After fighting tooth and nail for the duration of the 2023 football season, the Lakeland Hawks (5-4, 1-1) have reached the promised land for the fourth consecutive season. Lakeland clinched a 4A Idaho state playoff appearance in the final game of the regular season with a 31-0 route over the Moscow Bears (1-7, 0-2).
The Hawks’ defense absolutely stifled an efficient Moscow offense for 48 minutes.
To begin the Hawks’ senior night, senior Zack Kuenkler intercepted Noah Valasco on the third play from scrimmage. The Hawks cashed in with a 35-yard Owen Forsman field goal.
After this field goal, both offenses became stagnant, and had trouble moving the ball downfield in any capacity for the majority of the first half.
The Hawks’ offense came back to life near the end of the second quarter and extended the lead to 10-0 with a 6-yard rushing score from Clive Hobbs. Hobbs led the Hawks with 107 rushing yards and a score on only ten carries.
Shortly after, senior defensive back Roan Reilly forced Valasco’s second interception of the game and took it to the house for six. Reilly stayed on the field for the fake extra point and converted on a pass to Dylan Scott. This was not Reilly’s only successful trick play of the game, as he completed a 32-yard pass in one of Lakeland’s infamous double-pass plays.
The only two scores in a second half that lacked action were one-yard rushes from Peyton Hillman and Scott.
The Hawks kept consistent pressure on Valasco throughout the game, courtesy of a variety of defensive linemen and Cash Lund’s excellent pass-rushing performance at outside linebacker.
“Trying to get off the line quick and get after that quarterback, you gotta get small and fast; that’s it,” Lund said. “I love how we came as a team and came out and performed.”
Lund described that this game was the motivation that the Hawks could build off of and hopefully stack more wins on top of.
After the 2023 season consisted of many injuries, underclassmen who normally would not receive much playing time stepped up in crunch time. After junior quarterback Haydon Benson went down in the season opener and Jace Taylor was injured against West Valley, Peyton Hillman stepped up and commanded the offense for the remainder of the year.
Hillman’s performance improved exponentially in each game he played, commanding the huddle.
After losing 54-0 against Coeur d’Alene and 55-0 against Post Falls, the Hawks have finally found their offensive stride. Head coach Mike Schroeder’s offense has averaged over 26 points per game in the past three games.
Their offensive attack will be of utmost importance in the opening round of the state playoffs when the Hawks face off against the Twin Falls Bruins (8-1, 5-0) on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. The Bruins are the fourth seed in the state, and the Hawks are the 13th seed.
