LC finishes off Shadle early
After playing the late game at Albi Stadium three straight Fridays, Lewis and Clark was used to getting off to a late start.
Thursday, the Tigers drew a 6:15 p.m. start to play Shadle Park. Once they got used to kicking off in daylight, the team posted a 39-0 shutout win over the Highlanders.
Not that it was an easy transition, playing 26 hours earlier than usual.
“I had guys tell me they would normally be just sitting down to eat some dinner, and here we were already on the bus to leave for the game,” coach Tom Yearout said. “We weren’t ready to play.”
Sophomore defensive back Zach Robinson shook the team awake, picking off a tipped Ian Carlson pass on Shadle Park’s first play from scrimmage and returning it 56 yards for a touchdown.
“That was the wake-up call our defense needed,” Yearout said. “That was the big play we needed.”
From there, the Tigers, now 4-1 in the Greater Spokane League, focused on the basics.
“We did what you have to do whenever you play Shadle,” Yearout said. “We focused on stopping the inside trap play with their fullback. When you can do that, you have a pretty good chance of stopping them from making big plays.”
According to the script, Lewis and Clark did just that.
Highlander fullback Cameron Baker hammered at the LC defensive line 25 times and came away with 99 yards – accounting by far for the majority of the Shadle Park offense.
The Tigers’ defense allowed Shadle Park 116 rushing yards on 35 carries for the game. Carlson, who played the first and fourth quarters, completed 5 of 18 passes for 48 yards, most in the final period, but was picked off twice. Aaron Genova, playing the second and third quarters, was 2 of 9 for 21 yards and was intercepted once.
On offense, the Tigers explored a number of different ways to the end zone.
Quarterback Taylor Eglet found a wide-open D.J. McNeil along the sideline for a 47-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Christian Collins, who carried nine times for 127 yards to lead all rushers, broke open around right end in the second quarter for a 38-yard scoring run. Garrett Saiki did the same on the left side for a 15-yard scoring run later in the period and kicker Michael Watling booted the first of his two 32-yard field goals to make it 29-0 at halftime.
Collins added a 5-yard run to Watling’s field goal in the third quarter to complete the scoring.
Yearout likes the way his 4-1 Tigers are playing going into the final three games of the season: against Rogers in the late game next Friday at Albi Stadium and at East Valley before facing Gonzaga Prep in the finale.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of a football team we are in these last three games,” he said.