Medical Lake head football coach Wes Hobbs sensed there was a different air about his team as they prepared to face the Freeman Scotties last Friday night, Oct. 16, at Holliday Field.
“Our kids seemed to have a different attitude going in and played through the end of the game with it,” Hobbs said.
But a couple of brief stumbles turned what was a close game into a 36-13 Freeman Northeast A League victory, improving the Scotties to 4-1 in league play and 5-2 overall. The Cardinals remained winless at 0-5 in the NEA and 0-7 overall.
A Freeman team that steamrolled Medical Lake the previous year had a dogfight on its hands and was limited to just a field goal in the first quarter.
After having their second possession end on the 1-yard line on an interception by Freeman’s Jack Paukert, Medical Lake got the ball back on an interception by Phillip Murray.
Turnovers have come at critical times, Hobbs said and Paukert’s pick was no different. “That’s been an area that’s hurt us all year,” Hobbs said.
But the Cardinals did score off of Murray’s interception on a 30-yard Cory Wagner to Brayden Hale touchdown pass with 7 minutes, 38 seconds to play in the second quarter and led 7-3.
Freeman would answer on its next drive with a 7-play, 57-yard drive capped by Paukert’s 5-yard run with 4:38 remaining in the half.
Following a three and out for Medical Lake, Freeman embarked on a 75-yard drive, this too finished by a Paukert score, an 11-yard pass from JT Neely, with 46 seconds remaining and giving the Scotties a 16-7 lead heading to the halftime break.
Following an exchange of punts to open the third quarter Freeman’s second possession of the second half resulted in a touchdown by Ben Darcy making it a 22-7 game.
Still within reach, Medical Lake turned the ball over on its own 10 with a fumble on the next possession and Freeman took immediate advantage. A Christian Goldbach 5-yard run with 44 seconds to play in the third pushed the Scotties’ led to 29-7 as Freeman scored twice in less then three minutes.
“ I don’t think we’ve had a football bounce into our hands all year,” Hobbs said.
Medical Lake’s defense was stout for most of the night and did its best against Freeman’s speedy backfield tandem of Paukert who ran for 115 yards before exiting the game with a foot injury and Darcy, who logged a team-leading 131 yards on 18 carries in a relief role.
The Cardinals were able to fashion some key stops in the long run, but those brief fades were costly.
Medical Lake got its final score on a time-consuming fourth quarter drive that chewed 8:36 off the clock and finished with Ty Masteller scoring on a 10-yard run with 2:18 to play.
The Cardinals split their running game between Jacob Sutton (13 carried, 49 yards), Masteller (3-47) and freshman Grant Vercoe (7-37), all part of a 151 yard effort on the ground. Wagner was 6-of-11 for 86 yards and an interception.
Medical Lake travels to Riverside (1-4, 1-6) on Friday. Hobbs said, “(Riverside) will be hungry for a win as well,” in a contest that kicks off at 7 p.m.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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