Bengals win, force tiebreaker

The Lewiston football team clearly didn’t want to make things easy for the other two Inland Empire League 5A teams fighting for a playoff berth.

The Bengals won a game they were expected to lose Friday night, beating Post Falls 37-21 in Lewiston to force a three-way tie for the final playoff spot.

The Kansas tiebreaker-style, double-elimination playoff between Lake City, Post Falls and Lewiston will be held at Coeur d’Alene on Monday. The winner will earn the second and final seed to the state playoffs.

Post Falls (6-3, 1-2) jumped ahead early when Johnny Haskew hauled in a touchdown pass from Joey Pfennigs in the first quarter. But Lewiston (5-4, 1-2) responded with three second-quarter scores to take a 22-8 halftime lead.

Cole Zacha threw for a touchdown and ran for a score for Lewiston in the decisive second quarter. Lucky Gaskill also scored on an 8-yard run for the Bengals in the quarter.

Lewiston put the game away with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Great Northern

West Valley 45, Pullman 12: Five players scored touchdowns for the Eagles (7-2, 3-1) in their rout of the visiting Greyhounds (1-8, 0-4). Derek Lane opened the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Dylan Ellsworth scored the first of his two rushing touchdowns in the second quarter. Jake Bandel, Tyler Stavnes and Louie Vazanko also scored rushing touchdowns for West Valley.

Northeast A

Colville 41, Chewelah 20: Colton Davis ran for 247 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Indians (4-4, 4-1) clinched the league title with a win over the visiting Cougars (3-5, 1-4). Zach Shoemaker ran for three scores for Colville, which scored the first three touchdowns of the game and led 21-6 at halftime. Derek Smith threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns for Chewelah.

Freeman 33, Lakeside (WA) 20: The Scotties (8-1, 4-1) erased an eight-point halftime deficit with a second-half rally and beat the host Eagles (1-8, 0-5) in Nine Mile Falls. Freeman outscored Lakeside 21-0 in the second half after trailing 20-12 at the half.

Quinn Robinson ran for 225 yards on 30 carries and scored three touchdowns to lead Freeman. Zach Warlick had three touchdown passes and Justin Hause had a career-high 19 tackles to lead Lakeside.

Northeast 2B

Lind-Ritzville/Sprague 40, Davenport 19: Chris Steinmetz ran for 95 yards on 16 carries and scored three touchdowns to lead the Broncos (7-1, 5-1) past the visiting Gorillas (4-5, 2-4). Lind-Ritzville/Sprague led by 14 at halftime and outscored Davenport 19-7 in the third quarter to put the game away.

Reardan 58, Liberty 39: The Indians (6-2, 4-2) raced out to a 33-0 first-quarter lead and eased past the visiting Lancers (1-8, 0-6). Jeff Bergeron ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns and freshman Caleb Kopp added 123 rushing yards and one touchdown for Reardan. Matt Marcure rushed for 129 yards and one touchdown for Liberty.

Northeast 1B

Almira/Coulee-Hartline 64, Odessa-Harrington 20: Derek Isaak scored five touchdowns as the Warriors (9-0, 3-0) won the league title over the visiting Titans (5-3, 2-1). Isaak scored four rushing touchdowns and returned a punt for another score. Jared King threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a touchdown to lead Odessa-Harrington.

Cusick 34, Northport 31: Warren Pienkum’s 20-yard touchdown run in the third quarter proved to be the difference as the Panthers (6-3, 4-1) edged the visiting Mustangs (5-4, 3-2). Derrick Bluff had three rushing touchdowns – all coming in the first half – to lead Cusick, which wrapped up second place in the league.

Wellpinit 50, Columbia-Inchelium 34: Greg Wynecoop threw three of his four touchdown passes in the first quarter and the Redskins (8-1, 5-0) routed the visiting Timberwolves (3-6, 2-3). Brodie Ford and Cody Ford each caught two touchdown passes from Wynecoop. Nick Hill ran for two touchdowns for Columbia-Inchelium.

Southeast 1B

Colton 52, St. John-Endicott 12: Josh Straughan threw for 298 yards and five touchdowns to guide the Wildcats (8-1, 4-1) past the visiting Eagles (1-6, 1-4). Jake Straughan caught five passes for 166 yards and two scores.

Nonleague

Deer Park 44, Riverside 13: Dalton Hanson caught two touchdown passes from Colton Mead in the first quarter and the Stags (8-1) routed the host Rams (5-4). Mead completed 13 of 19 passes for 115 yards and three touchdowns – all coming in the first quarter. Jason Jorgensen added 153 rushing yards and three scores for Deer Park.

Clarkston 42, Medical Lake 14: The Cardinals led at halftime but the Bantams (3-6) flexed their muscles and cruised to a win over visiting Medical Lake (4-4). The Cardinals led 14-6 at halftime, but were shut out 36-0 in the third and fourth quarters. Colby Ruark caught two touchdown passes and ran for two more to lead the Bantams.

Curlew 48, Mansfield 8: Doug Beetle ran for 173 yards and two touchdowns and Jamie Zerck added 66 yards and three scores as the Cougars thundered visiting Mansfield. After a close first quarter, Curlew (2-6) outscored Mansfield 34-0 in the second and third quarters.

Selkirk 40, Republic 0: Michael Haskins ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns as the Rangers (3-6) routed the visiting Tigers (2-6) at Ione. Selkirk scored 18 points in the second quarter and led 32-0 at the half.