PREP FOOTBALL: Clark Fork falls shy of Lewis County
Clark Fork High sophomore quarterback Mateo Cruz stiff arms Lewis County freshman Henry Lunders during the Wampus Cats' 14-0 loss at Nezperce High on Saturday.
Photo by Max Oswald
NEZPERCE — Senior Evrett Montgomery posted 102 of Clark Fork’s 176 total yards of offense, but the host Eagles shutout the visiting Wampus Cats 14-0 at Nezperce High on Saturday.
Clark Fork made a stop on Lewis County’s opening drive inside their own 10-yard line, and again on their own 45 early in the second quarter, but Lewis County recovered a fumble and returned it 60 yards with 14 seconds remaining in the half. On the 25-yard line after the fumble, freshman Slater Kuther connected with senior Trevor Kowlton on the ensuing play to put the Eagles up 6-0 at half.
Late in third, sophomore Jacob Cronce, who rushed 18 times for 82 yards for the Eagles, scored off a 6-yard run and Lewis County converted the two-point conversion to go ahead 14-0. Surprisingly, that score ended up being the last score of the game as both teams came up empty in the fourth.
The Wampus Cats made advances, but fumbled three times and threw an interception, all in enemy territory. Sophomore Peyton Chapman had an interception for Clark Fork. Chapman, Montgomery junior Peyton Stevens, and sophomore Mateo Cruz all had tackles for losses.
On offense, Montgomery had five catches for 56 yards and rushed eight times for 46 yards. Cruz completed 5 of his 11 passes for 56 yards and rushed eight times for 24 yards. Junior Solomon Holderman added four carries for 24 yards, sophomore Tom Butler seven carries for 21 yards.
For the Eagles, Kuther rushed 17 times for a game-high 136 yards and completed 6 of his 9 passes for 56 yards.
“Offensively, it was a struggle today; they came into it with a good defensive gameplan,” Clark Fork High head coach Patrick Young said. “Turning over the ball four times makes it really hard to win a football game. I believe we could have won the game had we not turned the ball over and I think our players believe that too.”
Clark Fork (0-4) travels to Wallace on Friday.
Clark Fork 0 0 0 0 — 0
Lewis County 0 6 8 0 — 14
2nd quarter
LC — Knowlton 25 pass from Kuther (two-point no good), 0:06
3rd quarter
LC — Cronce 6 run (two-point good), 4:21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: CF — Montgomery 8-46, Holderman 4-24, Cruz 8-24, Butler 7-21. LC — Kuther 17-136, Cronce 18-82, Grant 1(-3), Meacham 1-0.
PASSING: CF — Cruz 5-11-0-56. LC — Kuther 6-9-1-56.
RECEIVING: CF — Montgomery 5-56. LC — Cronce 5-31, Knowlton 1-25.