STATE 5A FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: Missed chances ... Post Falls stalled by three turnovers in loss to Mountain View

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

POST FALLS — It was a night uncharacteristic of the 2023 Post Falls Trojans.

A team that rarely turned the ball over via the fumble, did.

A team that starts so quickly at times on offense, they’ve got the lead before the first whistle.

Post Falls, halted twice by fumbles in the first quarter, was unable to dig out of a 21-0 halftime deficit, falling 24-14 to the visiting Mountain View Mavericks of Meridian in the first round of the state 5A playoffs on Friday at Trojan Stadium.

“In the playoffs, against a really good football team, you can’t fumble the ball twice,” Post Falls coach Blaine Bennett said. “Especially coming out of your own end zone, and so we gave them a short field and made it tough for our defense after they got a stop on fourth and 1. We were going down to score right before halftime and put the ball on the ground again. It was definitely not what we wanted.”

Mountain View took advantage of a short field as Brody Munson caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Henry Nelson with 4:29 remaining in the first. After another fumble, Mountain View added on as the duo connected again on a 29-yard score with 2:37 left in the first quarter.

“We just came out with more fire in the second half," Post Falls senior linebacker Cooper Craig said. “We just came out a little faster. We just weren’t ready for the passing game tonight.”

Post Falls, which finished 6-4, was limited to three first downs in the first half.

“We’ve done a really good job of catching the ball all year long,” Bennett said. “But we had a few drops there, a few turnovers there. But that happens and that’s the game of football. We had to be in a situation where it was a one possession game, and we got to that. We just couldn’t close it out.”

“We regrouped at halftime and offensively we made some changes and defensively we made some changes,” Bennett said. “The kids bought in and we knew we had to win the third quarter, and we did and gave ourselves a chance. We really talked about winning the third at halftime and scoring some points and giving our defense a chance with a couple of stops.”

Mountain View (7-3) advances to face Meridian (6-3), the District 3 runner-up, next weekend for a spot in the state semifinals.

Post Falls got on the board with 3:15 remaining in the third on a double reverse, with senior wide receiver Alexander Shields scoring on a 5-yard touchdown run.

“We’ve had that play for a couple of years and hadn’t ran for a while, so figured it was a good time to call it,” Shields said. “Every game, we go into the game with three special plays and that was the right time in the game to call it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, and it was good.”

Post Falls limited Mountain View to three points in the second half, a 30-yard field goal by Martin Connington with 4:54 remaining.

“Our defense played good in the second half,” Bennett said. “Shoot, to give up three points in the second half kept us in the game the entire time.”

Junior Devin Burton ran for 90 yards and a touchdown for Post Falls. Junior quarterback Isaac McKeown threw for 125 yards.

“We knew they were a physical football team running the ball,” second-year Mountain View coach Brian Compton said. “They had a great back that had a tremendous year, and we knew it was going to be a challenge to contain him. And we were able to slow him down a little bit. It was a hard fought game, and they got theirs at times. Our guys did a great job of stepping up and keeping it manageable for us.”

Post Falls was unable to convert on a fourth and long, allowing Mountain View to run out the clock after a pair of first downs.

“We had some opportunities there late, but just couldn’t get it done,” Bennett said. “We were just off a little bit. Hats off to Mountain View. They’re a good football team and they’ll do a nice job in the playoffs I’m sure.”

It was the sixth time in Bennett’s eight years as coach that Post Falls had advanced to the playoffs.

“We had a great year this year,” Craig said. “We just came up a little short.”

“Mountain View’s a good football team,” Bennett said. “We did a lot of good things. But we just didn’t score enough points to win.”

Mountain View        14    7    0    3    —    24

Post Falls        0    0    7    7    —    14

First quarter

MV — Brody Munson 10 pass from Henry Nelson (Martin Connington kick), 4:29

MV — Munson 29 pass from Nelson (Connington kick), 2:37

Second quarter

MV — Tyler Weaver 5 pass from Nelson (Connington kick), 5:12

Third quarter 

PF — Alex Shields 5 run (Seth Martin kick), 3:15

Fourth quarter

PF — Devin Burton 10 run (Martin kick), 10:30

MV — FG, Connington, 30, 4:54

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — MV, Gomez-Ricks 20-128, Williams 8-20, Flatten 9-45, Nelson 1-2. PF, Burns 15-59, Burton 21-90, Clark 1-8, Shields 1-5.

PASSING — MV, Nelson, 10-18-0-139. PF, McKeown, 12-26-0-125.

RECEIVING — MV, Weaver 5-55, Munson 4-76, Gomez-Ricks 1-7. PF, Ostlund 3-40, Shields 3-53, Bowie 5-20, Triana 1-12.

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Post Falls senior wide receiver Alexander Shields brings in a catch between two Mountain View defenders during Friday's state 5A football playoff game at Trojan Stadium.