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POCATELLO — Moving the ball and putting up the points was not a problem for the Lakeland Hawks on Saturday afternoon.

However, slowing down the other team and keeping them out of the end zone was a problem.

The Hawks yielded more than 600 yards of total offense in a wild 47-32 loss to the Blackfoot Broncos in the season opener as part of the Rocky Mountain Rumble at Holt Arena.

“I thought there were moments in the game when the kids did a good job,” Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said. “There were too many situations where the kids were in the wrong spot, or were lined up wrong, or in the wrong coverage.”

Teegan Thomas rushed for 306 yards and four touchdowns for Blackfoot, which finished 4-6 last season after a first-round loss in the state 4A playoffs. He also took a screen pass from Craig Young and sped 66 yards for another score. Young completed 14 of 23 passes for 289 yards and three scores.

Thomas’ TD runs came from 53, 28, 54, and 68 yards away.

“We’ve got some things to fix schematically,” Kiefer said. “Once we do that, we could be a darn good football team.”

Lakeland quarterback Brandon Furey was 19 of 30 for 263 yards and four scores, two each to tight end Ammon Munyer and wideout Alden Waddington. Waddington, a sophomore, finished with five catches for 113 yards, and Munyer had five receptions for 37 yards. Trevor Vandever scored on a 12-yard run for the Hawks.

“Brandon threw the ball pretty well,” Kiefer said. “There’s a lot of really good things we can take from this game.”

Blackfoot scored the last two touchdowns of the first half to take a 27-14 lead at intermission. The Broncos blocked a Lakeland punt and turned it into a 9-yard touchdown pass from Young to Reece Robinson with 15 seconds left in the half.

Lakeland, which went 3-5 last year and failed to qualify for the state playoffs, pulled to within two scores on Furey’s 28-yard TD pass to a wide-open Waddington with 7:47 left in the game.

But the Hawks never got the ball back, as a face-mask penalty and a conversion on fourth and 2 extended the drive for Blackfoot, and the Broncos ran out the clock.

“I think it was really good for us,” Kiefer said of traveling to play another strong team in Lakeland’s classification. “It gives us a feel for the style of play on this side of the state. It was good for the kids to bond on this road trip. I think we’re going to learn a lot from this game; I think we got a lot out of it.”

Lakeland plays host to Rogers of Spokane on Friday. It will be the season opener for the Pirates.

Lakeland 6 8 12 6 — 32

Blackfoot 6 21 20 0 — 47

First quarter

Black — Teegan Thomas 53 run (kick failed), 9:54

LL — Ammon Munyer 1 pass from Brandon Furey (kick failed)

Second quarter

Black — Thomas 28 run (Thomas run), 4:43

LL — Alden Waddington 40 pass from Furey (Munyer pass from Furey), 2:39

Black — Laws 80 pass from Craig Young (kick good), 2:25

Black — Reece Robinson 9 pass from Young (kick failed), :15

Third quarter

Black — Thomas 54 run (kick good), 6:42

LL — Trevor Vandever 12 run (kick failed), 4:54

Black — Thomas 68 run (kick failed), 4:33

LL — Munyer 20 pass from Furey (run failed), 2:07

Black — Thomas 66 pass from Young (kick good), :33

Fourth quarter

LL — Waddington 28 pass from Furey (run failed), 7:47

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — LL, James 13-26, Vandever 9-34, Furey 8-24, Grigg 4-12.

PASSING — LL, Furey 19-30-0-263.

RECEIVING — LL — Kiefer 4-44, Boettcher 2-10, Waddington 5-113, Grigg 3-49, Munyer 5-37."

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