La Center shut down Tenino on Friday, leading the host Wildcats to a 35-7 victory in a cold and rainy Class 1A district playoff game.
“I can’t say enough good things about our defense tonight,” coach John Lambert said. “They really made the difference in the game tonight. I was proud of how much they were able to get the ball in the hands of our offense.”
La Center’s defense kept Tenino’s offense off the field for most of the game, while the Wildcats’ running backs milked the clock off of every battle in the muddy trenches.
Late in the second and third quarters, Wildcat defensive back Taylor Dreyer got his hands on the ball for a pair of interceptions, stopping what little momentum the Beavers were gaining.
“We wanted to show everyone what we could do as a team,” Dreyer said. “And by the result of the final score I think we did just that and got the job done.”
Tenino’s lone touchdown came off of a 9-yard rush from quarterback Devante Harris early in the first quarter.
“When they went right down and scored, our defense knew that was when they needed to step up,” Lambert said. “We were able to force turnovers and made the adjustments early to our opponent.”
Four players got on the board for La Center out of the five touchdowns. Quarterback Dylan King threw for one touchdown to Gabe Bunker and also ran for a 1-yard score.
“We really take a lot of pride in what we can do by controlling the line of scrimmage, being physical at the line, running hard,” Lambert said. “We always ask a lot of our linemen every game, and they really showed why we won tonight.”
La Center rushed for 398 yards. The defense, meanwhile, held Tenino to 250 yards of total offense.
The Wildcats’ will travel to Sumner to take on Cascade Christian in the opening round of the Class 1A state playoffs. Lambert did not know yet if the game will be Friday or Saturday.
“We are looking forward to the next challenge,” he said. “Now it’s time to focus in on our next opponent.”
LA CENTER 35, TENINO 7
Tenino 7 0 0 0– 7
La Center 7 14 0 14–35
First quarter
LC- Dylan King 12 pass to Gabe Bunker (Conner Wonderly kick)
T- Devante Harris 9 run (Kendall Caldwell kick)
Second quarter
LC- Alex Meza 2 run (Wonderly kick)
LC- King 1 run (Wonderly kick)
Fourth quarter
LC- Mike Polyakov 1 run (Wonderly kick)
LC- Patrick Mayolo 25 run (Wonderly kick)
Leaders
Rushing — Tenino — Harris 14-96. La Center — Polyakov 26-175, Mayolo 20-124, Tyrone Kulla 5-48, Meza 11-43.
Passing — Tenino– Harris 8-14-3-126. La Center — King 2-4-0-26.
Receiving — La Center — Bunker 1-12, Meza 1-14.
