Electric performance

By MARK NELKE
Sports editor

COEUR d’ALENE — On an electric night — in more ways than one — in which the teams combined for nearly 1,098 yards, 661 of those through the air, the Coeur d’Alene Vikings displayed some good old-fashioned running game toughness to finally subdue the Lewiston Bengals.
Second-ranked Coeur d’Alene (6-1) rushed for 355 yards, led by Griphen Le’s 160 yards on 17 carries, and handed Lewiston (6-1) its first loss, 56-28 in the 5A Inland Empire League football opener for both teams Friday night at Viking Field.
“What a weird night” Coeur d’Alene coach Shawn Amos said. “Lights, and it was crazy; I didn’t think the game was ever going to end. We did a much better job taking care of the football. ... that score is deceiving; we didn’t really feel comfortable until the last couple of minutes.”
Austin Lee accounted for five touchdowns for the Vikings. He passed for 215 yards and two scores, and rushed for 92 yards and three TDs.
Colton Richardson, Lewiston’s junior quarterback, passed for 414 yards and four touchdowns. He threw for 323 of those yards in the first half. Still, the Vikings slowed him down enough, especially in the second half, to create some breathing room. Plus, the Vikings forced three turnovers — the Bengals’ first three turnovers of the season.
A power outage in the second quarter caused a 19-minute delay in the game.
The first four drives of the game resulted in TDs. The Bengals scored in less than two minutes following the opening kickoff. After Coeur d’Alene answered, Lewiston went 77 yards in two plays for a 14-8 lead. The Vikings went 70 yards in 10 plays to tie it.
Lewiston’s first turnover — a lost fumble after a reception near midfield — didn’t cost the Bengals. Early in the second quarter, Richardson connected with Kempton Sharp on an apparent 53-yard scoring play, but Sharp fumbled just before reaching the goal line, and the Vikings recovered in the end zone.
Coeur d’Alene fumbled back to Lewiston on the next play, but the Bengals missed a 35-yard field goal wide left. Brody Lundblad took a short pass from Lee, broke a few tackles and powered into the end zone for a 20-yard score and a 22-14 lead. Richardson was picked off by Michael Serwat, and the Viks turned that into Joseph Vang’s 3-yard TD run with 29.5 seconds left in the half. But that still left enough time for Lewiston to score in two plays, capped by Richardson’s 45-yard bomb to Sharp with 12.8 seconds left in the half.
Lee’s 1-yard plunge capped an 82-yard drive to open the third quarter. Richardson answered with a 38-yarder to Sharp to cut it to 35-28. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Lee broke through several tackles on a 21-yard TD run, and the Vikings started pulling away from there.
“They were doing a helluva job on our passing game; they were giving us a favorable box, taking away our passing game, so we were able to run the ball more successfully,” Amos said.
“We made errors we haven’t made all year,” Lewiston coach Shawn Nilsson said. “Two fumbles ... I still want to see the film on one, to me, he was across the goal line ... but, bottom line is, we didn’t stop them either. We did a poor job defending the run. For the most part, I thought we did a pretty good job against their passing game. But I was worried about the QBs, both of them, running the football. We didn’t contain him (Lee) and we didn’t contain their backs.
“I want to see the film on the touchdown, and I want to see the film on the field goal,” Nilsson added. “From here, it sure looked good, it looked like it was easily in ... but that’s 10 points in the first half that are key points, and we lead going into the half.”
Coeur d’Alene travels to Lake City next Friday.
Lewiston 14 7 7 0 — 28
Coeur d’Alene 14 14 7 21 — 56
First quarter
Lew — Mason Ulrich 6 pass from Colton Richardson (Lane Grant kick), 10:03
Cd’A — Austin Lee 1 run (Griphen Le run), 5:38
Lew — Troy Ahlers 42 pass from Richardson (Grant kick), 5:00
Cd’A — Le 5 run (pass failed), :40.4
Second quarter
Cd’A — Brody Lundblad 20 pass from Lee (Joey Naccarato pass from Le), 5:46
Cd’A — Joseph Vang 3 run (run failed), 29.5
Lew — Kempton Sharp 45 pass from Richardson (Grant kick), 12.8
Third quarter
Cd’A — Lee 1 run (Le kick), 8:40
Lew — Sharp 38 pass from Richardson (Grant kick), 6:52
Fourth quarter
Cd’A — Lee 21 run (Le kick), 11:52
Cd’A — KC Hutchings 22 pass from Lee (Alec Seibold kick), 8:25
Cd’A — Le 13 run (Seibold kick), 6:32
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Lew, Spear 2-3, Richardson 5-(minus 1), Clarke 1-3, Ulrich 2-3, Way 1-4, Moore 8-69, Hollenbeck 1-1. Cd’A, Lee 17-92, Bonacci 1-5, Vang 13-65, Le 17-160, Yankoff 5-26, Price 1-6, Moulding 1-1.
PASSING — Lew, Richardson 23-38-1-414, Hollenbeck 0-1-0-0. Cd’A, Lee 20-26-0-215, Yankoff 1-4-0-1, Hutchings 1-1-0-31.
RECEIVING — Lew, Ahlers 7-90, Sharp 8-184, Way 3-66, Ulrich 2-21, Light 1-35, Spear 2-18. Cd’A, Bonacci 1-2, Lundblad 7-48, Hutchings 7-79, Richmond 1-31, Vang 1-2, Le 1-15, Naccarato 4-70.