La Center’s defense leads the way in 34-0 win over King’s Way Christian

La Center’s defense was dominant on Friday night, notching its third shutout in as many weeks.

But for the longest time, the Wildcats looked like they would need every bit of that defense against a determined King’s Way Christian squad.

The Wildcats scored three touchdowns in the final 5:33 to pull away for a deceptive 34-0 win Friday in a Trico League game at King’s Way.

“King’s Way played really well,” La Center coach John Lambert said. “They’re a better team, by far, than they were last year. … They challenged us. They wanted to take away our best play, so we had to do it different ways. Run that same play different ways. And that’s what we did to open the second half, and that was really important for us.”

La Center took just a 7-0 lead into halftime, and the Wildcats’ lone touchdown was aided by a King’s Way miscue.

The Knights punted all night out of a placekicking formation. In high school, the possession rules are the same, whether a team punts or placekicks like it is trying a field goal.

The first time King’s Way did, it pinned La Center deep in its own territory. But the second attempt resulted in a bad snap that turned the ball over to the Wildcats at the King’s Way 5-yard line.

Wyatt Eiesland ran the ball in for a touchdown on the next play.

But that was all the offense La Center could manage in the opening 24 minutes of play.

But the Wildcats drove 58 yards on five plays with Isaac Chromey scoring on a 19-yard touchdown run to put La Center up 14-0.

“It was really just attitude and energy,” Eiesland said.

“We weren’t having fun,” Chromey added.

“Yeah, we weren’t having fun,” Eiesland agreed. “We always got to have fun, got to stay focused. We just got to do our jobs. That’s what it really comes down to.”

King’s Way twice drove deep into Wildcats territory in the third quarter, only to be turned away when La Center forced turnovers.

The first was an interception by Parker McKinney at the La Center 16. Then Johnny Linstroth came up with a fumble recovery at the Wildcats 2 to open the fourth quarter.

La Center’s defense also got a turnover on downs with 10 minutes left, then drove down for the clinching touchdown — a 1-yard plunge by Chromey.

The Wildcats held the Knights to minus-20 yards net rushing and 81 yards of offense.

“We really want to go out there, doing our jobs and trust our teammates,” Eiesland said. “We have a really big thing that coach (Jeremy) Teel talks about — do your job, stay focused. And we really want to go out there and punch them into the ground.”

“Not another yard, we say,” Chromey said. “Not another yard.”

Now, the Wildcats just need to get going on offense a bit quicker.

“I think we’ve got to be a little more intentional about how we start,” Lambert said. “It just seemed like we were flat. … We won by a lot last week, and I think they had a lot of confidence. We thought maybe we would just show up. And in this league, we can’t do that. We have to be better.”

LA CENTER 34, KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN 0

La Center           0             7             7             20—34

King’s Way         0             0             0             0—0

Second quarter

LC—Wyatt Eiesland 5 run (Nate Rembisz kick)

Third quarter

LC—Isaac Chromey 19 run (Rembisz kick)

Fourth quarter

LC—Chromey 1 run (pass failed)

LC—Chromey 8 run (Rembisz kick)

LC—Rembisz 1 run (Rembisz kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — La Center: Isaac Chromey 17-137, Wyatt Eiesland 12-18, Quinn Stevens 1-31, Kaden Emerson 4-(-1), Nate Rembisz 2-2, Brady Brandenburg 1-3. King’s Way Christian: Jace Barnes 7-6, Grayson Bagley 2-4, Ryan Charlton 8-(-6), Owen Paulson 2-(-8), team 1-(-16).

PASSING — La Center: Wyatt Eiesland 11-19-1-140. King’s Way Christian: Owen Paulsen 11-27-2-101, Ryan Charlton 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING — La Center: Houston Coyle 3-45, Parker McKinney 4-38, Landen Randall 3-44, Isaac Chromey 1-13. King’s Way Christian: Ryan Richter 3-39, Grayson Bagley 2-21, Sam Somarakis 2-22, Austin Dornbusch 1-12, Ryan Charlton 2-11, Asher Wyckoff 1-(-4).