Riverside edges Medical Lake 14-7 in NEA play

The Medical Lake football team had their Homecoming/Hall of Fame game marked on the calendar months ago as one they needed to have in the win column to make the first season under new head coach Jeremy Bahr have special meaning. Maybe there would even be a postseason berth?

It was, they felt, a very winnable game, but for a variety of reasons, this Northeast A League game slipped away as the Cardinals fell 14-7 last Friday at Holliday Field.

Plans made that long ago cannot account for the unforeseen.

"(Quarterback) Aiden (Lyerla) hurt his shoulder up at Newport (last game) and we tried to rest him during the week and try to see if he could give it a go," Bahr said. That left the No. 2 quarterback job to Carter Pivonka to start the game and he did OK.

But a gadget-play to begin the game, a throw to the right side to Alex Stith and a halfback pass, ended in a Riverside interception. That turned into a Rams' score, the first of two by Sam DesRoches with nine minutes and a second remaining in the first quarter after a six-play drive.

While Riverside (3-2 NEA, 4-3 overall) was efficient with its monster running game that rolled up 236 yards on the ground, it was very much stymied when it all counted by a Medical Lake (1-3, 2-5) defense that forced three fumbles and recovered two, plus an interception by Grant Vercoe.

It was Medical Lake's limited offensive capabilities, however, that was the Cardinals' biggest factor.

As the offense continued to stall, Bahr determined it was time for Lyerla to take the snaps, figuring he could run, and hand off if nothing else. "He was able to complete some passes underneath (too)," Bahr said. "It limited what we could do offensively."

After DesRoches second score with 4:01 to play in the half that put the Rams up 14-0, it took less than two minutes for the Cardinals to get back into it.

It was Lyerla's legs in a big 35-yard keeper that set up Stith's 10-yard scoring run with 2:37 to play in the second quarter. Lyerla was the leading ML rusher with a paltry 36 yards on a night when his team netted just 58. Lyerla, Pivonka and Stith combined for 110 yards passing.

Another notable stat was time of possession where the Rams held a 10-minute edge. "It didn't seem like we had the ball because they had these long, sustaining drives, running the ball down our throat," Bahr said.

Surprisingly, that was it for scoring, but in large part it was the miscues that dictated things. Riverside drove to the Medical Lake 9 on its first drive of the third quarter before fumbling. But stuck deep in its own end of the field is far from enviable field position.

"The turnovers were critical, unfortunately they would happen inside of our 10, inside of our 5, inside of our 1," Bahr said. "Inside the 1-yard line you're real limited."

Medical Lake had its crucial turnovers, too, as on a drive with Lyerla's pass being picked off on the Rams' 28 with 3:08 remaining by DesRoches, who doubles as a linebacker.

Riverside seemed set to run out the clock, but somehow fumbled the ball away on the Medical Lake 37 with 15 seconds to play. Pivonka was reinserted at QB but was unable to move the ball as time expired.

Next up is league-leading Colville (4-0, 5-2) who just dropped Newport from a share of the lead with a 28-7 win. Game time is 7 p.m.

It's certainly not an easy task and of their strength year-to-year, Bahr said "The Colville's and the Newport's - typically Freeman - those teams would do well in a 2A/3A scenario with the GSL (Greater Spokane League) and Great Northern."

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].