Henry Matai and Jeremy Lemaar led a powerful Lyle-Klickitat-Wishram offense to a season-opening 26-18 middle school football victory Sept. 27 in The Dalles, Ore.
Matai scored three touchdowns--one rushing, two receiving--and Lemarr passed for two scores and ran for another to help the Cubs hold off The Dalles' seventh-grade squad.
"We had a strong running game behind Henry," Cubs Coach Don Smith said. "I told the team Henry would get a lot of touches and we would run a lot of screen passes."
Matai got two scores in the first quarter to give LKW a 13-6 advantage. He added another touchdown in the second--on a pass from Lemarr--for a 20-12 halftime lead.
Lemarr, who completed 7-of-9 passes, capped LKW's scoring in the third quarter, taking it to the end zone from 76 yards out on a bootleg.
Tight end Nolan Smith and wideout Jon Poisel, a first-year player, each contributed a reception in the LKW passing attack.
"Our screens worked well, which I knew they had to for us to be successful against their defense," Smith said. (LKW played nine players versus The Dalles' 11.)
Smith also praised the play of offensive linemen Johnny Flansberg, Jonathan Marshall, Trey Kitches, Christian Schlangen and Billy Williams.
Defensively, the Cubs got standout play from nose guard Kitchens and defensive ends Schlangen and Smith, and linebackers Williams, Matai and Lemarr.
"Our linebackers had many tackles, and our defensive ends had good games keeping their sweeps inside or making tackles as they made The Dalles spread their sweeps to the sidelines," Smith noted.
Overall, Smith gave the Cubs high marks for their first-game efforts.
"Coach (Mike) Steindorf and I were very pleased with the quality of play we had from our returning players and even more so from our first-year players," he said.
LKW's next test came Wednesday, Oct. 4, against The Dalles' eighth-grade team.
At Henkle 7th 18, View Ridge 7th 6:
Will Helton scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes to lead the Grizzlies to the Sept. 25 victory.
Helton scored on a sweep from 20 yards to break a 6-6 tie, and again on a sweep from 80 yards as time expired.
Henkle (1-1) got its first touchdown--on a pass from Mason Swick to Kurt Wilkins--to complete a length-of-the-field drive in the second quarter. The touchdown came after Dustin Jones intercepted a View Ridge pass on the Ridgefield team's opening drive.
View Ridge returned the favor late in the first half, however, picking off a pass with eight seconds to go before the break and running it back for a game-tying touchdown.
The score remained deadlocked at 6-6 until the three minutes remained in the contest.
"Will scored on a sweep from about 20 yards out, then our defense stopped View Ridge with about a minute to go," Grizzlies Coach Dan Smith said. "We kneeled down twice, then Will scored on an 80-yard sweep to run out the clock."
View Ridge 8th 13, at Henkle 8th 12:
View Ridge blocked Henkle's try for the 2-pointed conversion with eight seconds remaining to win the Sept. 25 contest in CHS Stadium.
Henkle, playing its first game of the season, got within 13-12 when Dylan Rabinowitz scored from 8 yards out on a fourth-and-goal pass from Connor Warner with eight ticks left on the game clock.
"It was a very exciting game to watch," Grizzlies Coach Dan Smith said, "and we almost pulled out the win."
The Rebels from Ridgefield led all the way, getting on the scoreboard in the first quarter.
"We threw an interception on third down of our first possession and gave them a short field," Smith said. "Our offense was stagnant the entire first half."
But while its offense struggled, Henkle's defense stood firm the rest of the first half and kept the Grizzlies within striking distance at 6-0.
View Ridge, however, pounced on another Henkle miscue late in the third quarter, recovering a muffed punt return at the Grizzlies' 15-yard line.
"They scored at the beginning of the fourth quarter on the ensuing drive and converted the extra point for a 13-0 lead," Smith noted.
The Rebels' two-touchdown advantage didn't last long, though, as Ryan Combelic returned the kickoff 75 yards for the Grizzlies' first score, which came with about six minutes to play.
Henkle's defense held its ground on the following series and the Grizzlies got the ball back with under five minutes remaining.
Needing a third-and-long conversion, Warner connected with Rabinowitz for a 30-yard pickup and a drive-sustaining first down.
Henkle subsequently drove to View Ridge's 8-yard line, where, with 15 seconds left, it faced fourth-and-goal against the stingy View Ridge defense.
"Dylan scored on a pass from Connor to bring the score within one point," Smith said, "but the extra-point kick to win was blocked, and View Ridge held on to win the game, 13-12."
Next up:
Henkle's next games are today at La Center. The first game kicks off at 4 p.m.
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