-7-0-48. LC, Hunter 13-28-0-115.

RECEIVING — RM, Roper 1-4, Shaw 3-148, McKernan 1-9, Kraft 2-34, Randall 1-9, Belderrain 1-16. LC, Helsper 3-35, Goggin 1-5, McMaster 6-32, Pierard 3-43.