PREP FOOTBALL: Timberlake drops a tough one to Weiser in first round

WEISER — For the second straight year, the Timberlake Tigers took a higher-seeded team to the wire in their opener of the state 3A playoffs before falling.

Rajanee Olivieri caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Cole Meidinger with 2:15 remaining for Timberlake. But the Tigers were unable to recover the ensuing onside kick, allowing defending 3A champion Weiser to run out the clock in a 34-27 win Friday.

“It was a good ol’ slugfest, that’s for sure,” said Timberlake coach Kelly Amos, in his third year of his second stint at the school. “We wanted to move the chains and get positive yards, and did a really good job of that tonight. We just wanted to keep our offense going in a positive direction.”

Timberlake, which last year as the seventh seed lost 28-21 at No. 2 Gooding in the quarterfinals, finished 4-4.

Timberlake, seeded 11th, led 13-7 10:37 into the second quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Cooper Lenz, who finished with 123 rushing yards. Weiser fought back to take a 20-13 halftime lead on a 47-yard touchdown run by quarterback Andrew Enders.

Weiser, the sixth seed, took the lead for good on an 11-yard pass from Kollin Cook to Michael Youngberg with 4:48 remaining in the third.

Weiser’s Kaleb Grove scored on a 3-yard run to give the Wolverines a 34-20 lead with 4:04 remaining.

“I’m just super proud of my kids,” Amos said. “They played their hearts out. And that’s all you can ask of your guys.”

Olivieri finished with four catches for 85 yards for Timberlake.

“Raj had a great day both on offense and defense,” Amos said. “It was just unfortunate that we weren’t able to get that final drive to go.”

Weiser (9-1) advances to the quarterfinals next weekend.

Timberlake 7 6 7 7 — 27

Weiser 6 14 7 7 — 34

First quarter

Weis — Brock Spencer 3 run (Ryndon Olson kick)

TL — Vaughn Higgins 2 run (Hunter Higgins kick)

Second quarter

TL — Cooper Lenz 1 run (kick failed)

Weis — Michael Youngberg 80 pass from Andrew Enders (Olson kick)

Weis — Enders 47 run (Olson kick)

Third quarter

TL — Lenz 75 run (V. Higgins kick)

Weis — Youngberg 11 pass from Kollin Cook (Olson kick)

Fourth quarter

Weis — Kaleb Grove 3 run (Olson kick)

TL — Rajanee Olivieri 8 pass from Cole Meidinger (V. Higgins kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — TL, Lenz, 13-123, H. Higgins 10-43, V. Higgins 13-34, MacArthur 5-24. Weis, Grove 21-103, Youngberg 10-74, Crockett 2-7, Walker 3-20, Scott 1-14, Enders 3-54, Stevens 1-6.

PASSING — TL, Meidinger, 6-12-0-98, Wells, 1-1-0-14, H. Higgins, 0-1-0-0. Weis, Enders, 4-7-0-123, Cook 3-4–0-48.

RECEIVING — TL, Olivieri 4-85, MacArthur 2-19, Zimmerman 1-8. Weis, Youngberg 4-120, J. Walker 1-24, B. Walker 1-16, Enders 1-11.

Tekoa-Rosalia 74

Lakeside 40

ROSALIA, Wash. — The Knights finished the season 2-7 after a loss to the Timberwolves.

The game, scheduled earlier this week, was called with 4:33 remaining due to an altercation, according to reports.

Tekoa-Rosalia is 2-6.

Sandpoint 63

Skyview 35

SANDPOINT — Max Frank scored five touchdowns, four on the ground, as the third-seeded Bulldogs outlasted the 14 seed Hawks of Nampa in the first round of the state 4A playoffs at Barlow Stadium.

Frank ran for 160 yards on 12 carries, and scored on runs of 13, 20, 45 and 3 for Sandpoint (5-3). He also caught two passes for 63 yards, including a 43-yard score from Parker Pettit.

Sandpoint will play host to 11th seed Shelley (5-5) in the quarterfinals next week. Shelley won 37-13 at No. 6 Emmett.

Skyview finished 2-8.

Joseph Hughes ran for 109 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries for the Bulldogs, last year’s state runners-up. Pettit scored on a 30-yard run, and finished with 91 yards on the ground. Sandpoint finished with 465 yards rushing. Pettit threw just five passes.

Max Cutforth completed 26 of 49 passes for 409 yards and four touchdowns for Skyview.

Sandpoint finished with 533 yards of offense, Skyview 485.