STATE PREP FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: Lumberjacks sack Melba in 2A state opener

| October 30, 2016 9:15 PM

ST. MARIES — Brady Martin and Donaven Rottini each had two quarterback sacks — half of the team’s eight — as the St. Maries Lumberjacks rolled past the Melba Mustangs 34-6 in the opening round of the state 2A playoffs on Saturday afternoon.

St. Maries (9-0) will face North Fremont (6-3) next Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow in the quarterfinals.

“Defensively, we played very well today,” St. Maries coach Craig Tefft said. “We outgained them 392 to 172 in total yards and were able to get some pressure on the quarterback.”

Kaleb Brown had a 61-yard touchdown run to seal the win in the fourth quarter, finishing with 94 yards on 12 carries for St. Maries.

“We got out to a little bit of a slow start and kind of stubbed our toes with some penalties in the first quarter,” Tefft said. “We had a chance to score some more points, but were just sloppy with penalties and execution.”

Kiefer Gibson completed 13 of 20 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns for St. Maries, which hasn’t allowed more than 10 points defensively since a 39-18 win at Priest River on Sept. 16.

North Fremont advanced with a 77-20 win over winless Wendell on Friday night.

Melba 0 0 0 6 — 6

St. Maries 0 12 6 16 — 34

SM — Jake Seiler 29 run (run failed)

SM — Dakota Wilson 13 pass from Kiefer Gibson (pass failed)

SM — Seiler 10 pass from Gibson (run failed)

SM — Nate Masterson 12 run (Gibson run)

Melba — Timothy Reinertson 13 pass from Eli Bangerter (pass failed)

SM — Kaleb Brown 61 run (Tyler Lohman pass from Gibson)

Weiser 15

Priest River 14 (OT)

PRIEST RIVER — Anthony Storro threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Anselmo in the first possession of overtime, but Alberto Sanchez’s two-point conversion run after Weiser’s score gave Wolverines a win over the Spartans in the opening round of the state 3A playoffs.

Weiser opened the scoring on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Braden Bumgarner to Dalton Turrentine in the first quarter, holding the Spartans’ scoreless until a 28-yard touchdown pass from Storro to Collin Dietrick evened the score with nine minutes remaining.

Priest River finishes 3-5.

Weiser (5-4) visits unbeaten Shelley (9-0) in the state quarterfinals next weekend.

Weiser 7 0 0 0 8 — 15

Priest River 0 0 0 7 7 — 14

Weiser — Dalton Turrentine 19 pass from Braden Bumgarner (Alberto Sanchez kick)

PR — Collin Dietrick 28 pass from Anthony Storro (Caleb Blancher kick)

PR — Tommy Anselmo 10 pass from Storro (Blancher kick)

Weiser — Brody VonBrethorst 10 pass from Bumgarner (Sanchez run)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Weiser, Bra. Bumgarner 10-20, Smith 2-3, Sanchez 1-0, Garcia 10-31, Vogt 11-69. PR, Storro 14-52, R. Anselmo 2-(-2), T. Anselmo 16-60, Blancher 7-48.

PASSING — Weiser, Bra. Bumgarner, 1-1-0-19, VonBrethorst, 2-7-0-12. PR, Storro, 7-17-2-106.

RECEIVING — Weiser, Bri. Bumgarner 1-10, Turrentine 1-10, Garcia 1-2. PR, Kody K. 2-0, R. Anselmo 2-14, T. Anselmo 3-46, McCracken 1-18, Dietrick 1-28.