Big plays help Lake City overcome errors

Lake City’s offense came up with big play after big play. The Timberwolves’ defense found a way to get off the field against Hillcrest’s potent rushing attack.

LC handled the visitors from southeast Idaho 40-20 in non-league football Friday. Perhaps the most encouraging thing for the Timberwolves (2-1) was the fact that both units left room for improvement while still dominating the game.

“The offense did some good things, the defense gave up a little bit, but last week it was the defense that was really good,” Timberwolves coach Van Troxel said. “So we’re going to go back and forth until we get a little more mature.”

LC, despite three turnovers, reached the 40-point mark for the third straight game with the Louie-McGee brothers leading the way. Senior quarterback Tucker passed for 184 yards and one touchdown and added 121 yards rushing and another score. Junior receiver-running back Jerry had seven touches – five runs and two receptions – and scored three touchdowns.

Lake City averaged 26.3 yards on Tucker’s seven completions. Jerry’s two catches accounted for 118 yards. He also had a 45-yard punt return.

“We do have some speed and quickness,” Troxel said. “We just have to continue to do the little things, blocking and tackling. We’re undersized … and what we can’t afford is to have too many more injuries because we’re not real deep.”

But they have an assortment of weapons at quarterback, running back and receiver. LC rolled up 270 yards – averaging 11.7 yards per snap – in building a 20-6 halftime lead. The T-Wolves finished with 507 yards.

Lake City moved 92 yards in a hurry on its opening possession, capped by Jerry Louie-McGee’s 6-yard run. Hillcrest (0-3) answered on Ryan Perkins’ 4-yard touchdown run.

The Timberwolves went ahead to stay when Jerry Louie-McGee raced 16 yards for a touchdown midway through the second quarter.

LC’s defense held and the T-Wolves took over at their 20 with 2 minutes remaining. They only needed 34 seconds to reach the end zone. Tucker Louie-McGee scrambled until Jerry broke open downfield. Jerry caught the pass and did the rest, faking out a defender on a 74-yard scoring play.

Touchdown runs by Gavan Rosteck and Tucker Louie-McGee, the latter covering 58 yards, hiked LC’s lead to 33-12 late in the third quarter. The Timberwolves had a chance to blow it open but were stymied by two fumbles deep in Hillcrest territory and a penalty that wiped out a touchdown.

“We shot ourselves in the foot and we have to stop doing that when we really get things going,” Troxel said.

The Knights, who rushed for 286 yards, closed within 13 before LC backup quarterback Michael Goggin tossed a 37-yard TD pass to Jared Turner late in the fourth.