Le has a field day to spark impressive Viks

Coeur d’Alene senior running back Gabe Le piled up some pretty impressive numbers against the Lakeland Hawks Friday – 223 yards and three touchdowns.

And maybe even more impressively, he barely broke a sweat doing it.

Le produced those gaudy numbers on just seven carries and got plenty of help from his defense, leading 5A CdA to a 56-14 Inland Empire League football win over the 4A Hawks at Viking Field.

The win for the Vikings (4-2 overall, 1-2 IEL) came after a loss last week and according to coach Shawn Amos, the effort by his Viks was a vast improvement over a week ago.

“After last week (a 22-20 loss to Post Falls), we needed to play better,” Amos said. “The kids responded tonight. The line blocked well and the guys ran hard. We need to do that every week.”

Lakeland (2-4, 0-3), playing up a division this year, just could not stop CdA’s running game, which gained 416 yards.

“We just had no answer for their running backs,” Lakeland offensive coordinator Mike Bayley said. “They’re great backs, but we tackled poorly.”

The Hawks actually got on the scoreboard first. CdA received the opening kickoff and quickly picked up two first downs.

On first-and-10 from the Vikings’ 43, Vikings quarterback Max Lyons tried to hit Leon Duplessis with a screen pass. But the ball sailed over the receiver’s head and was ruled a lateral that the Hawks recovered at CdA’s 32-yard line.

Lakeland took just four plays to score. Quarterback Kam Kiefer found tight end Bubba Bartlett alone in the right corner of the end zone, and Kiefer’s point after kick made it 7-0.

But that appeared to bring out the beast in the Viks. CdA scored on its next five possessions. And its sixth started with just :02 left in the half.

Lyons connected with wide receiver Kyle Mills for the first two scores, finding Mills over the middle for a 45-yard score and, just over two minutes later, connected with Mills again on a 19-yarder.

Following an interception by CdA’s Scott Lind, which he returned to the Hawks 21, the Viks struck again.

Junior running back Kevin Ah-Hi took a handoff from Lyons, made two tacklers miss, and raced untouched into the end zone.

Lyons had a huge first quarter. The senior completed 5 of 5 passes for 93 yards and the two touchdowns to Mills.

Le took over in the second quarter. After gaining just 22 yards in the first quarter, Le scored on runs of 77 and 60 yards. On his first scoring run, Le got a crushing block from Mills at CdA’s 25 to spring him.

When asked if he saw the block by Mills, Le said, “Sure did! When I go to cut back, I know that my receivers are going to be there for me.”

Lakeland put together an impressive 13-play, 71-yard drive just before the end of the first half. The Hawks made it 35-14 when Kiefer hit Ian Kelssy with a 15-yard toss.

But CdA responded with a quick score in the opening moments of the third quarter – an 8-yard run by Ah-Hi – and the Hawks were held scoreless the rest of the way.

The Viks would add a 46-yard scoring run by Le and a 1-yard run by senior Trevor Mongeau with 5:45 to go.

Bayley pointed to the Vikings defense, which held Lakeland to 93 yards running and 97 passing, as being a key.

“They were awfully quick to the ball tonight and offensively, we just couldn’t maintain our blocks,” he said.