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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Lake City outscores Shadle Park 56-34

Lake City football coach Van Troxel thought the best recipe for success against Brett Rypien-led Shadle Park was get a lead and make the Highlanders chase.

The plan worked brilliantly as the Timberwolves pulled away from visiting Shadle Park 56-34 in a nonleague game Friday.

LC, at 4-0, is off to its best start since 2007.

The Timberwolves took a 34-26 lead into halftime after a track meet of a first half. The lead should have been bigger.

Still, LC got rolling the final two quarters, sparked by three consecutive defensive stops near its goal line.

The last stop was secured by Scott Helsper, who picked off Rypien at LC’s 1-yard line. It was Rypien’s third interception.

That allowed the T-Wolves to burn clock, as they drove 99 yards with quarterback Michael Goggin going the final 7 yards on a keeper to extend the lead to the final margin with 6:37 remaining.

The big workhorse – or in this case LC’s version of Beast Mode, 5-foot-8, 170-pound Connor Newby – carried the load. He finished with 23 carries for a career-high 287 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a TD receiving.

“It’s a big win,” Newby said. “It’s a game we had to prove ourselves going up against Brett Rypien. He really tested our secondary. We were a little sloppy in the first half. And our defense had some great stops near the goal line.”

The Highlanders (2-1) couldn’t slow down LC’s running game. The T-Wolves rushed for 414 yards on 53 attempts, and they finished with 622 yards total offense.

“Coming into the game everyone was talking about Brett Rypien and all these numbers and how we were going to lose, but we just came out and proved ourselves,” Newby said.

Rypien completed 25 of 53 for 487 yards. But Shadle saw three drives stall deep in LC’s territory in the second half.

“They’ve got a great player and a very good football team,” Troxel said.

“Yeah, we left some points on the field and didn’t do some little things very well, but that’s part of growing up and becoming a better football team.”

Troxel was overjoyed the defense in the second half.

“They’re growing up,” Troxel said. “They’re getting better. Each week they’re starting to buy in and believe what Coach (Travis) Harmon (defensive coordinator) is doing with the defense. It’s really fun to see.”

Goggin completed 17 of 24 passes and three TDs. He also rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns.

“Mike made some nice reads and some nice runs,” Troxel said. “Newby’s a beast, Jerry’s (RB/WR Jerry Louie-McGee) Jerry. He makes all of it go because everybody is so conscious of him.”