Tigers Dominate Lines, Hand Mead First Loss

GSL football

A blast from the past knocked Mead for a loop.

Returning to “LC football,” the Lewis and Clark Tigers controlled the line of scrimmage to dominate a 19-10 victory over the Panthers at Albi Stadium.

The Mead loss ended a 16-game win streak in GSL games.

“The plan,” LC sophomore defensive end Andrew Stachofsky said, “was to hit them so hard so often they lose the will to win.”

University took a different route, using the arm of Chris Short and the hands of Jake Roberts to defeat North Central 23-14 in the second game of the Greater Spokane League doubleheader, which drew a sparse crowd of 2,553.

“That’s a big win, it got us back on track,” Short said. “We thought we’d surprise some people this year. Hopefully we’ll keep going and get better every week.”

Lewis and Clark 19, Mead 10

LC (3-1, 3-1) fumbled after going 55 yards on the opening drive, but Mead (3-1, 2-1) gave it right back on the next play and the Tigers cashed in with Nick Spurgetis’ 13-yard scoring run.

The teams traded field goals in the second quarter to put LC up 10-3 at the half.

After trading touchdowns to open the second half, which put LC up 17-10, the Tigers held Mead. LC added a safety with 4:04 to play when Stachofsky tackled Chris McCullough in the end zone.

The Tigers, who had virtually no offense in a season-opening loss to Gonzaga Prep, had 248 yards rushing, 123 by Pete Flatt. Quarterback Daryl Lockridge was impressive, finishing 9 of 17 for 111 yards, including a 9-yard scoring strike to Justin Edwards in the third quarter.

“We learned real well against Gonzaga Prep,” senior left tackle Kurtis Broderson said. “We almost gave up in that game, we weren’t prepared. Against Mead we kept charging. It was up to the linemen. There were tons of holes for the running backs. I’ve known we had the talent. We didn’t show it in the first game, we hung our heads.”

The defense was just as impressive, shutting down a team that was averaging 39 points and more than 400 yards a game. Mead had 107 yards rushing, only 5 in the first half, and 83 passing.

“We knew they hadn’t played a tough team yet and the LC Tigers are the toughest team around,” Stachofsky said.

Broderson, who doubles as a defensive end, said, “We’re known as the hardest hitting team. We never give up. We did all our assignments. LC is known for good defense and we showed it again.”

Mead 0 3 7 0 -10

Lewis and Clark 7 3 7 2 -19

L-Spurgetis 13 run (Dahlstrom kick) M-Stamps 32 field goal L-Flatt 37 field goal M-Griffins 2 run (Stamps kick) L-Edwards 9 pass from Lockridge (Dahlstrom kick) L-Stachofsky 0 Safety L- 0 M L First downs 10 20 Rushes-yards 32-107 49-248 Passing yards 83 111 Return yards 5 33 Passes 9-15-1 9-17-0 Punts-avg. 2-36.5 3-15 Fumbles-lost 4-2 3-3 Penalties-yards 5-42 8-75 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING - Lewis and Clark: Flatt 17-123, Spurgetis 15-82, Hook 5-22, Lockridge 11-22, Coleman 1-(minus-1). Mead: McCullough 13-52, Muzatko 9-20, Stamps 6-19, Griffins 3-16, Cassel 1-0. PASSING - Lewis and Clark: Lockridge 9-17-0-111. Mead: Muzatko 9-15-1-83.

RECEIVING - Lewis and Clark: Love 3-40, Shields 2-24, Bowman 1-16, Defour 1-11, Malone 1-11, Edwards 1-9. Mead: Cassel 3-38, Zelinski 4-28, Callahan 1-11, McCullough 1-6.

University 23, North Central 14

NC (0-4, 0-3) led 6-3 thanks to the running of Brian Mack, but then the Titan (2-2, 2-2) air attack took over. They went 77 yards with Roberts making four catches for 44 yards, including a leaping 19-yard TD reception. After a Roberts interception, the Titans went 61 yards, all covered when Short hit four of five passes, the last an 11-yard scoring toss to Roberts, for a 16-6 halftime lead.

“Their corners were bailing out pretty bad,” Short said. “The flat was wide open for our receivers.”

Short was 14 of 22 for 165 yards with Roberts catching eight passes for 96 yards.

Mack had 143 yards rushing, 126 in the first half, but NC turned the ball over four times times.

North Central 0 6 8 0 -14

University 3 13 7 0 -23

U-Mace 39 field goal N-Mack 9 run (kick failed) U-Roberts 19 pass from Short (Mace kick) U-Roberts 11 pass from Short (kick failed) U-Conrad 38 run (Mace kick) N-Mack 3 run (Froscheiser run) N U First downs 19 17 Rushes-yards 44-217 85-113 Passing yards 178 186 Return yards 0 19 Passes 14-18-1 15-23-1 Punts-avg. 0-0 4-38.9 Fumbles-lost 4-3 0-0 Penalties-yards 5-39 2-30 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING - North Central: Mack 28-143, Dacey 4-85, Pearson 4-37, Froscheiser 8-36, Bowser 7-25, Clark 1-13, Mack 1-11, Clark 2-11, University: Roberts 8-96, Conrad 3-43, Mattioda 23-41, McMurtrey 1-37, Long 2-34, Short 7-25, Ellersick 2-12, Conrad 1-5, Valkenaar 2-4, Mattioda 1-2, PASSING - North Central: Froscheiser 14-18-1-178, University: Short 14-22-1-165, Barth 1-1-1-21, RECEIVING - North Central: Bowser 3-34, Pearson 4-37, Mack 1-11, Dacey 4-85, Clark 2-11. University: Roberts 8-96, Long 2-34, McMurtrey 1-37, Ellersick 2-12, Conrad 1-5, Mattioda 1-2.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo