Post Falls bounces back
What a difference a week makes.
Post Falls, coming off a lackluster performance in last week’s season-opening loss to Mountain View, bounced back with an easy 31-15 victory over visiting Cheney Friday night.
In a sometimes-strange football game – the Blackhawks (1-1) returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and the Trojans recorded two safeties, Post Falls dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage.
Junior linebacker/punter Jerod Kennedy, part of a defensive unit that, in addition to scoring four points, sacked Cheney quarterback DeAngelo Jones six times and held the Blackhawks to minus-21 rushing yards and three first downs, said everybody wearing orange and black was a star Friday at Post Falls High.
“We played really well as a team,” said Kennedy, whose punt stuck Cheney inside its 1 to set up the first safety. “Everyone was making their plays, making their reads, and we worked really hard this week.
“It was really a team effort – everyone stepped it up.”
Aside from the shaky start – Cheney’s Alex Adams went virtually untouched right up the center of the field to start the game before a pair of Trojan kick returners let the ensuing kickoff roll right between them, it was all Post Falls.
The Trojans amassed 221 total yards in the first half while holding Cheney to minus-16, yet led just 15-7 at the half. A 61-yard touchdown strike from senior quarterback Nikk Reinhardt to senior wideout Brett Winn and a pair of 27-yard field goals by senior Griffen Hoerner, along with senior defensive end Frank Collins’ sack of Jones in the end zone accounted for the scoring.
But Post Falls (1-1) got all the cushion it would need early in the second half on another Reinhardt-to-Winn strike, this one for 69 yards, on the Trojans’ first possession after the break.
Later in the third quarter, a 29-yard pass from Reinhardt to junior Josh Wilhelm set up a 1-yard touchdown plunge by senior tailback Kenneth Bartholomew.
Senior safety Kelly Fisher finished up the scoring for the Trojans, chasing down Jones from behind in the end zone.
Post Falls coach Jeff Hinz agreed that his offense played like a different team than last week.
“Defensively, they played their tails off again – they hit some guys, they were physical,” Hinz said. “Offensively, it was night and day – we still had two turnovers, two ‘mis-executions’ in the red zone that cost us 14 points, and penalties, but better.
“We cut our turnover ratio from six to two, so I’m happy with that.”
Hinz pointed to his team’s desire as the biggest factor in the turnaround.
“These kids are hungry,” he said. “They’re working their tails off, they have great attitudes – it’s them, they’re the ones that are making the difference.”
Cheney scored its lone offensive TD with less than 6 minutes left on a 6-yard pass from Jones to sophomore wide receiver Diondre Moore-Young.