Medical Lake continues to struggle on football field with loss to Freeman

The Freeman Scotties might need a new mascot. A massive Mastiff or a lumbering Norwegian Elkhound come to mind after they literally ran over the Medical Lake Cardinals last Friday, 51-0 in the start of Northeast A League play.

The game, which went into running time under the “mercy rule” after Freeman surpassed the 50-point mark on a safety with 4 minutes, 59 seconds to play in the third quarter, went sideways for the Cardinals almost immediately.

On the second play of the game, Freeman’s Konner Freudenthal intercepted quarterback Kyle Thompson’s pass and eight plays later Ben Darcy scored the first of four touchdowns on the night.

Darcy ran wild for 163 yards in just three quarters of play. But he earned the yardage on just 10 carries. As a team, Freeman (1-0 NEA, 3-0 overall) rushed for 306 yards with Dylan Pavilschak adding 93 on eight carries and a touchdown on a pass.

Cardinals’ head coach Mo Owen had little to say about the game that left the team 0-3 and 0-1 in the NEA. “We have a lot of work to do.”

The miscues continued on the next Medical Lake possession as a shanked punt set Freeman up with a short field on the Cardinals’ 36. The ensuing five-play drive made it 14-0.

Freeman head coach Jim Wood, substituted liberally after halftime where his team led 42-0.

There was no recovery, it seemed, as Medical Lake drives went nowhere. On the night the Cardinals had just 106 total yards and allowed the Scotties to keep their shutout record intact after three games. They had just 89 on the ground — led by the 55-yard, 12-carry effort of Jacquez Johnson — and were limited to six first downs.

Owen said there was a positive takeaway. “You wouldn’t notice it by the naked eye, but we actually got better last week,” he said.

Next up for Medical Lake is a 7 p.m. visit this Friday to Colville, a playoff team from 2015 that has also struggled offensively with a 1-3 record (0-1 NEA). They have losses in their last two games to West Valley, 45-18 and Deer Park, 42-16 in the league opener Sept. 16. The Indians beat Lakeland of Rathdrum 7-6 in their opener.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].