Cardinals cruise past Rams 42-23 behind Tappero

One football playing member of Medical Lake's class of 2015 certainly had an evening to remember on Senior Night.

Jackson Tappero was nearly unstoppable, rolling up 252 yards on 32 carries - a full 60 percent of the Cardinals offense that night - as he led his team to a 42-23 Northeast A League victory over Riverside last Friday night at Holliday Field.

Tappero scored once and fell just two yards short of matching or surpassing his career-high yardage, 254 yards in the 2014 season opener versus Orofino.

"We just kept taking what they were giving us," Cardinals' head coach Wes Hobbs said. "We were getting a certain look up front (and) we thought we could bust him out in the open."

Tappero wasn't the only one doing damage against the Rams. Halfback Dawson Lack and quarterback Cory Wagner each had big nights. Lack ran for 122 yards on 11 carries and a pair of touchdowns. Wagner scored twice for the Cardinals who improved to 2-4 in NEA play and 3-5 overall.

"Dawson Lack ran the sweep to perfection," Hobbs said of the junior. He scored on Medical Lake's first possession from the 5-yard line with 7 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the first quarter and then added the running conversion for an 8-0 lead.

Things got sloppy from there and into the second quarter as the Rams and Cards took turns turning the ball over twice, each. It was a Medical Lake fumble that led to the Rams' first points, a field goal with 3:21 to play in the first half.

Tappero took over after that, rushing for 70 of the Cardinals' 75-yard drive, including the final 5 yards for a touchdown and a 15-3 lead with 1:21 remaining. Riverside took little time to respond, just 53 seconds later, as Adam Hutton got behind the secondary for a touchdown with 28 seconds to play in the half.

"We felt we blew a couple of opportunities in the first half, we chatted about that," Hobbs said. "We lost two fumbles, we were just our own worst enemy."

Medical Lake responded quickly to a locker room chat at halftime. It took just three plays for Lack to sprint around the right side for a 53-yard touchdown with 10:01 to go in the third, giving the Cards a 23-10 lead.

Riverside had the ball just 40 seconds before quarterback Andrew Kramer fumbled. Dylan Rushfeldt was there to scoop up the ball and raced 45 yards down the right sideline for a score and a 29-10 ML lead. Earlier, Isiah Farmen had an interception and Philip Murray a fumble recovery.

"We finally managed to force some turnovers, which was nice," Hobbs said.

After the Rams scored on a 65-yard connection from Kramer to Noah McMahon to trim it to 29-17, Wagner capped a pair of Medical Lake drives with book-end touchdown runs - one a 17-yard keeper to the right, the next a 3-yard dash to the left for a 42-17 lead.

"We're intentional about that," Hobbs said of the play calls to Wagner. "Luckily we were 2-for-2."

Medical Lake wraps its season Friday in Chewelah (1-5, 2-6) at 7 p.m. with a bigger goal in mind, more than just coming home with a win. "We have a chance to go 4-5," Hobbs said.

That's one win better than pre-season media polls put them, and especially pleasing considering "We've been rebuilding for a year or two," Hobbs said.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].