Cougars fall to Burlington-Edison

A competitive homecoming game saw Lakewood score four touchdowns but fall short Oct. 1 against Burlington-Edison, losing 34-31.

The Cougars jumped out to an early lead in the first half, but fell behind in the third quarter, Lakewood head coach Dan Teeter said.

“You have to play 48 minutes of good football,” Teeter said.

The Cougars scored on their first drive when quarterback Justice Taylor threw an 11-yard pass to wide receiver Blake Conyers with 7:28 remaining in the first quarter. After the point-after kick, Lakewood was up 7-0.

“Justice threw up a nice jump ball and he went up and got it,” Teeter said of Conyers’ catch.

Burlington-Edison responded with a 44-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Zach Watson to wide receiver Calvin Absten, but the point-after kick failed leaving Lakewood with a 7-6 lead with about 4:43 remaining in the first quarter.

“Their quarterback was very talented,” Teeter said of Burlington Edison’s quarterback. Teeter added Watson had 212 yards running against Lakewood and recently ran for 240 yards against Lynden.

Taylor finished off the first quarter scoring with a one-yard touchdown run and Lakewood was ahead 14-6.

The first part of the second quarter saw Lakewood eventually stop a Tiger drive that ended with a turnover on downs. Lakewood scored its only points of the second quarter when kicker Dylan Kirkpatrick kicked a 27-yard field goal to put Lakewood ahead 17-6. In addition, Teeter said Kirkpatrick was four-for-four on point-after attempts.

Burlington-Edison put together a drive near the end of the half that culminated with Tiger running back Marquise Pressley scoring on a one-yard run with 1:22 remaining in the first half. Lakewood was leading 17-13 at halftime.

The Tigers started the second half with the ball. Burlington-Edison took the lead 20-17 when Watson scored on an eight-yard touchdown run with 7:55 remaining in the third quarter.

After Lakewood went three-and-out, Burlington-Edison added another touchdown and, after the point-after kick, the Tigers were up by 10 points.

“When you’re trading scores, it’s tough to fall behind by two possessions,” Teeter said. The fourth quarter started with Lakewood trailing 27-17.

Lakewood linebacker Tyler Duncan recovered a fumble near the Cougars' 36-yard line early in the fourth quarter. The subsequent drive pulled Lakewood to within three points at 27-24 when Taylor scored on a 21-yard touchdown run.

Burlington-Edison responded when Watson scored on a run from around seven yards out to pull ahead by 10 points 34-24.

Tight end Andrew Molloy brought the Cougars within three points again when he caught a touchdown pass with 4:02 remaining in the game.

“Our guys battled all the way to the end,” Teeter said.

Teeter complimented Taylor’s performance Friday. He finished the game with 131 yards rushing and running for two touchdowns and 160 yards passing and throwing for two more touchdowns.

“Justice Taylor was making plays on both sides of the ball,” Teeter said. “He was the guy who made our offense go.”

Conyers had six catches for 59 yards and one touchdown and Molloy at three catches for 50 yards and one touchdown.

The Oct. 1 loss leaves the Cougars and 2-3 for the season, which would make reaching the playoffs in a competitive Northwest Conference a challenge. Two teams from the conference go to the playoffs and Teeter said six of the conference teams are ranked in the top 15 in the state.

“We ‘re going to have to win out and get a little bit of help,” Teeter said. “All hope is not lost. We have our work cut out for us.”

Lakewood’s season continues Oct. 8 when the Cougars travel to Lynden.