Lakeland 1-2 punch of John Cornish, Thomas Calder prove too much for West Valley
The game between West Valley and visiting Lakeland on Thursday presented an interesting matchup between undefeated border rivals.
The Eagles handled a tough 1A Freeman last week 27-7 in their opening game, while Lakeland of Rathdrum started its season with three consecutive wins, including a 30-21 win over 5A Lake City.
Ultimately, Lakeland’s size up front and relentless defense made the difference. And probably a few extra weeks of practice.
John Cornish rushed for 118 yards with two touchdowns, Thomas Calder added 85 yards on the ground with a touchdown pass and an interception in the fourth quarter and the Hawks shut out the Eagles 23-0.
The Lakeland defense held West Valley’s dual-threat quarterback Raesean Eaton to 6-of-20 passing for 73 yards and 13 carries for minus-22 on the ground – mostly getting hauled down while scrambling in the second half.
“We knew it was gonna be tough business,” West Valley coach Craig Whitney said. “That’s a really good football team right there. I will give them credit. They’ve got speed. They’ve definitely got size, they got power, good schemes.
“They’re gonna make some noise in the Idaho state playoffs.”
The teams were content to keep the ball on the ground in a quick, scoreless first quarter. Lakeland took the ball back at its 26 after a turnover on downs and moved methodically to the WV 36.
Caysen Loutzenhiser rolled right and hit Ezra Benson in the back of the end zone for an apparent touchdown pass, but it was called back for lineman downfield on the play.
It wouldn’t matter, as Calder took a counter play for 23 yards and Cornish carried consecutive times to earn first-and-goal at the 5. Two plays later, Cornish took it in from the 1, but the extra point was blocked.
The Hawks defense forced a three-and-out and after a 31-yard punt got the ball back at the West Valley 47. Calder took a sweep 15 yards, then broke through the middle for 14 yards down to the 6. Two plays later he was in the end zone again for another 1-yard score.
The extra point by Owen Forsman was good and the Hawks led 13-0 at the half.
Cornish had 18 carries for 79 yards in the first half while Calder added 71 yards on seven rushes. The Lakeland defense held West Valley to 29 yards through two quarters.
“This was their fourth game and our second game,” Whitney said. ” So my O-line, really their second varsity game. (Lakeland) has some seasoned veterans and they’re a really good squad.”
Lakeland took the second-half kick and moved out to midfield, but Weston Saputski fumbled stretching for extra yardage. West Valley couldn’t benefit though, as the Eagles went backward for three plays and punted.
Early in the fourth, Lakeland was presented with fourth-and-8 from the WV 41. Loutzenhiser lateraled it to Calder on the wing, who then lobbed it to an uncovered Zachary Kuenkler down the sideline for a long TD and 20-0 lead.
The Eagles tried to go to the air, but after a personal foul penalty faced fourth-and-36. Eaton’s desperation heave was picked off by Calder and returned to the WV 19. Forsman drilled a 37-yard field goal to make it 23-0 with 51/2 minutes left.
“We tried to do a lot of different things to try to gain an advantage and you know, they have speed on the outside, good schemes on the outside,” Whitney said. “They’re really strong and get after you on the inside. So we kept searching. We’ll be just fine.”