Hout, T-Wolves smother Lakeland
When the Lake City High football team needed to be stout, along came sophomore defensive tackle Byron Hout.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Hout disrupted Lakeland’s offense time after time in the second half, including a tackle on a momentum-turning play, as the Timberwolves overcame a sluggish first half to pull away from the Hawks 36-12 in an Inland Empire League game Friday at LC.
LC had just regained the lead at 15-12 early in the third quarter when Hout, with assistance from Nick Vaudreuil and Mike Vickhammer, corralled Hawks running back Tyler Beck for no gain on fourth-and-inches on Lakeland’s 29-yard line.
The Timberwolves (4-1) needed just one play to make Lakeland (2-3) pay for its questionable fourth-down decision. Running back Kyle Ferebee sprinted 29 yards on a counter to put LC ahead 22-12 with 4:51 left in the third period.
“There were a couple of plays we made him look like he knew the snap count,” Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said of Hout. “He was in the backfield awful quick on a few of those. He’s a heckuva player.”
As a matter of fact, Hout sprung out of his stance frequently as if he had been in Lakeland’s huddle.
“They pretty much just tell you their snap count right off the bat,” Hout said. “That’s the No. 1 key I’m listening for. It’s just an instinct reaction for me. As soon as that ball moves it’s go time.”
“He’s got a real motor,” LC coach Van Troxel said. “He made a lot of big plays. He kind of spearheaded getting them shut down a little bit in the second half. … Byron Hout is an emerging star.”
Lakeland was the obvious aggressor in the first half, especially on defense. The Hawks keyed on stopping the dive on LC’s option, bottling up the middle.
LC adjusted in the second half, using the counter and sweeps to pick up chunks of yards.
For a half, though, Lakeland had LC’s attention.
The Hawks’ Bubba Bartlett recovered a fumble at LC’s 33 on the T-Wolves’ first series.
Nine ball-controlling plays later, Lakeland’s Brenden Biggs bolted into the end zone from 2 yards out. But the Hawks, who would struggle throughout on special teams, botched the point-after attempt.
LC took a 7-6 lead into a halftime after Brandon Hanna dove 1 yard at the 5:03 mark of the second quarter.
It was all LC – make that all Hout-led LC – in the final two periods.
Kiefer said if he had to do it all over again, he still would have chosen to go for the first down deep in the Hawks’ territory.
“In the (wet) conditions out here, we just weren’t terribly comfortable in that situation with our special teams,” Kiefer said. “So fourth-down-and-inches seemed like the right decision to make at that time. But it did blow up in our face. I wish I had that back. But to be perfectly honest with you, I think we would have just made a different play call.”
Troxel praised the Hawks.
“One thing about it, when they play Lake City they come to play, and they play extremely hard and their kids compete very well,” Troxel said. “I was pleased that with homecoming and everything going on that we finally decided in the second half that we were going to step up and play at the level that we need to play at.”
Both teams play one final 5A-4A crossover game next week when Lakeland entertains Coeur d’Alene and LC travels to Sandpoint.