PREP FOOTBALL: Lakeland handles Lewiston, captures 5A IEL title
LEWISTON — When head football coach Mike Schroeder was hired at Lakeland three years ago, he had a few goals in mind.
Changing the culture was one of them.
Next week, for the first time since 2015, the Hawks will be home for the state playoffs, winning the 5A Inland Empire League title by beating the Lewiston Bengals 34-14 on Friday at the P1FCU Sports Complex.
“When I got the job, my goal was to win the league,” Schroeder said. “First and foremost, one of the goals was beating Sandpoint. Now, with Lewiston in the league, that was the challenge, and we made the most of that opportunity tonight. Beating them the last two weeks really changes the culture.”
Lakeland (7-2, 2-0 5A IEL) is currently ranked third in the MaxPreps rankings, which is used to seed the playoffs.
“I think we’re going to maintain that, but we’re going to be at home,” Schroeder said. “The pressure will be on us to defend our home territory, but we’ll be prepared to play.”
Lakeland senior quarterback Haydon Benson threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to junior Jace Taylor to give the Hawks a 20-7 lead. Benson later scrambled 37 yards for a score to give Lakeland a 27-7 lead.
“Haydon’s been playing well the last few weeks,” Schroeder said. “We’ve been playing great defense the last two weeks, so hats off to the players and coaching staff for that.”
Lewiston (5-4, 1-1) was ranked fifth entering Friday.
Playoff matchups are expected to be announced this weekend.
Coeur d’Alene 49
Raymond (Alberta) 12
COEUR d’ALENE — Caden Symons tossed four touchdown passes and Tannar Stern threw for two more as the host Vikings, who won the 6A Inland Empire League title last week, wrapped up their regular season with a win over the Comets at Viking Field.
Brett Myers and Kai Wheeler each caught two touchdown passes for Coeur d’Alene (7-2), and Kolbe Coey and Evan Williams each had one TD catch.
Anthony Thompson ran for a TD for Coeur d’Alene, which broke from a 7-all tie after one quarter to lead 28-7 at halftime. The Vikings were up 35-12 after three quarters.
Raymond is 7-2.
Coeur d’Alene has a bye next week in the first round of the state 6A playoffs. The Vikings will play at home the following weekend against either Middleton or an at-large team to be determined Sunday.
Timberlake 22
Bonners Ferry 7
BONNERS FERRY — And now, the Tigers wait.
Timberlake, sitting in 13th in the state 4A MaxPreps rankings entering Friday, defeated the Badgers to conclude Intermountain League play at Kenny Mendenhall Stadium. Only the top 12 teams advance to the playoffs, which begin next weekend.
“We got a win, which is something we needed to do,” Timberlake coach Kelly Amos said. “It was probably our best defensive game of the year. Bonners is tough to deal with and patient offensively. It’s really important to not let them move the ball, and we did a good job of keeping them contained tonight.”
Jonathan Hansen and Westin Herbert scored in the first quarter to give Timberlake a 14-0 lead. The Tigers added a touchdown on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Ryker Brennan to Mason Shively in the second quarter.
Timberlake (3-6, 1-1 IML) will find out its playoff fate when the final rankings are released on Sunday. Bonners Ferry (4-5, 0-2) entered the night ranked 17th.
“We put ourselves in a good position,” Amos said. “It was a good effort from our guys in all three phases. They did what we asked them to do. Now, it’s up to wonderful MaxPreps.”
Timberlake 14 8 0 0 — 22
Bonners Ferry 0 7 0 0 — 7
First quarter
TL — Jonathan Hansen 2 run (kick successful)
TL — Westin Herbert 7 pass from Ryker Brennan (kick successful)
Second quarter
BF — Brody Rice 1 run (kick successful)
TL — Mason Shively 22 pass from Brennan (Hansen run)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — TL, Herbert 8-77, Hansen 13-59, Knight 7-43, Brennan 9-21, Hendren 1-4, Shively 1-(-9). BF, Hiatt 8-28, Rice 3-6.
PASSING — TL, Brennan 7-13-1-97. BF, Rice, 6-21-0-112.
RECEIVING — TL, Knight 2-36, Herbert 3-24, Shively 1-22, Hansen 1-15. BF, HIatt 1-19, Rice 1-5, Abubakari 1-4.
St. Maries 48
Orofino 24
ST. MARIES — Senior Gerard Dittman ran for 101 yards and two first-half touchdown for the Lumberjacks in a Central Idaho League win over the Maniacs in the season finale for both schools.
St. Maries junior quarterback Jack Barta threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns in the win.
St. Maries finishes 1-7, 1-3.
Orofino finishes 1-7, 0-4.
Orofino 0 0 16 8 — 24
St. Maries 6 14 22 6 — 48
First quarter
SM — Gerard Dittman 5 run (conversion failed)
Second quarter
SM — Dittman 16 run (Jack Barta run)
SM — Brock Barta 21 pass from Jack Barta (kick failed)
Third quarter
SM — unknown 15 pass from Jack Barta (conversion successful)
Oro — unknown 40 run (conversion successful)
SM — Julien Ceja-Grimaldo 8 run (conversion failed)
Oro — unknown 3 run (conversion successful)
SM — Jack Barta 20 run (Rustle Brusseau run)
Fourth quarter
Oro — unknown touchdown run (Landon Connolly run)
SM — unknown 32 pass from Jack Barta (conversion failed)
ST. MARIES STATISTICS
RUSHING — Dittman 15-101, J. Barta 7-52, Morris 3-42, Ceja-Grimaldo 10-36, Brusseau 1-6, Smith 1-1.
PASSING — J. Barta, 15-29-0-226.
RECEIVING — Ceja-Grimaldo 6-82, B. Barta 3-63, Morris 1-19, Dittman 1-9.
Priest River 64
Kellogg 26
PRIEST RIVER — The Spartans, who played a JV schedule, clinched a state 3A playoff berth with a win over the Wildcats at Priest River High.
Both Priest River (6-2, 3-1 CIL) and Kellogg (3-6, 2-2) will find out their playoff fate this weekend.
Wallace 54
Lakeside 46
SILVERTON — Senior Julian Davis returned an interception 48 yards for a touchdown with 2:01 remaining as the Miners rallied with 22 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Knights and win the North Star League title at Sather Field in Silverton.
Freshman quarterback Cooper Miller scrambled to score on a 6-yard touchdown run with 2:16 remaining to tie the game at 46-46. Davis intercepted the next play from scrimmage to give Wallace the lead for good.
Lakeside recovered a squib kick, but a Hail Mary pass from the Wallace 40 on fourth down fell incomplete.
Lakeside junior Tyson Charley returned the opening kickoff of the second half 55 yards to give the Knights a 34-22 lead. Braydon Greensky caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Charley to make it 40-22 earlier in the third quarter.
Wallace (8-1, 5-1 NSL) and Lakeside (6-2, 4-2) await their playoff fate this weekend.
Lakeside 20 8 18 0 — 46
Wallace 6 16 14 22 — 54
First quarter
Wall — Cooper Miller 30 run (run failed)
LS — Oliver Daniels 50 run (pass failed)
LS — Tyson Charley 14 run (Hallah Peone run)
LS — John Wilson 33 pass from Charley (run failed)
Second quarter
Wall — Wyatt Richey 7 pass from Miller (Gus Scott pass from Miller)
Wall — Miller 2 run (Scott pass from Miller)
LS — H. Peone 5 run (Preston Spotted Horse pass from Charley)
Third quarter
LS — Charley 55 kickoff return (pass failed)
LS — Braydon Greensky 8 pass from Charley (pass failed)
Wall — Julian Davis 13 pass from Miller (Scott pass from Miller)
LS — Charley 57 run (pass failed)
Fourth quarter
Wall — Myles 30 pass from Miller (Scott pass from Miller)
Wall — Miller 6 run (Davis pass from Miller)
Wall — Davis 48 interception return (Scott pass from Miller)
Coeur du Christ 54
Clark Fork 28
WORLEY — Freshman Grant Clemens passed for four touchdowns and ran for two more as the Saints completed their first year as a football program on a winning note, downing the Wampus Cats in North Star League play at the Marimn Health Coeur Center.
Sophmore Charles Jenne had two touchdown catches and an interception for Coeur du Christ (3-5, 3-3 NSL).
Ben Connelly had an interception on the game’s first play, then caught two TD passes for the Saints. Greg Hayes ran for two touchdowns and recovered a fumble.
Clark Fork finished 0-7, 0-6.
Coeur du Christ scoring plays
First quarter
Charles Jenne 2 pass from Grant Clemens
Ben Connelly 6 pass from Clemens (Greg Hayes run)
Second quarter
Jenne 30 pass from Clemens
Hayes 60 run
Third quarter
Clemens 51 run
Connelly 11 pass from Clemens (Eli Zember pass from Clemens)
Fourth quarter
Hayes 2 run (Connelly pass from Clemens)
Clemens 10 run