Timberwolves prepare for second shot at Meridian

Moments after the Lake City High football team lost its only game this season, coach Van Troxel could immediately be seen trying to conceal a grin.

Troxel’s mind couldn’t help but race ahead to the second week in November and a possible rematch in the State 5A semifinals.

Meridian handled Lake City 41-14 in early September. Friday, the second-ranked Timberwolves (9-1) get the rematch they were hoping for when they travel to No. 1 Meridian (9-1). Kickoff is at 6 p.m. (PDT). The game can be heard live on KVNI (1080-AM) and also will be webcast on the Internet at idahosports.com.

Six straight wins later, LC is a different team – a much improved team. It’s not the same team on offense and definitely not the same team on defense.

The best of all signs, though, may be the fact that the Timberwolves have been at their best in three road games. The week following their first loss, LC rebounded with a 35-27 win at Eagle. A week later, Eagle upset cross-district rival Meridian 28-21.

In LC’s first game in October it traveled to Sandpoint, where the T-Wolves posted an impressive 45-32 win. A week later, LC won again on the road, holding off Lewiston 44-42.

Then perhaps in the win that sent LC into the state playoffs riding a wave of confidence, the T-Wolves throttled cross-town rival and 2004 state runner-up Coeur d’Alene 59-41.

In weather only suited for Antarctic penguins, LC confirmed its first win over CdA by holding off the Vikings 26-20 last week.

So the T-Wolves travel south to play their sixth semifinal in nine straight years of playoff appearances. Meridian is playing in its first semifinal in 10 years, and it’s been 19 years (1986) since the Warriors captured a state title.

“The best thing to happen to us was to lose to Meridian,” Troxel said. “We thought we were ready to play them the first time, but we were at least a week away. We were a lot closer when we went to Eagle. We’ve made a ton of improvement since then.

“Meridian exposed some of the things that we needed to do defensively. We weren’t as physical as we thought we were. We hadn’t been tested at that point.”

Troxel made some personnel adjustments on defense. He started rotating senior offensive linemen Nolan Hout and Mike Vickhammer and junior lineman Carson York in at defensive tackle to strengthen LC’s run defense. That allowed him to switch promising sophomore Byron Hout from defensive tackle to end. Hout, senior Nick Vaudreuil and junior Brandon Lopez and Cory Tanner have spent a lot of time in opponents’ backfields in the last month.

Overall, junior linebackers Matt Widmyer and Chris Bobbitt have been LC’s most consistent defensive players, Troxel said.

“When your juniors are getting better at this time of the year, that’s a good sign,” Troxel said.

LC will face its stiffest test to date Friday. The T-Wolves must find a way to contain senior quarterback Jake Burroughs, who has done a marvelous job directing a funky option offense based out of the shotgun. Burroughs had more than 500 yards in total offense and scored seven touchdowns in Meridian’s 55-25 win over Capital in a playoff opener last week. He has passed for 1,758 yards and rushed for 947.

“Their option offense, like ours, starts with the quarterback,” Troxel said. “We have to defend him better.”

Meridian coach Mike Virden downplayed his team’s first win over LC this week.

“We just had a few big plays,” Virden said. “We certainly weren’t very consistent in our execution, but we had a couple of big plays.”

Virden believes both teams have improved since the first game.

“We’re two different teams, to a point, coming into this game,” Virden said. “We’ve matured an awful lot and I’m sure they did too.”