LAKEWOOD — The Cougars were pressured by the Red Wolves in every way, Oct. 29, in a 34-13 Cascade Conference loss at home.

“They are a smash-mouth team and (Jacob) Kriegbaum kid personified their physical play,” said Lakewood coach Dan Teeter. “He is one of the best running backs around here.”

Kriegbaum’s 202 yards on the ground were the driving force behind Cedarcrest’s north-south, downhill running attack that gained 326 yards, ate up the Lakewood defense and the game clock.

The Cougars (2-7, 1-6 CC) played Cedarcrest (8-1, 6-1) close in the first half, catching the Red Wolves off guard on the first play of the game — a screen pass from Justin Lane to Christian Melton that netted 68 yards, just one yard short of the goal line.

“That was fun,” Teeter said. “If we were just a little faster, that would have been six points.”

Instead the Cougars fumbled two plays later. Cedarcrest’s defense applied pressure to Lane all night, resulting in a number of hits and six sacks.

“They send as many guys as they can to get to you before you can throw the ball,” Teeter said. “And they were able to do that at times tonight.”

But that wasn’t completely the case, as dropped passes frustrated the Cougars and kept Cedarcrest’s strategy worthwhile. The Red Wolves scored 13 points in the first quarter as a result of good field position.

The Red Wolves had the ball with less than two minutes remaining in the first half when they decided to convert on fourth-and-eight at their own 38-yard line by way of the fake punt. But the Cougars stopped them, and drove the 42 yards in a matter of minutes, scoring on an 11-yard pass from Lane to Cameron Fry.

It was one of Lane’s two TDs on the night. He finished the game 16-for-31 with 237 yards.

Cedarcrest’s running game took charge in the second half, with three touchdowns — all coming from drives that did not deviate from the run-it-straight-at-them philosophy. In fact, the Red Wolves didn’t attempt a single pass in the second half.

Lakewood scored its second touchdown early in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard connection from lane to Melton. But drops plagued the Cougars again in the second half.

“The weather was better than we thought it would be, but even with the rain, we need to make those catches,” Teeter said. “It wouldn’t be smart to have a throwing offense that can’t catch when it rains in Washington.”

Still Teeter was pleased with his players, saying that for where Cedarcrest is in its program, he couldn’t have asked for more effort on senior night.

“They are a great bunch of guys,” Teeter said of his 12 seniors. “They played hard for me and I wish them all the best.”

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