Turbin time for Vikings

COEUR d'ALENE - With the game in the balance, Coeur d'Alene leaned on the "drag" route, which worked out well for the Vikings and was, well, a drag for Lake City.

Drew Turbin ran a drag route underneath the coverage from right to left, caught a pass from Chad Chalich, turned the corner, broke a couple tackles and sprinted into the end zone to complete the 27-yard scoring play with 43.9 seconds left, lifting the Vikings past the Timberwolves 19-14 to win the 5A Inland Empire League football championship Friday night at Viking Stadium.

"We just kinda dug deep," said Turbin, who caught 11 passes for 116 yards despite missing half the third quarter after suffering separated ribs shortly before halftime. "Just another stepping stone on our way to try to win a state title."

Coeur d'Alene (8-1, 3-0 5A IEL) and Lake City (6-3, 2-1) were already slotted to play each other next week in the first round of the state playoffs. Coeur d'Alene's win means the Vikings will host the rematch next Friday at 7 p.m.

"These guys believe," said Coeur d'Alene coach Shawn Amos, after sharing a long hug with his wife, Kelly. "To win big ones, sometimes you've got to get lucky. There's no doubt that we put ourselves in some really bad situations by Lake City's play. We kind of get a double benefit; we win the league, but we have a lot to learn over this week."

Lake City, ranked in a tie for fifth in the statewide media poll, overcame a 13-0 first-quarter deficit with two second-half touchdowns to take a 14-13 lead. Lake City took the second-half kickoff and got on the board on Allen Carmichael’s 1-yard run with 6:34 left in the third quarter. The PAT failed, but the T-Wolves came back to take the lead early in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Bobby Traverse, playing for the injured Mark Smyly, scored on a 1-yard sneak, then threw to Kaleb Mitchell for the 2-point conversion and the lead with 10:17 left.

Lake City nearly scored again, after Jordan Porto’s second interception of the game was returned to the Viking 9. But Carmichael, who finished with 165 yards on 37 carries, was stopped inches short of the goal line on fourth and 1.

Coeur d’Alene, ranked tied for first with Capital of Boise, got the ball back on its 29 with 1:29 left. Junior quarterback Chad Chalich completed 4 of 6 passes on the drive, including one that bounced off Turbin’s hands on a drag route and was caught by Deon Watson, who was running a post from the left side. Chalich hit Watson for 21 yards, Watson on the deflection for 12 more, then Turbin for 11 before the game-winning TD throw.

It was Coeur d’Alene’s first league title since 2004 — when they advanced to the state title game.

“Congratulations to Coeur d’Alene; they played well,” Lake City coach Van Troxel said. “They deserved to win. We played hard; we just have to play a little better. You can’t spot anybody points, at this time of year against good football teams, and get away with it. It always come back to haunt you.”

Coeur d’Alene was held to just 54 yards on the ground, but Chalich finished 25 of 40 for 263 yards and all three TDs.

“That’s why you have to give them credit,” Troxel said. “They did a good job putting together a series, and protecting the quarterback and giving him time to throw the ball, and they made some nice catches.”

Coeur d’Alene scored on two of its first three possessions, and was intercepted in the end zone on the other possession. But Lake City started controlling the line of scrimmage — all but 11 of Lake City’s 239 total yards came on the ground — and eventually crept back into the game, and appeared to have the momentum — until the Vikings’ final drive.

“I think it says a couple of things,” Amos said. “One is, we need to be ready. We knew Lake City was 6-2 for a reason, ranked fifth in the state for a reason ... plus they were supposed to be one of the favorites coming into this thing. So anybody who thought they weren’t very good, anybody who thought they weren’t going to give us every fight down to the wire, was crazy.”

Lake City 0 0 6 8 —14

Coeur d’Alene 13 0 0 6 — 19

Cd’A — Matt Lambert 40 pass from Chad Chalich (Parker Wilson kick)

Cd’A — Deon Watson 10 pass from Chalich (kick blocked)

LC — Allen Carmichael 1 run (kick failed)

LC — Bobby Traverse 1 run (Kaleb Mitchell pass from Traverse)

Cd’A — Drew Turbin 27 pass from Chalich (pass failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — LC, Carmichael 37-165, Quinn 1-(-5), Mitchell 6-42, Carlson 1-4, Hewitt 2-11, Traverse 4-11. Cd’A, Keiser 12-40, Chalich 15-19, Lambert 1-(-5).

PASSING — LC, Traverse 3-11-0-11. Cd’A, Chalich 25-40-2-263, Keiser 1-1-0-48.

RECEIVING — LC, Carlson 2-5, Mitchell 1-6. Cd’A, Watson 8-89, Matheson 3-60, Turbin 11-116, Lambert 4-46.