Prep football: Noah Range scores twice; Post Falls grinds out win over Lewiston
The Post Falls defense held Lewiston quarterback Kash Lang in check much of the night and the Trojans topped the visiting Bengals 27-26 on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020. (Cheryl Nichols/For The Spokesman-Review)Buy a print of this photo
It was supposed to be a showdown between two of the highest-scoring teams in the Idaho 5A ranks after the first two weeks of the season.
But it turned into more of a battle of attrition, sealed only when the surprising home team recovered an onside kick with just under 1 minute to play.
Sophomore Noah Range ran for two short touchdowns and Post Falls (2-1) held off visiting Lewiston (2-1) 27-26 in a nonleague game between Inland Empire League rivals on Friday.
The game was scheduled to played in Lewiston, but the poor air quality due to the Pacific Northwest wildfires forced a last-minute switch to Post Falls.
“You know, our kids were getting out of school at 1:30 and we were talking at 12, 12:15, ‘Hey what are we going to do here?’ ” Post Falls coach Blaine Bennett said. “I think the administration did a great job making an early decision.”
Lewiston’s Kash Lang ran for a pair of scores and tossed a long TD pass with 1:04 left. Running back Cruz Hepburn added a 10-yard score, but was largely held in check by the Trojans’ defense.
“They they’ve got a great running game with their quarterback and all the different formations and then a (great) running back,” Bennett said. “And then they took a couple of shots deep. You know their quarterback, Lang, he’s a special quarterback.
“For us to hold them to, what was it, 26? Whatever that was, you know, they put up 58 last week, so I mean it’s just a great performance. And again the entire defensive staff did a great job, and the kids played well.”
Wideout Tommy Hauser took a pitch 6 yards for an early score and Jaxon Anderson’s 6-yard pass to tight end Josiah Shields with 3 minutes left proved to be the deciding score.
“We thought they were gonna be in man,” Anderson said, “and so we practiced all week, getting ready for the throw. And pretty much they ended up being in ‘Cover 3’ for a lot of the game, and they came up man only a little bit, so we decided to stick to the ground and try to get as many yards as we could and just kind of grind it out.”
Hauser had 11 catches, increasing his total to 30 .
“Me and Jaxon have always been friends, we played on youth football together, and we always had that chemistry,” Hauser said of the building rapport with his junior quarterback. “I was pretty psyched to have him as a teammate and he’s doing a great job.”
“He’s a great player,” Anderson said of Hauser. “I mean, it’s so easy to get him the ball – he’s always open, and whenever I get it to him it’s usually a first down so I just go to him.”
Lewiston picked up a late touchdown when Jared Jelinik got behind the Trojans’ defense and brought in a 39-yard scoring strike by Lang. The 2-point conversion made it a one-point game with 1:04 to go.
“I mean, we thought this was gonna be a big offensive output, but it was, you know, 27-26,” Bennett said. “It was more of a defensive show.”
Coeur d’Alene 48, Lakeland 7: Cameren Cope caught two touchdown passes, the defense scored twice and the Idaho 5A No. 1-ranked Vikings (2-0) beat the visiting 4A Hawks (1-2) in a nonleague game.
Jack Dohm and all-state linebacker Luke McLaughlin both returned fumbles for touchdowns as Coeur d’Alene built a 41-0 lead at intermission.
Cope caught a second-quarter TD from senior Jack Prka, who had three TD passes on the evening, and a fourth-quarter score from junior backup Brayden Bengston.
Sandpoint 20, Lake City 15: Cody Newhart scored on a 57-yard catch-and-run in the third quarter from Parker Pettit and the 4A Bulldogs (1-2) beat the visiting 5A Timberwolves (1-2) in a nonleague game.
Sandpoint senior defensive back Trevan Adam had a one-handed interception in the end zone with 16 seconds left to seal win.
Pettit finished with three touchdown passes.
Lake City’s Chris Irvin went 25 of 42 with 293 yards but also threw four interceptions.
Bonners Ferry 14, Kellogg 13: Connor Callahan returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and the Badgers (2-1) beat the visiting Wildcats (1-1) in a nonleague game between Intermountain League rivals.
Mullan/St. Regis 76, Arlee (Montana) 36 : The Tigers (3-0) beat the visiting Warriors (1-2) in a nonleague game.
Wallace 2, Kootenai 0: The Miners (1-2) beat the Warriors (0-1) by forfeit in a nonleague game.