Trojans have some fun at recess

POST FALLS — School hasn’t even started yet at Post Falls High, and coach Blaine Bennett is already stressing recess to his players.

By that, just having a little fun on the football field.

Junior wide receiver Tommy Hauser had 11 receptions for 244 yards — 206 coming in the first half, when he caught all four of his touchdown passes — for the Trojans in a 49-28 win over the Sandpoint Bulldogs in the nonleague opener for both schools at Trojan Stadium on Friday.

Senior quarterback Derek Pearse threw for 326 yards for Post Falls, with touchdown passes of 54, 52, 41 and 27 yards to Hauser coming in the first half.

“We want to play fast,” Post Falls coach Blaine Bennett said. “Getting the ball to Hauser early was big for us. Derek had a really good first half. And offensively, we want to play fast and did that tonight.”

Sandpoint matched that speed in the first half, with Jaxon Pettit throwing touchdown passes of 39 yards to Christian Niemela and an 80-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Larson in the second quarter.

“It was the tale of two halves,” second-year Sandpoint coach Ryan Knowles said. “Our offense really kept us in it in the first half. The defense was struggling, and in the second half, we were getting off the field and making some nice plays. When it gets to a 14-point game, it kind of becomes a deflating moment. They were doing it with tempo, and their offense was doing great.”

Pearse threw for 245 yards in the first half.

“Both Derek and Tommy spent a lot of time working on things this summer,” Bennett said. “They’re both smart football players and can tweak a few things from time to time. We call it recess, where they can go out and have a little fun on the football field.”

“It’s a great connection,” said Hauser of his work with Pearse. “We’ve had a little over a year to master the offense and spent a lot of time working on routes over the summer. We’ve gotten a lot better on the field, and built a brotherhood along with it. Derek was finding me with the ball and I was able to get some good space.”

Post Falls held Sandpoint scoreless in the second half.

“(Post Falls defensive coordinator) Mike Blowers told our guys that we need to tackle better,” Bennett said. “We needed to believe in our assignments and kind of catch our breath a little bit.”

Bennett added that Post Falls didn’t scrimmage before Friday’s game, which might have been a factor early on.

“We took our kids to (Camp) Lutherhaven instead,” Bennett said. “So this was the first time we’d really played live football this year. We didn’t tackle well in the first half, but we did a lot better job in the second half of wrapping up and taking care of our assignments.”

Pettit finished with 308 yards passing, with Niemala finishing with 130 yards on eight receptions.

“We knew Post Falls was going to be a tall task to start with,” Knowles said. “They’ve got a good system and a great offense. I was proud of our guys and the look in their eyes when we finished that game. They were a little run down, but there’s no quit in these guys. If we can learn from these mistakes, it will be worth it.”

Next Friday, Post Falls faces Mead at Whitworth University in Spokane starting at 5 p.m., while Sandpoint visits University High of Spokane.

Sandpoint 14 14 0 0 — 28

Post Falls 20 15 0 14 — 49

First quarter

PF — Tommy Hauser 54 pass from Derek Pearse (Josiah Shields kick), 10:37

PF — Nic McLeod 4 run (Shields kick), 7:12

Spt — Christian Niemela 39 pass from Jaxon Pettit (Dylan Peterson kick), 4:27

Spt — Gerrit Cox 5 run (Peterson kick), 51.6

PF — Hauser 52 pass from Pearse (kick failed), 0:00

Second quarter

PF — Hauser 27 pass from Pearse (Hauser pass from Pearse), 11:10

Spt — Elijah Larson 80 pass from Pettit (Peterson kick), 9:46

PF — Hauser 41 pass from Pearse (Shields kick), 8:01

Spt — Pettit 2 run (Peterson kick), 23.5.

Fourth quarter

PF — Eli Gondo 1 run (Shields kick), 8:16

PF — Gondo 1 run (Shields kick), 1:50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Spt, Kappen 4-18, Pettit 17-14, Benefield 5-25, Cox 12-32, Lehman 1-(-10), Niemela 1-10. PF, Gondo 27-105, Pearse 1-(-4), McLeod 8-50.

PASSING — Spt, Pettit, 21-31-0-308. PF, Pearse, 21-34-1-326.

RECEIVING — Spt, Lehman 2-15, E. Larson 5-109, Niemela 8-130, Thielbahr 1-10, Cox 5-63. PF, Gondo 4-25, Hauser 11-244, Curlee 2-28, Lee 1-13, Shields 3-26.