Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Kodiaks roll over Medical Lake, 42-14

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MEDICAL LAKE — The Cascade High School football team (4-2) returned to winning form in dramatic fashion on Friday night. After a tough loss in Brewster last week, following three straight wins, the Kodiaks racked up 42 points in the first half of the Division 1A, non-league matchup in Medical Lake (1-6) to spoil the Cardinals’ homecoming game at Holliday Field just outside of Spokane. 

The contest opened with a sustained Medical Lake drive to the Cascade 5-yard line, where the Kodiaks recovered a fumble. Then, behind an impressive performance by the Cascade offensive line, quarterback Will Biebesheimer and running back Artie Northrup put on a show. 

Cascade first put together a 95-yard drive behind Biebesheimer’s arm and legs as he aired out the ball to lead the team downfield, including a 45-yard bomb to senior Jackson Feeney, before scoring on a 27-yard, left-rolling, quarterback sneak. Then, after a quick Cardinal three-and-out, the senior captain, who passed for 159 and rushed for 103 on the night, connected with sophomore Eli Webb on a 47-yard TD strike. On the ensuing kickoff, the Kodiaks stripped the ball from the Cardinal’s return man and dashed into the endzone for a 21-0 lead. 

If the first quarter belonged to Biebesheimer, the second was Northrup’s. After another sensational Biebesheimer QB sneak—this time for 53-yards—Northrup took it in from the five-yard line. Then the senior captain did it again following Jackson Feeney’s interception. The Kodiaks wrapped up their scoring on the next drive with a fumble recovery scoop and score from 49-yards out by sophomore Julian Feeney. In addition to his two TD runs, Northrup punched in six extra-point attempts through the middle of the uprights to help the Kodiaks take a 42-0 lead into half-time.

After an hour-long injury delay for Medical Lake during the Kodiaks’ opening drive, the second half was dominated by a time-consuming, sustained but scoreless Cardinal drive that ran from mid-third quarter to the middle of the fourth. Second-year Cascade head coach Carl Haberberger was happy to let the clock run as he cleared the bench to rest his starters, including Biebesheimer to give sophomore Gene Witt a look under center.

Medical Lake scored two garbage time TDs following a Kodiak muffed punt and blown secondary coverage to end the scoring, and the game, at 42-14. It really was not even that close though. The Kodiaks simply overmatched the Cardinals on both sides of the ball with offensive prowess and stout defense, the latter behind the hard hitting of senior Ethan Flansburg and big plays from the Feeney brothers.

The Kodiaks begin league play at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 24, at home versus the 3-4 Omak Pioneers.

Caroline Menna is an intern for Ward Media and a senior at Cascade High School, where she serves as Editor-in-Chief of the school’s Publications Group.

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