Medical Lake rolls past Riverside for first football win

Medical Lake broke into the win column last Friday, scoring a 41-19 Northeast A League football victory over the Riverside Rams on the road and it left one to wonder what if running back Dawson Lack had been healthy the entire season?

The Cardinals (1-5 NEA, 1-7 overall) got a 103-yard, three-touchdown night from the senior whose season was initially cut short when he broke his thumb in the second game of the season against St. Maries, Idaho, Sept. 11. But Lack did not exit that game before he ran for 125 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a quarter and a half.

Lack’s availability for the Riverside game was a total surprise to head coach Wes Hobbs. “We assumed he wasn’t coming back, at all,” but they had held out hope the senior would get a few more times toting the ball.

Through some determination and some good doctors Lack was ready to go, Hobbs said. Normally playing at linebacker, too, Lack only saw action on offense. “I think he could have gone on defense but we were erring on the side of caution,” Hobbs said.

“That was long overdue and my kids played really, really well,” he said of the team’s effort. But Friday’s effort was nothing new, Hobbs added. ”They’ve been playing pretty darn good and pretty hard the last three or four weeks.”

But Lack was not the only one who had a stellar night as the Cards churned out 265 yards rushing with 109 and a touchdown belonging to Phillip Murray.

The passing game, which saw quarterback Cory Wagner hit just three of his eight passes, still collected 124 yards. One toss of 40 yards to Isiah Farmen set up Lack’s third score with just 16 seconds left. And Ty Masteller hauled in a pass and turned it into a 55-yard scoring play and a 20-7 lead.

Medical Lake’s first scoring drive, capped by Lack’s 37-yard run for a touchdown with just 53 seconds gone in the first quarter, was answered quickly as the Rams’ (1-5, 1-7) John Coppock scored with 6:47 remaining in the opening quarter, tying the game at 7-7.

“The most pleasant thing was how we responded to their drive,” Hobbs said.

It was all Cardinals from there until the fourth quarter. Lack scored with 1:13 remaining in the opening quarter and following the Wagner to Masteller connection, Lack scored again in the waning seconds of the first half pushing Medical Lake’s lead to 28-7.

Murray scored with just 14 seconds to play in the third putting the Cardinals ahead 35-7 and Jacquez Johnson’s 22-yard run finished it with 9:59 to play in the game and pushed the lead to 41-7.

Outside of a pair of late scores in the fourth quarter, Medical Lake’s defense played a stout game, surrendering only nine first downs and 267 yards, 193 on the ground and much of that late, including a 70-yard pass play between quarterback John Bogetti and receiver Connor Campbell.

Lack will have one more opportunity to play Friday on Senior Night and Homecoming versus Deer Park (0-6, 1-7) at 7 p.m. “They’re going to come to play,” Hobbs said.

“He deserves it, he was planning for a big senior year,” Hobbs said of Lack.

“We’re hoping it’s going to be a great way for all the seniors to go out,” he said. There will be no motivational speeches prior. “If you can’t get up for this one you’ve got a problem.”

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].