Bear Creek Bombs Lakewood
Hemschoot cuts through the Bear Creek defensive line.
LAKEWOOD – In a year when victories have so far been scarce for Lakewood teams, Friday afternoon’s game provided one surety: a Lakewood team would get a win.
Playing the first game of a double-header under the bright October sun at JeffCo Stadium, Bear Creek’s Bears and Lakewood’s Tigers duked it out in contrasting styles: Bear Creek’s aerial attack and Lakewood’s steady ground assault.
The air assault was victorious, 48-23.
“It was definitely better than last week,” Bear Creek coach Tom Thenell said, in reference to the Bears’ 34-26 loss to Pomona. “Its definitely more fun to win.”
Bear Creek vs. Lakewood game gallery. Click for more photos.
Lakewood started well enough. Senior David Tucker took the opening kick out to the 37. Senior quarterback Joe Hemschoot kept the ball for the first three plays, gaining three, four and 11-yards, respectively. The Tigers were on the move. With a third-and-4 at the Bear Creek 39, Hemschoot found senior Trey Battistic open for a 14-yard gain. The Tigers were poised for a score.
Two plays later, however, the drive collapsed. On third-and-7 from the Bear Creek 22, Hemschoot tried to pass. Bear Creek senior lineman Dylan Heitsmith swatted the ball away and senior linebacker Jordan Pacheco caught it. He raced the distance untouched. Senior Jessica Wingert kicked the extra point and Bear Creek led 7-0.
Lakewood’s second drive started at its own 23 with 7:53 to play in the first quarter. The Tigers embarked on a 10-play drive that netted all of 23 yards before stalling. The Tigers punted the ball away to the 14 and Bear Creek’s offense took the field for the first time with just under 3:40 left in the quarter.
The Bears wasted no time in unleashing the aerial attack. On first down, senior quarterback Zach Thenell hit senior Dylon Chafin for a 9-yard gain. Following a penalty on second down, Thenell hit senior Armoni Brewington for the first of more than a dozen connections. The play netted a 31-yard gain to the Lakewood 42.
Back-to-back plays on this drive would set the tone for Lakewood for the rest of the game. On third-and-4 from the 36, Thenell faded back to pass. Sophomore Antonio Johnson sprinted around the left tackle and drew a bead on Thenell. The sack set Bear Creek back six yards. On the next play, Thenell’s pass sailed incomplete, virtually uncatchable. A yellow flag marred the field and Lakewood was whistled for pass interference. The infraction set the Bears up with a fresh set of downs at the Lakewood 28.
Four plays later, on the first play of the second quarter, Thenell hit senior Lukas Lockett for a touchdown from 10 yards out. Wingert’s PAT made it 14-0.
The Tigers tried an aerial attack of their own. The first three plays of the ensuing drive were passes and moved Lakewood from their own 29 to just three yards shy of midfield. Three running plays then gave way to a 17-yard gain via the air when Hemschoot found Roderick O’Dorisio in the open and the sophomore broke two tackles down to the 28. Hemschoot kept the ball on four consecutive plays, pushing the Tigers into the end zone with 7:58 left in the half. Senior Jimmy Temple cut the Lakewood deficit in half with the extra point.
That would be as close as the Tigers would get.
Bear Creek’s next drive took nearly 4:30 off the clock as the Bears drove from their own 32 down to the Tigers 20. Thenell had pass that went for 12 and 13 yards, respectively, to Brewington. He also completed a five-yarder and a 3-yard screen to Chafin. On first-and-10 at the 50 Lockett broke through the line on a draw and maneuvered his way through the poor-tackling Tiger secondary for a touchdown. An illegal block negated the touchdown and set Bear Creek up at the Lakewood 23. Two plays later Thenell hit Lockett for a touchdown and the Bears led 21-7.
Lakewood was the epitome of ball control on the next drive. The Tigers started at their own 29 with 4:34 to play in the half. Hemschoot hit senior Zeb Kimball for a 13-yard gain. Sophomore Sam Powell pounded up the middle for five. Hemschoot bullied his way up the middle for seven. On fourth-and-1 Hemschoot shoved past the center of the line for a gain of three. He found junior Tim Zott for a gain of 16 and then hit Trey Battistic for a gain of 23.
The Tigers had a first-and-goal at the eight. Hemschoot’s pitch to Powell went behind him and by the time he fell on it the Tigers had lost nine yards. They got as close as the seven before the called upon Temple for the 24-yard field goal. The half ended with Bear Creek up 21-10.
Lakewood effectively killed any hope they had of winning on the first drive of the second half. After an illegal block put the Bears back to their own 46, the Tigers were flagged for two roughing the passer penalties on the same play. The 30-yard gain and automatic first down set the Bears up at the Tiger 24. Two plays later the Thenell to Brewington show found the end zone from 16 yards out. The PAT made it 28-10 and the Bears had all the points they would need for victory.
“Defensively, we’re still not there yet,” Coach Thenell said. “We lost two great players last year and its taking a while to fill those roles. We’re still searching for answers, but I see us getting more confident each week. Winning definitely helps.”
With the victory the Bears move to 2-3. Lakewood drops to 2-4.
