Prep football: La Center falls in 1A state playoffs

SUMNER — Cascade Christian got the first lucky break of the game.

There was nothing lucky about the Cougars’ defense Saturday night.

La Center did not come close to scoring until very late, and Cascade Christian (8-2) got all of its scoring in the second half for a 27-6 victory in a Class 1A state first-round football game.

The final score looks like the Wildcats got run out of town. Far from it.

La Center, behind a defense led by Jeremiah Arn and Darien Robertson, held Cascade Christian of Puyallup to 168 yards from scrimmage.

“It felt great to get out there, hit somebody, sack the quarterback, stop them,” said Robertson, who was part of a bunch of those kind of plays for La Center.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, their offense faced a defense that was just as strong.

After a scoreless first half, the Cougars scored on a 32-yard pass from Jaeline Goldsmith to Jake Archer midway through the third quarter.

That’s what the scoring summary reads, anyway. But the reception came only after the ball went through the hands of a La Center defensive back.

What was a sure interception turned into a nice grab from Archer.

“I thought we were going to come back (from the locker) and win and dominate them in the second half,” Arn said. “A couple bad plays just lost it there in the end.”

“We were still in it,” Robertson added. “It was still anybody’s game at that point.”

Cascade Christian then took advantage of a desperate La Center team. The Cougars scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns in less than three minutes — a 1-yard drive and a 13-yard drive sandwiching an interception return for a score.

In other words, the Cougars did very little against the La Center defense, yet still managed to make it 27-0 with 9:02 left in the game.

La Center, which hadn’t moved past the Cascade Christian 33-yard line all night, did get something going in the closing minutes.

Austin Myers made a fine adjustment to the ball and had a diving catch in the end zone for a 12-yard TD pass from Dylan King. The score, with 11 seconds remaining, gave La Center something to cheer about on offense after a long night.

“It was a really great group. They improved so much,” La Center coach John Lambert said of his team. “I really enjoyed coaching these guys. They really enjoyed playing football and being with each other and getting coached.”

La Center (8-3) won a share of the Trico League title and won last week to make it to the state tournament.

“It was a great season,” Robertson said.

Robertson, Arn, and Myers each brought the Cascade Christian quarterback down. Arn had three sacks.

The La Center defense also stuffed the Cougars on the 6-yard line on CC’s opening possession of the game.

La Center, though, could manage just 232 yards of offense against a stingy defense.

Cascade Christian blocked a punt early in the fourth quarter to set up at the La Center 1-yard line. Hunter Austin scored on the next play to make it 14-0.

Moments later, Kyle Crawford intercepted a La Center pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown.

After another interception, Cascade Christian set up on La Center’s 13-yard line. Two plays later, Archer caught his second touchdown pass from Goldsmith — this one with no lucky bounce involved.

Just like that, a close state playoff game turned into a blowout.

The Wildcats know, though, that they put up a fight against the defending state champion.

CASCADE CHRISTIAN 27, LA CENTER 6

La Center 0 0 0 6– 6

Cascade Ch. 0 0 7 20–27

Third quarter

CC — Jake Archer 32 pass from Jaelin Goldsmith (Andrei Dyson kick)

Fourth quarter

CC — Hunter Austin 1 run (Dyson kick)

CC — Kyle Crawford 31 interception return (kick failed)

CC — Archer 15 pass from Goldsmith (Dyson kick)

LC — Austin Myers 12 pass from Dylan King (run failed)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — La Center: Patrick Mayolo 14-71, Mike Polyakov 11-50, Tyrone Kulla 11-34, Alex Meza 7-9, King 8-(-13). Cascade Christian: Alex Milton 11-31, Austin 6-27, Nathan Roosendaal 2-20, Collin Tracy 2-(-2), Archer 1-(-2), Goldsmith 7-(-7).

PASSING — La Center: King 7-24-2-81. Cascade Christian: Goldsmith 6-11-0-102.

RECEIVING — La Center: Mayolo 2-31, Austin Heldt 1-22, Darien Robertson 1-11, Myers 1-9, Meza 2-5. Cascade Christian: Archer 2-47, Joshua Shreffler 1-38, Tracy 1-8, Crawford 1-7, Roosendaal 1-2.