Post Falls' 'D' provides bite
POST FALLS - With their backs against the wall, the Trojans defense got tough.
Driving in the fourth quarter, Post Falls kept Lewiston off the scoreboard twice to preserve a 17-10 win Friday night at Trojan Stadium in their 5A Inland Empire League regular-season finale.
"We were able to put pressure on their quarterback a little bit," Post Falls coach Jeff Hinz said. "Our defense bent a little, but didn't break. This was a big win for us on senior night."
Post Falls (2-6, 1-2 5A IEL) travels to Lake City next Friday night, while Lewiston (3-4, 0-3) travels to Coeur d'Alene in play-in games for the state 5A playoffs.
With winds reaching 30 mph, Post Falls kept the ball on the ground behind sophomore tailback Seth McLeod, who ran for 164 of his game-high 174 yards in the first half, scoring on touchdowns runs of 2 and 23 yards.
Senior Reece Jackson, who plays on the Trojan soccer team which plays for a state title today, kicked a 32-yard field goal to give the Trojans a 17-7 halftime lead.
"Maybe it's the Trojans' week," Hinz said. "We don't want to jinx our guys tomorrow, or the volleyball team, but it's been a good week at PF."
Jackson also had a 67-yard punt in the second quarter for Post Falls.
"He really flipped the field for us," Hinz said. "He really gave our defense great position to work with all night."
Post Falls forced three turnovers, two on interceptions by junior cornerback Braden Davenport.
"He's came a long way at cornerback for us," Hinz said. "He's been doing an excellent job of covering guys this year."
Lewiston quarterback Drew Melton broke a 69-yard run late in the third quarter, but the Bengals came up short as a fourth down pass fell incomplete.
"Our defensive backs knocked him out of bounds and it wound up being the key play of the game," Hinz said. "Then we held them in the red zone and didn't break."
Melton finished with 126 yards rushing.
"We moved the ball really well, but didn't finish," Lewiston coach Shawn Nilsson said. "We kept dropping the football."
Andres Nunez, who had nine catches for 173 yards for Lewiston last week against Coeur d'Alene, was held to one catch for 5 yards.
Lewiston 7 7 3 0 - 10
Post Falls 14 3 0 0 - 17
Lew - Drew Melton 15 run (Andres Nunez kick)
PF - Seth McLeod 2 run (Reece Jackson kick)
PF - McLeod 23 run (Jackson kick)
PF - FG Jackson 32
Lew - FG Nunez 38
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Lew, Poxleitner 5-(-3), Ralstin 8-18, Melton 16-126, Woods 1-(-7). PF, Hensley 3-4, McLeod 26-174, Slater 3-6, Pfennigs 3-(-9), Lickfold 1-1.
PASSING - Lew, Melton 7-20-0-74, Woods 1-2-1-41. PF, Pfennigs 4-12-0-23.
RECEIVING - Lew, Nunez 1-5, Kracke 4-79, Poxleitner 2-26, Kaufman Rayner 1-5. PF, McKeown 2-20, Hensley 0-0, McLeod 1-3.