Lakeland beats Lake City for first time since 1994

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

COEUR d’ALENE — Led by a dandy one-two running punch and a defense which came up big in the second half, Lakeland ended years of frustration — recent and historical — against Lake City on Friday night.

Thomas Calder rushed for 188 yards, and John Cornish ran for 124 yards and a score — and also caught two touchdown passes — in visiting Lakeland’s 30-21 victory over Lake City.

It was Lakeland’s first win over Lake City since 1994 — the schools’ first meeting, the year Lake City opened.

Lake City had won 13 straight times since then, including in each of the last four seasons — two of them one-score games, one of which was an overtime tilt.

“Ah, man, I’ve been on varsity for three years and lost each time, and it’s a sucky feeling,” Cornish said. “It’s a great feeling.”

After Lake City (0-1) took the lead at 21-17 early in the third quarter, Lakeland (2-0) forced the Timberwolves to punt on their next three possessions, and stopped them on downs late in the game to seal it.

“I was really happy with the way we fought in the second half,” first-year Lakeland coach Mike Schroeder said. “We got opportunistic in the first half, and took advantage of those opportunities. But the second half, I think we out-toughed them a little bit on both sides of the ball; a little mental toughness and a little physical toughness. It was a great win for us.”

Zach Johnson ran 6 yards for a touchdown — one play after a 66-yard jaunt — on Lake City’s first possession of the third quarter.

But Johnson, who is attracting college recruiting interest as a defender, limped off the field with leg cramps midway through the quarter, and did not return.

On the next play, Caysen Loutzenhiser rolled right and threw back left to Cornish, who was wide open and scored on a 25-yard play. Loutzenhiser and Cornish hooked up on the same play in the second quarter, from 22 yards out, for a 17-14 Hawks halftime lead.

“I just leak out to the side, and Caysen throws it up to me, and it worked out pretty good because the safety drifted over to Thomas Calder’s side, because he ran a post, so it was nice,” Cornish said.

Loutzenhiser threw just nine passes on the night, completing five — but three went for touchdowns, including a 32-yarder to Ezra Benson, who got behind the Lake City secondary for a 10-7 lead with 4:39 left in the first.

Jackson Pettit hooked up with Trevor Cogley on a 92-yard pass-and-run midway through the first quarter for a 7-3 Lake City lead. Cogley finished with six catches for 129 yards, and Pettit passed for 262 yards.

But after Johnson left, the T-Wolves’ offense sputtered.

“Defensively we made some stops in the second half; which we didn’t do much the first half,” Schroeder said. “It was a gut check the second half, and we came through.”

Lakeland put the game away with a 72-yard, nine-play drive that ate up nearly six minutes, and featured the running of Cornish and Calder.

Cornish took it the final 11 yards around right end with 1:28 remaining.

“Our hearts were in it,” Cornish said. “We were so ready for this year.”

Lakeland outgained Lake City 408-376. The Hawks ran for 307 yards.

Cornish and Calder also broke long kickoff returns in the first half that led to 10 points.

“They out-executed us,” Lake City coach Brian Fulp said. “They played really well, strong, physical, controlled the ball, controlled the game. That’s who they are, and we knew that. Offensively we made a lot of mistakes; we hurt ourselves. Dropped passes, missed some opportunities we couldn’t overcome. We have to have other guys step up (with Johnson out); it’s not one person.”

Lakeland plays host to Columbia of Nampa on Thursday.

Lake City is home vs. Raymond (Alberta) on Friday.

Lakeland 10 7 7 6 — 30

Lake City 14 0 7 0 — 21

First quarter

LL — FG Owen Forsman 29, 9:46

LC — Trevor Cogley 92 pass from Jackson Pettit (Connor Jump kick), 5:43

LL — Ezra Benson 32 pass from Caysen Loutzenhiser (Forsman kick), 4:39

LC — Logan Fletcher 1 run (Jump kick), 1:09

Second quarter

LL — John Cornish 22 pass from Loutzenhiser (Forsman kick), 9:33

Third quarter

LC — Zach Johnson 6 run (Jump kick), 10:21

LL — Cornish 25 pass from Loutzenhiser (Forsman kick), 6:21

Fourth quarter

LL — Cornish 11 run (PAT failed), 1:28

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — LL, Cornish 23-124, Saputski 1-(minus 2), Calder 16-188, Loutzenhiser 6-(minus 3). LC, Ross 2-2, Fletcher 10-34, Johnson 5-99, Pettit 3-(minus 17).

PASSING — LL, Loutzenhiser 5-9-0-101. LC, Pettit 19-35-0-262.

RECEIVING — LL, Hegbloom 1-15, Benson 2-39, Cornish 2-47. LC, Cogley 6-129, Johnson 4-50, Hill 5-55, Fletcher 4-28.