LAKEWOOD — The Cougars tried hard to be selfish hosts, but couldn’t help their hospitality.
Lakewood lost to the Issaquah Eagles, 65-7, in the title game of the Cougars Championship Passing Tournament July 31.
“I was pleased for the most part,” said Lakewood football head coach Dan Teeter. “We picked up a lot of the zones and had some guys make some plays.”
The title game was a rematch of the 2008 game where Lakewood won the inaugural year with a last-play touchdown.
“It was great to play the way we did in that last game,” said Issaquah coach Chris Bennett. “(The Cougars) do a great job in this tournament and our kids love it because we throw the ball a lot in our offense.”
The championship was Issaquah’s second straight, as the Eagles defeated Bothell in 2009’s title game.
Sixteen teams began the tournament at the start of the day and Lakewood was put in the Maroon division with Eastside Catholic, Cedar Park Christian and Mount Vernon for round robin play. The Cougars fought through early adversity to come out with a 22-21 win against Eastside Catholic. The Cougars ran over their next two opponents, defeating Mount Vernon 41-14 and Cedarpark Christian 53-35.
Lakewood was lead by quarterback Justin Lane, who led his team to victory two years ago, and was on a similar path, even catching the eye of Bennett.
“He’s going to do very well at the next level,” Bennett said about Lane. “He tore it up all day out here and his delivery is just so smooth.”
Lakewood advanced to tournament play undefeated, but needed a goal-line stand in the first round to defeat Lake Stevens 21-18.
To get into the championship game, Lakewood had its top performance of the day, beating Kamiak 35-17. The Cougars led that game 14-7 after Lane hooked up with receiver Brandon Stott for a 40-yard score with no time left for the second time on the day.
But in the end, Issaquah receiver and defensive back Evan Petersen stole the show, coming up with four scores against the Cougars to help the Eagles take their second title.
“He caught 90 balls for us last year,” said Bennett of Petersen. “And he was all over the field today.”
But Bennett couldn’t help talking about the tournament, now in its third year.
“Our guys just love coming up here because we practice all month and tomorrow is the dead period. This is just a great way for them to finish the summer and get ready for the fall,” he said. “We can’t ask for a better way to end it.”
Teeter also left the field with a positive feeling, despite not getting back the trophy.
“You’ve got to hand it to Issaquah — they’re up there every year in the state playoffs and a total high class program,” Teeter said. “Our guys didn’t play as well as we’d like, but they were great all day, I’ll put my skill guys up against anybody’s.”
