Lake City grits it out

It’s a rather nice combination: quality depth and premier individuals.

Lake City High’s football team has been hit with a nasty string of injuries to key players and that continued Friday night, but the Timberwolves relied on their defense and several game-changing plays by standout Byron Hout to defeat visiting Moses Lake 22-9 in a non-conference game.

Lake City’s seventh win in eight outings was hard-earned. The second-ranked Timberwolves played without senior running back B.J. Palmer, who was sidelined with a neck stinger and an ankle injury. Quarterback Tommy Anderson, who splits time with Zach Clanton, departed early with a concussion. Receiver Kyle Johnson has been out for several weeks with a broken foot.

Hout didn’t practice during the week, but he tested his injured calf during warmups and it felt good. He proceeded to block a punt to set up Lake City’s second touchdown, intercept a pass to stop a Moses Lake possession in Timberwolves territory and then sealed the win by returning a fumble for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

“We had a lot of people go down tonight and like Coach (Van) Troxel was saying, we had a lot of people step up,” Hout said.

Lake City hopes to heal up in time for Friday’s showdown at Lewiston. The Timberwolves can wrap up the 5A Inland Empire League title with a win. Lewiston can earn a co-championship and possibly create a three-way tie for first with an upset victory.

Moses Lake (5-3) scored on its opening possession. The Chiefs marched 63 yards, the final 11 coming on a middle screen to Ryan Coulston. The PAT was wide left.

LC tried to answer on its ensuing possession, but a 30-yard field goal attempt was blocked. The Timberwolves were back in business after Christian Hanna’s interception and return to the Chiefs’ 25.

One play later, Jared Heston scored the first of his two touchdowns. Heston’s PAT gave LC a 7-6 lead late in the first quarter.

Lake City had another short field to work with after Hout poured up the middle to smother a Moses Lake punt. LC took over at the 24 and Heston eventually scored from the 5 to make it 14-6.

Moses Lake was plagued by turnovers and missed opportunities. The Chiefs missed a 37-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter and turned the ball over at LC’s 6 early in the third. However, the Chiefs did turn an LC fumble into a 22-yard field goal by Matt Harris midway through the third quarter.

Hout ended Moses Lakes’ hopes when he yanked the ball from quarterback Josh Loera’s hands, scooped it up at the Chiefs’ 45 and raced toward the end zone. A Moses Lake player dove at his heels, but Hout stayed on his feet and scored.

“The whole defense came up with big plays – Hanna, (Sean) Jolin, (Matt) Jereczek,” Troxel said. “(Hout) is the best player in the state. He was a year ago and he is right now.”

LC forced four turnovers and limited Moses Lake to 235 yards. The Timberwolves committed two turnovers and finished with a modest 253 total yards. Clanton passed for 110 yards and Heston added 67 yards rushing.

“We’re scoring enough points and we’re playing pretty good defense,” Troxel said. “Our defense creates turnovers and big plays.”