LA CENTER QUARTERBACK Dylan King (14) gets sandwiched by a pair of Woodland defenders in the Wildcats’ 29-21 victory Oct. 26 at Woodland High School. Joining in on the tackle for Woodland is Colton Elmer (75) and Max Hiller (40). Photo by Mike Schultz.
For most coaches, football is a copycat sport. If someone is successful with a particular style of play, it’s guaranteed that others will attempt to duplicate the system with the hope that it will produce successful results.
Don’t count La Center’s John Lambert in that group of football coaches content to follow the herd flocking to the latest, greatest schemes and systems. With apologies to Frank Sinatra, Lambert can always say “I did it my way.’’
“We do a lot of things on both offense and defense that other teams don’t try,’’ said Lambert, whose team defeated Woodland 29-21 Oct. 26 to claim the Trico League title and complete a perfect 9-0 regular season. “I try not to do things just because other teams do them.’’
One of the traditional things that most teams do often that Lambert tries to avoid is punting. Lambert prefers to roll the dice and go for it on fourth down rather than voluntarily give the football back to the Wildcats’ opponent. In the win over the Beavers, the Wildcats converted five of seven fourth-down opportunities to sustain drives that led to scores. In fact, fourth down conversions contributed to three of La Center’s four touchdowns as the Wildcats built a 29-7 lead over the Beavers.
La Center got on the scoreboard in the first quarter when Dylan King found Conner Fulton on a 17-yard pass play. King then connected with Matt Braaten for a 25-yard touchdown in the second quarter before Woodland responded with a 7-yard touchdown run by Hunter Huddleston to make the score 14-7 at halftime.
Fulton added a 1-yard scoring run in the third quarter for La Center, which then got a 48-yard touchdown run from Jared Huddleston to account for the 29-7 lead early in the fourth quarter. Two of the La Center touchdowns came after Woodland turnovers.
“I think the difference in the game for us was our defense,’’ Lambert said. “We did create one turnover and the other one was on their guys. That set the tone pretty early.’’
The Beavers cut La Center’s lead to 29-14 in the fourth quarter when Hunter Huddleston found Trevor Huddleston in the end zone on a 6-yard pass play.
Later in the fourth quarter, Lambert had one fourth down decision he wishes he had back as Woodland’s Cy Whitmore intercepted a pass, setting up a 3-yard touchdown run by Hunter Huddleston to pull the Beavers to within eight points at 29-21 with just 23 seconds remaining in the game. Woodland was unable to recover the onside kick, however, and the Wildcats held on for the win.
The league title was the sixth for the Wildcats since Lambert took over as head coach in 1999. During his tenure, the Wildcats have only missed the postseason one time (in 2005). This year, La Center will open the postseason with a home game Fri., Nov. 2 (7 p.m.) against Elma.
“Traditionally, they’re a very good team,’’ Lambert said of Elma. “They don’t have a great record this year, but the games they needed to win they won. They’ve got some good athletes who make plays. But, as long as we have a good week of practice, we should win the game.’’
Woodland, which finished the season with a 7-2 record (7-1 in Trico), will also host a playoff game this week as the Beavers will meet Tenino Fri., Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.
High school
football scores
Fri., Oct. 26
Camas 49, Battle Ground 21
Kelso 20, Prairie 14
Hockinson 41, Washougal 12
Aberdeen 15, Ridgefield 9
La Center 29, Woodland 21
Next week’s playoff schedule
Fri., Nov. 2
Hockinson at Tumwater, 7 p.m.
Capital at Ridgefield, 7 p.m.
Elma at La Center, 7 p.m.
Tenino at Woodland, 7 p.m.
