Lake City Eases Past Cheney
Border League
Brandon Mills calls it getting crazy.
His intensity shoots up and he starts making things happen on the football field.
The Lake City High School senior running back provided an example Friday night.
He ran for 80 of his 105 yards in the second half to lead the Timberwolves to a key 14-7 Border League victory over Cheney at Eastern Washington University’s Woodward Stadium.
“I was being as crazy as I could,” he said of the second half. “I listen to a lot of rock music in the locker room before games and scream and yell.”
His teammates got crazy after the game - cheering as if they had just won a playoff game.
It was almost that big.
The Timberwolves (1-1), who had not won at Cheney since the rivalry began in 1994, lost their season-opener last week to Sandpoint 20-19.
Mills gave Lake City a 6-0 lead in the second quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run and didn’t let down after halftime.
“A lot of people would like to have Brandon Mills right now,” said LC coach Van Troxel. “We’re happy we’ve got him.”
Both teams moved the ball well in the first half, with Cheney picking up seven first downs to Lake City’s five.
But the Blackhawks failed to take advantage of two Timberwolves fumbles early in the second half. Lake City fumbled the kickoff and again on its next possession.
“We had some opportunities but couldn’t capitalize,” said Cheney coach Tom Oswald. “We played hard, and if anybody had told us a week ago that we’d have a shot late in the game, we would have been pleased.”
Lake City controlled the ball for the the final 7:41 of the third quarter. Cheney fumbled the snap on the first play of the fourth and Lake City’s Jeff Edwards recovered. That led to the Timberwolves’ second touchdown, an 8-yard run by quarterback Matt Stern.
Cheney did not manage a first down in the second half until there was 10:11 left in the game. Quarterback Rhett Humphrey, who completed 13 of 23 passes for 126 yards, scrambled out of trouble and connected with Ryan Cogley on a 28-yard TD play with 7:53 to go.
“We threw the ball more than we have in 22 years,” said Oswald, whose team rushed 47 times for only 60 yards.
Cheney will have four players back for Friday’s non-league home game against Medical Lake. The players have been out for athletic code violations.
Paul Ziegler rushed for four TDs, giving him eight in two games, and Coeur d’Alene (2-0) defeated visiting Colville 33-6 for its best start since 1994. Ziegler finished with 166 yards on 21 carries. The Vikings were limited to one first-half TD by three fumbles. CdA’s Kyle Ahlf totaled 203 yards on 10-of-17 passing… . Stephen Jackson rushed for 81 yards and J.C. DaVault completed 8 of 18 passes for 105 yards to lead Sandpoint (2-0) to a 17-6 win at West Valley. Craig McIntyre had two receptions for 95 yards for the Eagles (0-1), and Justin Rouse threw for 137 yards on 15-for-40 passing… . Brian Baugh threw for 215 yards and five TDs - three to Jason Clovis - and Brian Hocum rushed for 98 yards as Clarkston (1-0) rolled to a 55-17 win at Post Falls after spotting the Trojans (0-2) a 17-0 lead. Clovis finished with 153 receiving yards. PF lost a defensive end to an injury and two other players were ejected for fighting.