Snake River Tops Lakeland

Snake River took a page out of the Lakeland High football team’s playbook Friday afternoon.

Also, Snake River didn’t allow Lakeland to go deep into its playbook.

More than anything, though, the outcome was primarily the result of Snake River dominating in most facets of the game as the Panthers captured their third straight State A-2 championship, 31-20, before a crowd estimated at 3,500 at the Kibbie Dome.

“They’re a great team; they executed well,” said Lakeland senior fullback/linebacker Casey Phelps, who accepted the runner-up trophy by himself and carried it in his hand on a 70-yard walk to the northeast locker room.

Lakeland’s defense was on the field too much and the Hawks’ offense was on the sideline too much. For that, Lakeland defensive coordinator Lee Libera gave considerable credit to the Panthers.

“What impressed me about them was their speed, power, strength, size, quickness, coaching. They pretty much could do anything,” Libera said.

“Our kids hung in there, but it was a little bit like David and Goliath. They’re the best team we’ve seen all year. The A-1 (teams) wouldn’t want to play them.”

The Hawks, who thrive on controlling the ball offensively and sustaining drives, watched helplessly as Snake River turned the tables on them.

“Their offense did a good job of keeping (the ball), so we had a little dose of that in our face,” Lakeland offensive coordinator Mike Bayley said. “At the same time, when we did have the ball, we had to be perfect to keep drives going and we weren’t.”

Lakeland finished the season at 9-3. It was the first time the Hawks played in the state final since winning back-to-back titles in 1988-89.

Snake River (12-0) extended its winning streak to 30. The streak would be 35, stretching back to the 1998 season opener, but the Panthers forfeited a game they won 49-0 over Soda Springs late that season because they used an ineligible junior varsity player.

It was Snake River’s fifth state crown in the last six years. The Panthers played in seven championship games in the 1990s, winning five.

Lakeland gave a respectable account of itself, particularly in the first half.

After the Panthers took a 3-0 lead on a 24-yard field goal with 12 seconds left in the first quarter, Lakeland ran its fourth offensive play as the period expired. The Hawks finished that possession by taking a 7-3 lead when quarterback Bryan Klingaman tossed a 15-yard pass to wide-open Ryan Hansen.

Snake River answered the score 3 minutes later with a six-play, 65-yard drive - one of its shortest possessions. The Panthers regained the lead for good at 11-7 when quarterback Tyler Thompson found tight end Luis Trejo from 24 yards out.

The score would remain the same at intermission and through the third period before the Panthers completed a 14-play drive when running back Russ John powered 3 yards on the first play of the fourth quarter. Snake River’s two-point conversion failed, but the Panthers led 17-7. Mike Belnap intercepted a Klingaman pass on the first play of Lakeland’s next possession. Eight plays later, the Panthers extended their lead to 24-7 when Thompson found Trejo a second time from 8 yards out with 8:13 left.

“They lived up to their billing,” Lakeland head coach Terry Kiefer said. “There was nothing we could do to stop them with any consistency. Offensively, there was nothing we could go to with any consistency. What impressed me about them was they were pretty physical.” Two of the Panthers’ most physical players were linebackers Dustin Smith, who had four sacks, and Derek Mathews, who was in on numerous tackles.

“We like to get physical and let the most physical team win,” said Mathews, who broke his arm early in the season and missed five games before returning. “It seems to work.”

Mathews was impressed with Lakeland.

“They’re one of the two best teams we’ve played,” Mathews said. “Their offensive line fired out hard.” Snake River coach Tom Harrison praised the Hawks.

“They played tough,” Harrison said. “I said before the game that the team that took control of the line of scrimmage would win. And we won that battle.”

Among others.

The Panthers finished with 384 yards total offense, 252 coming on the ground via 55 attempts. Lakeland finished with 176 yards, 168 coming through the air as Klingaman completed 12 of 19 attempts.

Kiefer said his team had nothing to be ashamed of.

“Maybe we didn’t do everything right, but I’m proud of the way they played and proud of what they’ve done all season,” Kiefer said.

Snake River 31, Lakeland 20

Snake River 3 8 0 20 - 31

Lakeland 0 7 0 13 - 20

SR-Cobb 24 FG

LL-R. Hansen 15 pass from Klingaman (Anderson kick)

SR-Trejo 24 pass from Thompson (Thompson run)

SR-John 3 run (run failed)

SR-Trejo 8 pass from Thompson (Cobb kick)

LL-Frank 9 pass from Lakeland (Anderson kick)

SR-Thomas 1 run (Cobb kick)

LL-R. Hansen 49 pass from Klingaman (kick failed)

Team statistics SR LL

First downs 22 12

Rushing 55-252 26-8

Passing 132 168

Comp-Att-Ints 8-11-1 12-19-1

Fumbles-lost 5-1 0-0

Penalties 6-43 3-12

Individual statistics

RUSHING: Snake River, Thompson 10-45, Cobb 7-51, Toone 2-2, Hansen 7-34, John 13-73, Thomas 13-42, Van Orden 3-5. Lakeland, Phelps 13-48, Havercroft 3-10, Klingaman 6-(-52), J. Hansen 1-1, R. Hansen 1-2, Foster 1-(-5), Taylor 1-4.

PASSING: Snake River, Thompson 7-10-1-99, Kelly 1-1-0-33. Lakeland, Klingaman 12-19-1-168.

RECEIVING: Snake River, Lee 2-41, Trejo 3-46, Hansen 1-18, Blison 1-17, Thomas 1-10. Lakeland, Havercroft 2-9, R. Hansen 4-88, Hubbard 1-8, Frank 3-40, Phelps 1-15, Foster 1-7.