Lakeside warms up for NEA play with victory over Rogers
Lakeside coach Brian Dunn was at the south end of Joe Albi Stadium when he looked at the scoreboard and asked an assistant to take a picture.
The 1A Eagles’ 30-20 win Thursday over the 3A Rogers Pirates is one Dunn will treasure.
“It’s the biggest game in our history,” the 18-year head coach said as he waited to congratulate his players.
It was the second game Lakeside has played under Dunn against a Greater Spokane League team. The Eagles lost previously to Shadle Park in a game at Nine Mile Falls.
It was Lakeside’s final nonleague game before its jumps into Northeast A play in now what is arguably the toughest 1A league in the state with the addition of Deer Park and Colville to go with defending state champ Freeman.
“This is a huge win for our kids,” Dunn said. “We’re going to savor tonight. Our league is as tough as anything. Our league is crazy. Everybody’s good.”
Including the Eagles (2-0). After Lakeside junior quarterback Cameron Gay settled down following two interceptions, the Eagles never looked back.
The loss extended Rogers’ losing streak to 12, dating back to the final game of 2012.
Gay finished with 315 yards passing, completing 16 of 27 including four touchdown passes.
“I got a lot of support from my teammates,” Gay said. “I was sitting on the bench (after the interceptions) and was down. I felt really bad. The whole offensive line (said) ‘Hey, we’re still behind you. We’ve got this.’ ”
Gay said the first completion after the interceptions settled him down.
The first half was a matter of Lakeside creating some opportunities and Rogers not taking advantage of early turnovers.
The Pirates picked off passes on two of Lakeside’s first three possessions. The first interception set Rogers up at its 47-yard line. The second was even better as the Pirates’ Patrick Pullins came away with the ball after Gay tried to force the pass in a crowd of three defenders.
That set Rogers up at Lakeside’s 20. The Pirates immediately went backwards, ultimately turning the ball over on downs at the Eagles’ 23.
Two series later, Lakeside finally broke through. Taking advantage of a pass interference penalty on third-and-9 at the Pirates’ 36, Gay found Nick Christianson for a 21-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 lead with 6:41 to go before halftime.
After another Rogers possession ended with a punt, Lakeside took over at its 11. Five plays later, Gay found Christianson open on a post pattern against blown coverage, and Christianson sprinted alone into the end zone to complete the 62-yard scoring play with 2:18 remaining in the second.
Lakeside took a 13-0 lead into intermission.
After the two interceptions, Gay settled down to complete nine of his next 11 passes. He finished 10 of 16 for 213 yards in the first half, and the Eagles had 280 yards total offense.
Rogers had 102 yards total offense in the first two quarters.