PREP FOOTBALL: Welcome back, coach
Hinz returns to sidelines, guides Post Falls to big win over Lakeland
By JASON ELLIOTT
Sports writer
POST FALLS — Homecomings might be reserved for the alumni, but getting an ailing coach back on the sidelines, that’s the best kind.
Post Falls football coach Jeff Hinz returned to the sideline on Friday night to coach his Trojans football team after missing the previous two games due to a return of cancer.
His team responded in the best way they knew how, a huge win over its rival on the prairie, the Lakeland Hawks.
Mark Haines threw for three touchdowns and senior linebacker Gunnar Sciortino returned a fumble 31 yards for a touchdown, leading the Trojans to a 62-7 win over the Lakeland Hawks at Trojan Stadium.
“It was a good and fun night,” said Hinz, who coached for the first time since a win against Skyline on Sept. 4. “It’s a good one for our team and our program. We still want to get better for our league games coming up in a few weeks.”
Hinz made the decision an hour before the game started to join his team.
“It was huge to have him back,” Sciortino said. “Not seeing him for two weeks, you get kind of down. But seeing him on the sidelines and in the locker room before the game, it almost got me a little teary eyed, because I love the guy and it really meant a lot having him back.”
Post Falls fumbled on the opening snap of the game, recovered by Lakeland’s Joe Peavey at the 25-yard line. Zach Hillman intercepted a pass in the end zone to stop the scoring threat.
Post Falls took over from there, as Haines threw for 159 of his 166 yards in the first half.
“We’re looking at some guys in different spots to make us the best we can be in the coming weeks,” said Hinz, who was without starting quarterback Nathan Gregory, who is sidelined with a sports hernia. “Hopefully we can get Nathan back in the coming weeks, but Mark did a nice job tonight.”
Next Friday, Post Falls (3-2) travels to Moses Lake and Lakeland (0-5) hosts Timberlake.
Post Falls forced five turnovers, scoring touchdowns on two as Cameron Williams returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown as time expired.
“We really shut things down tonight,” Sciortino said. “If we play to our potential and we do our jobs, I really don’t think anyone can score three touchdowns against us. I really don’t.”
Lakeland’s Joshua Brandt scored on a 2-yard run to cut the deficit to 21-7 midway through the second quarter.
“It’s the best first half we’ve played all season,” Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said. “Obviously, it wasn’t perfect, but it was the best first half we’ve played. We played with some energy for the first time and had some excitement. Honestly, it was stupid mistakes by me and trying to do things to win the game instead of controlling it, and it got out of hand.”
Ryan Pote, in his second game since moving from halfback to quarterback, threw for 128 yards for Lakeland.
Lakeland 0 7 0 0 — 7
Post Falls 7 28 7 20 — 62
First quarter
PF — Preston Bourgard 33 pass from Mark Haines (Braden Vaughn kick), 4:50.
Second quarter
PF — Gunnar Sciortino 31 fumble return (Vaughn kick), 11:50.
PF — Parker Walton 40 pass from Haines (Vaughn kick), 9:41.
LL — Joshua Brandt 1 run (Trevor Karras kick), 3:18.
PF — Cory Brown 21 pass from Haines (Vaughn kick), 1:17.
PF — Bourgard 27 pass from Walton (Vaughn kick), 0:00.
Third quarter
PF — Collin Hildreth 4 run (Vaughn kick), 9:23.
Fourth quarter
PF — Dusty Weeks 16 run (Vaughn kick), 5:12.
PF — Brown 19 run (Vaughn kick), 2:04.
PF — Cameron Williams 40 interception return (no conversion attempted), 0:00.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — LL, Brandt 8-6, Pote 8-(-25), Garayalde 1-1, Neilson 1-0, McDaniel 10-19, Vahey 1-7, Dickens 4-29. PF, Vaughn 5-34, Nelson 5-23, Lyon 2-10, Haines 2-16, Jackson 4-19, Hildreth 1-4, Weeks 5-87, Schulze 5-25.
PASSING — LL, Pote, 8-20-2-128. PF, Haines, 11-17-0-166.
RECEIVING — LL, Vahey 3-38, Walker 3-8, Dickens 2-63, McDaniel 1-19. PF, Hillman 5-54, Bourgard 2-60, Walton 1-40, Brown 1-21, Nelson 1-18, Welker 1-9.