It’s a happy homecoming for Pacers

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By Matthew Sherman

The Lake Oswego Review, Oct 29, 2009

The Lakeridge football team put the pieces together on homecoming and the result was its most complete effort of the season and a 34-7 victory.

The win was the team's second of the year, snapping a six-game losing six. It also guaranteed that the Pacers would finish with a better record than last season.

With Putnam dropping to 5A next fall, it marked the last time Lakeridge would play the Kingsmen for the foreseeable future and, in Lakeridge's history, the Kinsgmen only beat the Pacers once.

Lakeridge received a breakout performance from sophomore quarterback Tom Knecht. With Ben Swinford dealing with a nagging shoulder injury, the Pacers moved him to tailback and wide receiver and the move paid off.

Knecht was 20-for-24 passing in the game and threw two touchdowns. He also ran for a pair of scores as the Pacers built an early lead and never looked back.

"(Knecht)'s a young kid who just gets it. The position is natural for him. The issue at the beginning of the year was if he was ready to go," coach Tom Smythe said.

After a slow start in the first quarter, Lakeridge struck first midway through the second stanza on a one-yard keeper by Knecht.

The Pacers' defense did a nice job keeping Putnam at bay. Lakeridge forced a pair of turnovers in the game and held the Kingsmen to just over 200 total yards in the game.

"We changed our defensive system which is kind of a rare thing to do midseason and the kids just keep doing better with it," Smythe said.

Late in the half, Lakeridge struck again. Knecht connected with Swinford for a 48-yard strike to put the Pacers up 13-0 with 47 second to go in the second quarter.

Lakeridge then caught a break, forcing a turnover on Putnam's next possession.

Knecht punched in another short touchdown run and suddenly it was 20-0 and the Pacers were in firm control in front of a big homecoming crowd.

Lakeridge poured it on to start the second half. The Pacers moved down the field and Chase Wippert found the end zone from nine yards out.

Wippert and Swinford did a nice job handling ball carrying duties for the Pacers.

"Ben and Chase give us a nice combo. When one is at the back, the other is in the slot for us," Smythe said.

Meanwhile, Knecht continued to be sharp through the air. He completed passes to seven different receivers in the game with a favorite being Blake Dutton who had four grabs for 130 yards.

The Pacers continued their attack just three minutes later when Knecht hit Wippert for a short touchdown pass.

Putnam finally broke up the shut out late in the third quarter on a six-yard pass.

But Lakeridge's defense didn't yield much more and the Kingsmen never threatened to make the score much closer.

"I think the kids were just happy to please all of the people who have been so supportive of them. We saw this coming. The kids just kind of put it all together," Smythe said.

Lakeridge will have another big test this Friday when the Pacers travel to West Linn.

"That will be a good opportunity for us to judge just where we are compared to the quality programs in the league. If we play well that will tell us something," Smythe said.