Lake City blocks, sacks CV

By MARK NELKE 

Sports editor 

COEUR d’ALENE — Junior Liam McWilliams gave the Lake City Timberwolves a spark when it was badly needed, then made the biggest defensive play of the game to secure the win. 

McWilliams blocked a punt in the first half that led to Lake City’s first score, then his sack in the waning seconds ended Central Valley’s last threat as the Timberwolves defeated the Bears of Spokane Valley 19-13 on Friday night at Van Troxel Field. 

"He’s a special player,” Lake City coach Byron Hout said of McWilliams. “One of the better D-linemen I’ve had the privilege of coaching. He plays offense and defense, he goes a million miles an hour, and he never takes a play off. And, he’s a good kid off the field.” 

Lake City (2-1) trailed 13-0 when McWilliams came in off the left edge and blocked a Central Valley punt, recovered by the Timberwolves’Gabe Nagrone at the CV 4. 

“Our team needed something to get us going, and it happened at the perfect time. All glory to God.” 

On the next play, Brayden Van Leuven powered in for the touchdown.  

On the second play of the third quarter, Van Leuven dashed 63 yards up the middle to tie the game at 13.  

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Van Leuven took it over the left side for 22 yards to give Lake City its first lead of the game. 

Central Valley, in its season opener, put the pressure on Lake City’s defense throughout the fourth quarter, driving three times into T-Wolf territory, but coming up short each time. 

On the Bears’ final drive, on fourth down and 15 from the Lake City 39, McWilliams came off the left edge and sacked Hunter Teuscher, CV’s sophomore quarterback, to seal the win. 

"My buddy, my other D-end on the other side (Marek Parson) did a great job pushing his lineman toward the quarterback, and he broke right into me,” McWilliams said.  

Van Leuven nearly hit the 200-yard mark for the second straight game. One week after running for 195 yards and three scores in a 28-24 win over Lakeland, The senior totaled 182 yards and three more scores on 27 carries. 

For the second straight week, junior Knox Keogh filled in capably at quarterback for senior Britton Johnston, who suffered a lower right leg injury in the season-opening 14-13 loss at Boise. 

Keogh completed seven passes, three to junior Landon Leveque for 38 yards. 

CV jumped on top early, as Lake City looked like the team making its season debut. 

Junior Ben Butner, son of Central Valley coach Ryan Butner, dashed 44 yards down the right sideline on the game’s third play for a quick 7-0 lead. The T-Wolves were flagged for three penalties on that first drive. 

On the second play of the second quarter, Mason Harken got behind the Lake City defense for a 65-yard touchdown reception from Teuscher and a 13-0 CV lead. 

Teuscher finished 20 of 36 for 212 yards, as the Bears took to the air often in the fourth quarter. 

On CV’s first and third drives on the final quarter, the Bears had TD passes called back when the scrambling Teuscher was ruled to be past the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball.  

On the second drive, after a short completion, Lake City senior Joseph Gallagher ripped the ball out of the CV receiver’s hands for a turnover. 

Two plays after CV’s second TD of the quarter was waved off, McWilliams made the decisive final defensive play. 

 "That’s a really good offense,” Hout said of CV. “That was their first game, so were lucky to have some experience under our belt. That’s a really good quarterback; they’ve got some really good things going over there. Hat’s off to Dante (Menard), CV offensive coordinator and those guys; they had a good game plan. Our defense, other than those two big plays ... kinda bend but don’t break.” 

"They were tough,” Ryan Butner said of Lake City. “Their running back is great, they do a good job getting off the ball and he runs downhill real hard. Defensively, they packed the box on us, and took away some gaps from us, and made it a little more difficult to get our running game going.” 

Menard and CV defensive coordinator Travis Harmon both played at Lake City, and are former Timberwolf assistant coaches. 

"I think they’re competitive guys,” Butner said, “and of course they were looking forward to this game. I don’t think it was anything out of the ordinary ... but it certainly was a game they probably marked on their calendar.” 

Lake City travels to Yakima next Friday to play Eisenhower.

“We have grit,” McWilliams said. “When we get knocked down, we never stay down.” 

Central Valley     7    6    0    0    —    13 

Lake City     0    7    6    6    —    19 

First quarter  

CV — Ben Butner 44 run (Connor Karlin kick), 10:13 

Second quarter 

CV — Mason Harken 65 pass from Hunter Teuscher (kick failed), 11:43 

LC — Brayden Van Leuven 4 run (Dayne Powers kick), 7:04 

Third quarter 

LC — Van Leuven 63 run (kick blocked), 11:26 

Fourth quarter 

LC — Van Leuven 22 run (kick blocked), 11:50 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

RUSHING — CV, Butner 20-105, Teuscher 3-6. LC, Van Leuven 27-182, Keogh 3-1. 

PASSING — CV, Teuscher 20-36-0-212. LC, Keogh 7-16-0-85. 

RECEIVING — CV, Beykirch 2-24, Butner 4-3, M. Harkin 6-125, Krogh 7-53, W. Harken 1-7. LC, Salsbury 2-30, Leveque 3-38, Grant 2-17. 

    MARK NELKE/Press Lake City's defense bottles up Central Valley junior Ben Butner (22) on Friday night at Van Troxel Field in Coeur d'Alene.