Suns get offensive while Vikings don’t

Two-thirds of a total team effort wasn’t good enough.

Coeur d’Alene needed three-thirds.

Southridge quarterback Andrew Mendenhall threw for three touchdowns, and the Suns took control on both sides of the ball in a 33-17 victory over the Vikings on Friday night in Coeur d’Alene in the season opener for both teams.

Mendenhall completed 16 of 24 passes for 201 yards for the offensive-minded Suns of Kennewick, who are favored to win the Columbia Division of the Columbia Basin League. Mendenhall also contributed 106 yards on 12 rushes.

Southridge scored the game’s final 20 points to pull away, and outscored the Vikings 13-0 in the second half.

“They’re obviously a good football team,” Vikings coach Shawn Amos said. “It was an exciting game, but we kind of let it get away from us in the second half.”

The shootout that was expected didn’t materialize until the second quarter. The teams combined for 34 points in the final 12 minutes of the first half, but it was Southridge that emerged with a 20-17 halftime lead.

What made the second quarter particularly fascinating was Coeur d’Alene’s ability to stay in the game despite nearly no production from its offense.

The Vikings ran one play in the first 9 minutes – a fumble, coincidentally – and ran only seven plays in the quarter for minus-12 yards.

Coeur d’Alene remained in contention, however, because of a couple of remarkable plays.

After the Suns took a 7-3 lead on Cameron Sanders’ 4-yard touchdown run, CdA’s Justin Goodwin returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to put the Vikings ahead.

Southridge answered with Mendenhall’s 33-yard touchdown pass to Devin Jones and appeared primed to extend its lead before halftime thanks to a Coeur d’Alene turnover at its own 15.

But defensive lineman Travis Ewert intercepted a Mendenhall pass two plays later and raced 81 yards untouched to give the Vikings a 17-13 lead.

The Suns didn’t lose their composure. They marched 50 yards in three plays on their next drive to take a three-point lead into intermission. Sanders bulled through a tiring Viking defense for 14 yards and a touchdown with 2:43 left in the first half.

Ewert put CdA in position to take a third-quarter lead with his second interception at the Southridge 21, but Vikings quarterback J.J. Turbin threw an interception at the Suns’ 5 on the next snap from scrimmage to spoil the chance.

“We needed to capitalize on our opportunities, and we didn’t do that,” Amos said.

Southridge needed only seven plays to cover 94 yards on its next possession, finishing the drive with Mendenhall’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Clayton Homme.

The duo connected again on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 6 minutes left to cap the scoring.