Lewis and Clark busts loose, leads all the way against Mead

Lewis and Clark won one Greater Spokane League game last season. This year, the Tigers have been much better, but still entered play on Thursday averaging just 15 points in league play.

That made their performance all the more impressive.

Michael Flaherty rushed for 95 yards on 24 carries, went 13 of 20 for 173 yards with three touchdown passes, and the Tigers led the whole way to knock off Mead 37-21 in the rain at Albi Stadium.

“We played well the last two weeks,” LC coach Dave Hughes said. “Our kids have been working real hard and we were hoping we’d made improvement and we have.

“(Mead is) good 4A football team. We beat them two years ago. We knew if we kept working, we’d be a good football team. I’m excited about my kids after tonight.”

LC senior Ryan Meyer did a little of everything. He rushed for 35 yards on nine carries, caught three passes for 44 yards with a touchdown and had two fourth-quarter interceptions.

“Ryan Meyer has been a very good senior for us,” Hughes said. “He played a great game against Ferris and he continued tonight.”

“I love to play both sides,” a bloodied Meyer said. “It’s a lot of energy taken out of me, but I love it. It’s super fun. I love scoring on both sides of the ball, helping us win.”

Mead came in a game ahead of LC in league but now owns the same record (4-4, 2-2).

“I think they might have underestimated us,” Meyer said. “They might have been looking at their next game. But we came out here an took the ‘W’ and I thought it was a good win for our team.”

It was an uncharacteristic poor outing for Mead quarterback Ryan Chan. He threw for 199 yards with a pair of touchdowns but also threw five interceptions, two on Mead’s second and third possessions – which LC turned into 10 points, and two more by Meyer late when Mead was trying to catch up.

LC made it 31-13 at half on Xavier Guillory’s 27-yard touchdown reception from Flaherty, then essentially put it away on its first possession of the second half.

Meyer returned the second half kick out to LC’s 44. The Tigers then went 56 yards on 13 plays, culminated by Flaherty’s 3-yard scoring run. The extra point snap was bungled – perhaps the only thing that didn’t go right for the Tigers.

“We had a long, hard-fought battle the entire game,” Meyer said. “It was very hard with the weather but we came out on top and had a great game.”

Mead got something going on its next possession, but a bobbled reception ended up in the hands of LC’s Thomas Halverson at the LC 18 for Chan’s third interception of the night.

Mead was paced by Kannon Katzer with 148 yards rushing on 19 carries with a 18-yard touchdown run late in the game. Joe Heitman made seven receptions for 96 yards with a 52-yard touchdown catch late in the second quarter.

After the teams traded punts on their first possessions, LC took advantage of Chan’s first turnover, as a high throw resulted in an easy interception for Liam Carson. On third-and-4, Jordan Athos busted one up the middle for 16 yards. Two plays later, Keani Guthmueller swept right and went untouched for a 7-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead for the Tigers.

On the third play following the touchdown, Chan overthrew a turn-in route and LC’s Joshua Via gathered it for another pick, setting the Tigers up at the Mead 30. The Tigers marched to the 3 where the drive stalled. Nick Davis was good with a 20-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead.

LC forced fourth down after three plays, but Mead punter Kaveh Abghari ran 8 yards to pick up the first down. Chan took a keeper 9 yards to the LC 48, then Katzer took a short swing pass, broke several tackles and went the distance for Mead’s first score of the night.

On LC’s next possession, Flaherty hit Meyer in stride for a 39-yard catch-and-run to take it to the Mead 18. Flaherty hooked up with Sam Weldon on a slant to the goal line, and a collision forced the ball loose. After a quick consultation by the officials, they ruled Weldon broke the plane for a touchdown and LC lead 17-7 after the extra point.

On the Tigers’ next possession, Flaherty hit Xavier Guillory along the right sideline for a gain of 24 yards and Flaherty scrambled for 19 yards to set up first-and-goal. Three plays later, Flaherty stuck a pass between defenders to Meyer for a 3-yard TD pass.

Chan connected with Lucas Bacon for an apparent 46-yard touchdown pass, but it was called back on a penalty. Four plays later, the Panthers made up for it as Chan found Joe Heitman behind the defense for a 52-yard touchdown pass to trim the deficit to 24-13.

An onside kickoff was recovered by LC to give the Tigers a short field and three plays later Flaherty hit Guillory down the right sidelines for a 27-yard touchdown pass to go up 31-13.