Young Post Falls headed to playoffs

POST FALLS — Cole Rutherford made the play that appeared to put Post Falls in control of Friday

It didn’t work out that way, but that was OK.

Rutherford made another big play later in the game to help Post Falls clinch a berth to the state playoffs.

Rutherford, a sophomore, caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Derek Pearse on the first possession of overtime, then Post Falls kept Lewiston out of the end zone on four plays to finish off a 34-28 victory over the Bengals in 5A Inland Empire League football at Trojan Stadium.

Post Falls is headed back to the playoffs for the second straight year — but this year’s team has new starters across the board, as last year’s squad was senior-heavy.

“That’s pretty special,” Post Falls coach Blaine Bennett said. “Every year’s a new year, and this team’s a different team than last year, and to know that we’re going into that Coeur d’Alene game with that playoff spot already locked down, that’s pretty good.”

Post Falls (4-3, 2-0 5A IEL) will play host to Coeur d’Alene (7-0, 2-0) next Friday for the league title and state seeding. The winner earns a first-round bye the following week; the loser returns the following week to play host to an at-large team in the first round.

Early in the third quarter, Rutherford fielded a punt on the bounce and raced 70 yards up the middle to boost Post Falls’ lead to 21-7.

But Lewiston (5-3, 0-2) answered with three straight touchdowns, as Post Falls’ offense stalled with one first down total on its next four drives.

“Part of it was offensively, we couldn’t get anything going,” Bennett said. “So our defense was out of the field almost the entire third quarter. I think our defense got a little tired. But wow, what a great fourth quarter our defense played.”

When Michael Bramlett took a pitch to the left and ran 60 yards for a touchdown with 6:33 remaining, Lewiston appeared in control, up 28-21.

But Post Falls came back with a drive for the ages to force overtime. Rutherford, despite being interfered with, caught a pass down the middle from Pearse for 21 yards. Pearse then hit Josiah Shields for 14 yards.

The Trojans then gave the ball eight straight times to Eli Gondo, who finished with 139 yards on 33 carries, that took them to the Lewiston 3. An incomplete pass was followed by an illegal substitution. On fourth and goal from the 8, Pearse threw left into the end zone to Tommy Hauser for a TD with 1:31 left, and Josh Brisendine’s PAT tied it at 28.

Post Falls got the ball back and nearly won it in regulation. But Brisendine’s field goal try from 32 yards out, into a howling crosswind that had just come up minutes earlier, bounced off the crossbar and back into the end zone.

Post Falls had the ball first in overtime and scored on the third play, Rutherford beating the defender on a skinny post from the left and catching the ball in the end zone.

“Wasn’t that something?” Bennett said. “That’s a sophomore. We’ve got seven or eight sophomores that are really playing well.

“And we knew he was going to play more and more, but we certainly didn’t know he was going to be so instrumental down there in overtime to win it. He’s smart, he’s talented — just like several other sophomores.”

Rutherford was only in on offense because Hauser got dinged up moments earlier when he collided with a Lewiston defender on a crossing route.

“In the overtime, someone gets hurt, you have to go back in, do what you can for your teammate,” Rutherford said. “We’re young. Everybody has a part, it’s not just a couple of people. It’s everybody.”

On its possession, Lewiston gained 5 yards on three plays. On fourth and goal, quarterback Tyson Wallace scrambled around and threw incomplete in the end zone, touching off a wild celebration by the Post Falls players. The officials had thrown a flag at the snap anyway, so even if Lewiston had scored, it wouldn’t have counted.

“I was real pleased to get to overtime, and then to win it in overtime ... what an exciting deal for the kids,” Bennett said. “It’s a good young team, and I’m so proud the way they hung together through some tough times in that third quarter, and were able to pull it off.”

Lewiston outgained Post Falls 270-122 in the second half, 411-329 for the game. Colt Jacobs caught eight passes for 143 yards, including TD catches of 44 and 47 yards from Wallace.

A Lewiston win wouldn’t have clinched anything; it would have been up to next Friday’s games ­ ­— Coeur d’Alene at Post Falls and Lake City at Lewiston — to settle the playoff spots. With this result, Post Falls is in, no matter what happens next week.

“Coeur d’Alene’s an excellent football team,” Bennett said. “We’re going to enjoy this one, then worry about them next week.”

Lewiston 0 7 14 7 0 — 28

Post Falls 6 8 7 7 6 — 34

First quarter

PF — Eli Gondo 9 run (run failed), :17

Second quarter

Lew — Colt Jacobs 44 pass from Tyson Wallace (Harrison Smith kick), 6:13

PF — Gondo 1 run (Jacob Rutherford pass from Derek Pearse), 3:20

Third quarter

PF — Cole Rutherford 70 punt return (Josh Brisendine kick), 9:53

Lew — Jacobs 47 pass from Wallace (Smith kick), 9:30

Lew — Wallace 3 run (Smith kick), :53

Fourth quarter

Lew — Michael Bramlett 60 run (Smith kick), 6:33

PF — Tommy Hauser 8 pass from Pearse (Brisendine kick), 1:31

First overtime

PF — C. Rutherford 10 pass from Pearse (kick failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Lew, Spencer 4-34, Bramlett 12-97, Wallace 15-103, Holscher 3-9, Walker 2-2. PF, Pearse 7-47, Gondo 33-139, Hauser 9-22, J. Rutherford 1-1.

PASSING — Lew, Wallace 10-28-2-166. PF, Pearse 12-25-0-120.

RECEIVING — Lew, Spencer 1-12, Jacobs 8-143, Holscher 1-11. PF, Hauser 5-56, Horning 1-15, Gondo 2-1, C. Rutherford 3-34, Shields 1-14.