The winless streak continued, but the Medical Lake Cardinals did end with double-digit scoring for the first time this season in a 52-14 Northeast A League football loss at Deer Park, Friday, Oct. 13.
The Stags (2-3, 4-3) built a 32-0 lead, in part on the effort of a pair of touchdowns from Trayton Bird, before Carter Pivonca raced 70 yards for a touchdown with 3 minutes to play in the second quarter. Deer Park would connect on Chase Wisinger’s second receiving touchdown of the game with 16 seconds remaining in the first half and led 39-6 at the break.
Pivonca’s dash was attributed to execution and “great blocking,” head coach Mo Owen wrote in an email. Pivonca ended with 102 yards on 10 carries and was 6 for 14 with 40 yards passing.
Medical Lake would finish the scoring when Grant Vercoe grabbed a 16-yard touchdown pass from Pivonca, who also scored on a two-point conversion. It was the first two-touchdown game for Medical Lake since Oct. 28, 2016.
The scoring effort, along with Medical Lake grinding out 170 yards of total offense, hinted at improvement. It’s something Owen said he has seen since the first game. Deer Park had 480 total yards, 360 on the ground.
“But it hasn’t shown because we have too many people in different positions and it is hard to stay consistent,” Owen said.
Other notable upticks in the statistics report showed cutting down on turnovers as the Cardinals went interception-free and lost only one fumble.
“Our turnovers have been self-inflicted,” Owen said. “The more we consistently can play together and not have to move kids to different positions those will go away.
His team has had opportunities to take the ball away more also. “We just haven’t made the necessary play,” Owen said.
What’s not showing up in the statistics is that Medical Lake is moving the ball better. “We have more confidence on offense,” Owen said. “We are on our third starting quarterback this year, so we just need to stay healthy and we will click.”
Medical Lake will look to put an end to a 16-game winless run, and deliver Owen his first victory for the Cards on Friday when they travel to Chewelah for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Cougars (0-5, 1-5) present yet another steep challenge for the Cardinals.
“They don’t make a lot of mistakes, they are a big, downhill type team,” Owen said. “We have to be ready to match their physicality.”
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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