Post Falls held to 7 points in first-round loss to Timberline
POST FALLS — Post Falls made a lot of big plays on Friday night.
Just not enough of those touchdown plays.
Josiah Shields caught a deflected Andy Peters pass for a first-quarter interception for Post Falls, setting up an Eli Gondo 6-yard touchdown run.
But Timberline scored 19 unanswered points — all in the second quarter — as the Wolves of Boise beat the Trojans 19-7 in the opening round of the state 5A football playoffs at Trojan Stadium.
“I thought we came out ready to play and our defense was awesome tonight,” Post Falls coach Blaine Bennett said. “To hold a team like that to 19 points, get a couple of big stops in the second half, and force a few turnovers, they really kept us in the game for four quarters. Offensively, we didn’t put enough points on the board.”
Shields’ interception came after the teams exchanged punts early in the first quarter.
“It was a big play for us,” Bennett said. “We had a lot of momentum at that time.”
Timberline, which finished tied for fifth in the 10-team 5A Southern Idaho Conference, seized the momentum for good as Peters ran for a 2-yard touchdown with 3:02 remaining in the half. Timberline extended the lead just before the half on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Peters to Nicholas Caballero.
“That four-minute span between the top end and bottom end before halftime (final four minutes), I was told if you win that, you give yourself a chance to win the ballgame,” said Timberline coach Ian Smart, whose team picked up the program’s first playoff win. “Our coaching staff looked at each other and knew we had to go get it. That throw was a big kid throw, and for him to hit Nicolas was a huge moment.”
After a scoreless third quarter, Post Falls junior Kaden Cripps recovered a fumble on the 30-yard line with 5 minutes left, but the Trojans were unable to capitalize.
“We just didn’t make enough plays in the red zone when we needed to,” Bennett said. “Timberline did a good job, and put a couple of extra guys on (Tommy) Hauser. But Hauser made some plays. We made plays, just not touchdown plays. We’re used to getting more touchdowns, and we just didn’t get into the end zone tonight. Timberline came up here, and they did an excellent job.”
Hauser had 125 yards receiving for Post Falls, which finishes 6-4.
“It was another really good season for us,” said Bennett, who has coached the Trojans to the playoffs in three of his four years as coach. “We just didn’t make enough plays. Seven points just isn’t enough to win a game anywhere.”
“You could see the kinds of things Post Falls can do offensively by averaging 37 points a game,” Smart said. “Defensively for us, it was just trying to stop No. 13 (Hauser), because he’s a beast. And they’ve got a quarterback (Derek Pearse) that can sling the ball. We knew they were going to be able to gash us when they needed to, but that second half was a testament to how our kids prepared. Post Falls had the ball inside the 20 about three different times late, but our guys made some plays when they needed to.”
Timberline (6-4) visits Rocky Mountain (9-0) of Meridian in the quarterfinals next weekend.
Timberline 0 19 0 0 — 19
Post Falls 7 0 0 0 — 7
First quarter
PF — Eli Gondo 6 run (Alejandro Lopez kick), 4:21
Second quarter
TL — Taylor Marcum 20 run (pass failed), 11:55
TL — Andy Peters 2 run (Gideon Coprivnicar kick), 3:02
TL — Nicolas Caballero 27 pass from Peters (kick block), :03
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — TL, Marcum 35-161, Peters 9-53, Adams 6-39. PF, Gondo 18-67, McLeod 2-7, Pearse 2-7.
PASSING — TL, Peters, 11-22-1-160. PF, Pearse, 18-36-1-192.
RECEIVING — TL, Rigby 2-26, Caballero 3-60, Lavin 2-21, Schultz 3-31, Rush 1-22. PF, Hauser 8-125, Gondo 2-6, Fisher 1-0, Curlee 2-9, Shields 3-11, Lee 1-22, Burton 1-9.