Lake City upset bid falls short in 2nd half

Lewiston prevails, earns state 5A playoff berth

COEUR d’ALENE — It was intriguing for a half.

There was a Lake City, with just two wins on the season, its injury list growing, down to its fourth-string quarterback, guys playing in different positions — but still only trailing Lewiston, a team with just one loss on the season, by four points in a game where the winner advanced to the state 5A playoffs.

Could it be?

However, three third-quarter turnovers — including a pick-six on the second play of the quarter — doomed Lake City, and Lewiston went on to secure its first trip to the playoffs since 2008 with a 47-22 triumph Friday night.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” said Lake City coach Van Troxel, whose Timberwolves finished 2-7, 1-2 5A Inland Empire League. “They competed hard ... it’s like last week, we ran into a team that’s better than we are. It crushed my heart when (starting quarterback) Collin (Hunter) got hurt, especially being a senior. But the young kid came in, and our guys rallied around, and our defense played hard. The life lessons that they’re learning about themselves are way more important. I’d love to win, but I’m really proud of our guys and the way they competed.” Lewiston (8-1, 2-1), whose only blemish was a 56-28 loss at Coeur d’Alene two weeks ago, will host Meridian (4-5) in the first round of the state playoffs next weekend.

“This is pretty special,” said Bengals coach Shawn Nilsson, who was Lewiston’s offensive coordinator the last time the Bengals reached the playoffs. “I was afraid of our kids’ mental focus coming in, and I just didn’t know if we were mentally ready for the game, and in the first half we did not play very good football. I just didn’t think we came out ready to play. Hats off to Lake City, they played hard, they had a chance to make the playoffs and they came out ready to play, and had a good game plan. I thought we came out in the second half and did what we asked of them, and played a little more disciplined.”

Hunter, who missed three games in the middle of the season with an ankle injury before returning last week, re-aggravated the injury late in the first half and hobbled off. Backup Matt Duchow suffered a broken hand two weeks ago, and the third-stringer was home with the flu, leaving sophomore Bryce Butz at the controls.

Butz ran one play — a keeper — then Lake City surprised Lewiston with a fake punt, Nick Goldthorpe hooking up with punter Brady Davis on a 34-yard completion to the Lewiston 8. That led to a 20-yard field goal by Kobe Murphree that cut Lewiston’s lead to 7-3.

The drive was set up by a crunching hit by Kyle Kazmierski on a Lewiston receiver, forcing a fumble that Davis recovered.

Lewiston answered with a touchdown, but Lake City scored just before the half on a 3-yard run by Austin McMaster, and the Timberwolves trailed just 14-10 at the half.

But Mason Ulrich intercepted Butz on the second play of the third quarter, and returned it 40 yards for a Lewiston touchdown. The Bengals scored again after a Lake City punt, and turned a T-Wolf fumble into another score and a 33-10 lead after three.

“The first half got quite exciting,” Troxel said. “The kids made plays, and we tried to use what we had left.”

Lewiston quarterback Colton Richardson completed his first 10 passes, and finished 19 for 21 for 187 yards and a touchdown. The Bengals actually ran for more yards (209) than they passed for.

Butz ended up throwing for 109 yards and a touchdown, to McMaster. McMaster, who moved from H-back to fullback out of necessity, ran for 60 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.

“I thought Austin McMaster stepped up,” Troxel said. “The Butz kid did a nice job ... really, all of them did. Defensively in the first half, we gave up some yardage but they made some stops, and hopefully the life lesson that they learn is, it’s about being a competitor, and sometimes other people are better, but if you compete, you can do some pretty good things.”

Lewiston 7 7 19 14 — 47

Lake City 3 7 0 12 — 22

First quarter

Lew — Riley Way 3 run (Lane Grant kick), 9:37

LC — FG Kobe Murphree 20, 1:21

Second quarter

Lew — Lane Alford 1 run (Grant kick), 8:32

LC — Austin McMaster 3 run (Murphree kick), :46.9

Third quarter

Lew — Mason Ulrich 40 interception return (kick bailed), 11:07

Lew — Way 3 run (Grant kick), 6:33

Lew — Way 13 run (kick blocked), :30.6

Fourth quarter

LC — McMaster 9 pass from Bryce Butz (run failed), 10:13

Lew — Alford 1 run (Grant kick), 5:39

Lew — Kempton Sharp 26 pass from Colton Richardson (Grant kick), 2:43

LC — McMaster 1 run (no attempt), :00

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Lew, Way 9-71, Ulrich 5-84, Light 3-5, Speer 3-20, Richardson 2-(minus 13), Alford 8-40, Moore 2-2. LC, Hunter 4-11, Lettau 15-42, Butz 8-3, McMaster 17-60, Mitchell 1-4.

PASSING — Lew, Richardson 19-21-0-187. LC, Hunter 1-4-0-8, Goldthorpe 1-1-0-34, Butz 8-20-2-109.

RECEIVING — Lew, Sharp 7-90, Ulrich 4-36, Speer 4-31, Alford 1-10, Way 2-20. LC, Stapleton 2-6, Davis 3-58, Blank 3-76, McMaster 2-11.