Beggerly big as Vikings outlast Mead in home opener
COEUR d’ALENE — Coeur d’Alene senior Caleb Beggerly did almost everything in the Vikings’ home opener on Saturday.
Huge punt return — check.
Even bigger runs at running back — check.
Pairing with Washington-bound quarterback Colson Yankoff, making his season debut following knee surgury in the spring, they were almost unstoppable on the football field.
Beggerly accounted for 191 yards rushing, scoring twice on runs of 88 and 70 yards, as the Vikings beat the Mead Panthers 62-43 on Saturday night at Viking Field.
“He’s a tough player,” Amos said of Beggerly. “He makes big-time plays. And that’s what we expect from him. He shows up ready to play.”
Beggerly’s 88-yard punt return opened the scoring — and the floodgates — with 9:18 remaining in the first quarter.
Yankoff, who missed the team’s first two games, scored on runs of 73 and 75 yards in the first half, finishing with 161 yards rushing and another 183 through the air.
“He’s all right,” Amos said of Yankoff. “He’s a pretty dynamic player. We’ve got a lot of really good players. Adding him makes us really dymanic. He’s fast — really fast — and with the running backs we have, you’ve got to pick one.”
Coeur d’Alene (2-1) hosts Moses Lake on Friday.
Mead sophomore quarterback Ryan Chan threw for 423 yards and four touchdowns, with three interceptions.
“We still have some things to get better at,” Amos said. “For a first home game, to win the game, that’s the big thing. We didn’t have any major ‘owies.’ We’ve got some tough games down the road.”
The game was moved from Friday to Saturday due to poor air quality. Throughout the week, Coeur d’Alene remained indoors for practices due to the conditions.
“Honestly, our focus was the most impressive thing all week,” Amos said. “We were inside all week and we’d had great practices. Our kids were focused and dialed in, and that’s why we performed the way we did. They maintained focused, and that’s strong senior leadership. And that’s what we’ll need to keep playing in November and get where we want to go.”
Mead (0-2) — which lost 54-40 to Post Falls on Sept. 1 at Roos Field in Cheney — will face University on Friday at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.
Mead 7 14 7 15 — 43
Coeur d’Alene 18 30 14 0 — 62
First quarter
Cd’A — Caleb Beggerly 88 punt return (Seth Harrison kick), 9:18
Mead — Michael Workman 65 pass from Ryan Chan (Eli Eldridge kick), 8:26
Cd’A — Colson Yankoff 73 run (Kyler Prendergast run), 7:36
Cd’A — FG Harrison 26, :49
Second quarter
Cd’A — Yankoff 75 run (Cole Ramseyer pass from Prendergast), 11:30
Mead — Jonathan Baird 9 pass from Chan (Eldridge kick), 8:17
Cd’A — Ross Chadderdon 63 pass from Yankoff (Harrison kick), 7:54
Mead — Baird 31 pass from Chan (Eldridge kick), 3:41
Cd’A — Beggerly 70 run (Beggerly run), 3:29
Cd’A — Yankoff 8 run (Harrison kick), :40
Third quarter
Cd’A — Yankoff 5 run (Harrison kick), 6:35
Mead — Workman 3 pass from Chan (Eldridge kick), 4:24
Cd’A — Beggerly 88 run (Harrison kick), 1:23
Fourth quarter
Mead — Tayvain Howard 40 fumble return (Eldridge kick), 4:22
Mead — Isaiah Saldana 13 pass from Ryan Blair (Eldridge kick), 1:12
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Mead, Katzer 8-111, Chan 10-34, Crawford 5-27, Pulestasi 1-(-4). Cd’A — Yankoff 5-161, Morgan 6-44, Beggerly 4-191, Friesz 1-(-3), Crawford 9-41, Thompson 1-8.
PASSING — Mead, Chan, 30-53-3-423, Blair, 4-5-0-48. Cd’A, Yankoff, 14-24-1-183, Thompson, 2-5-0-22, Friesz, 0-2-0-0.
RECEIVING — Mead, Heitman 12-142, Workman 6-148, Baird 7-49, Crawford 3-42, Bacon 1-11, Kennedy 1-9, Saldana 2-19, Adams 1-47. Cd’A, Ramseyer 1-(-1), Chadderdon 5-86, Beggerly 1-26, Kettel 2-24, Matheson 3-10, Gove 3-50, C. Nosworthy 1-8, Dawson 1-8.