Turnovers doom Lake City in loss at Mountain View

MERIDIAN, Idaho – It was a sight to behold when Lake City took the football field at Mountain View High.

Peaks of freshly plowed snow towered behind both end zones. Specially painted neon orange lines marked an otherwise illegible gridiron. The scoreboard lights shorted out in the cold.

But in spite of the wintry conditions, the host Mavericks played with their hair on fire. Spearheaded by senior quarterback Garrett Collingham’s 248 rushing yards and fueled by four Lake City turnovers, Mountain View marched to a 28-14 victory Friday in a Idaho 5A state semifinal.

Mountain View (9-2) will play the winner of today’s Highland-Rocky Mountain semifinal. Lake City finishes with a record of 9-2.

“Two evenly matched teams, but they capitalized on their momentum when they had opportunities, and we didn’t,” Lake City coach Van Troxel said. “It’s disappointing, but that’s the game of football.”

Lake City got off to an auspicious start when Corey Cook intercepted Collingham on the second play of the game. The Timberwolves drove into the red zone, but had to settle for a field-goal attempt, which was blocked.

After a Mountain View punt, Lake City again threatened to score, but quarterback Michael Goggin was picked off at the goal line. Mountain View responded with a quick scoring drive, as Collingham ran 61 yards and Trey Bell punched it in from 11 yards out for a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.

The Mavericks’ momentum continued to build on the next play as a squib kickoff slipped away from the Lake City return team. Mountain View recovered, and moments later, Kole Goodwin scored on a 1-yard run for a 14-0 halftime lead.

Lake City’s four first-half possessions ended in a blocked field goal, an interception, a lost fumble and a punt, which came after a false-start penalty turned fourth-and-inches into fourth-and-5.

“Mountain View is a really good defensive team,” said Goggin, who threw for 166 yards and ran for 36 more. “And we kept making mental mistakes, turning the ball over. It was tough.”

The Lake City miscues continued to pile up in the second half, as a promising opening drive ended with an interception. Collingham’s 50-yard scoring burst made it 21-0 through three quarters.

Lake City finally got on the board with Connor Newby’s 2-yard run on the first play of the fourth, but Collingham answered with another huge play, galloping 56 yards for the back-breaking touchdown.

Collingham left the game with a knee injury on the Mavericks’ next possession, but Lake City didn’t have enough time to mount a comeback. Goggin engineered one last scoring drive, tossing a 16-yard TD pass to Brandon Dotson, but his third interception of the game sealed the Timberwolves’ fate with 1:22 remaining.

“Nobody in the state had Mountain View versus Lake City in the semifinals,” Troxel said. “So I think both teams accomplished a lot. Our guys had a great year – they competed hard, and with great character.”

Standout senior Jerry Louie-McGee finished with 131 yards rushing and 60 more receiving on 32 total touches for Lake City. Newby added 112 total yards, while Goodwin rushed for 118 for Mountain View.