Lewiston turns back Lake City to earn playoff berth

It had the look of a long night for injury-riddled Lake City when Lewiston needed just six plays to score on its first series.

And that was before LC starting quarterback Collin Hunter went down with an injury later in the first quarter.

But the Timberwolves gave a spirited effort and kept it interesting deep into the second half before the visiting Bengals pulled away for a 47-22 victory Friday.

Lewiston (8-1, 2-1 Inland Empire League) clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2008. The Bengals will entertain Meridian in the opening round. Lake City (2-7, 1-2) will miss the playoffs for just the second time in 19 seasons.

“It was like last week (against Coeur d’Alene), we ran into a team that’s better than we are,” Lake City coach Van Troxel said. “It crushed my heart when Collin got hurt, especially being a senior, but the young kid (sophomore Bryce Buttz) came in and our guys rallied around and our defense played hard.

“The life lessons they’re learning about themselves are way more important. I’d love to win, but I’m really proud of our guys and the way they competed.”

Lewiston quickly grabbed a 7-0 lead but fumbled the ball away on its next series. Lake City marched into Bengals territory, but Hunter aggravated an ankle injury that has bothered him most of the season. The Timberwolves stalled at Lewiston’s 41 but pulled off a successful fake punt with Nick Goldthorpe hitting Brady Davis for 33 yards. LC settled for Kobe Murphree’s 20-yard field goal.

Lane Alford’s 1-yard plunge extended Lewiston’s lead to 14-3 but LC closed the half with a 73-yard scoring drive, fueled by Buttz’s 16- and 24-yard completions to Phil Blank. On fourth-and-goal at the 3, Buttz took a big hit just before he pitched the ball to Austin McMaster, who took it into the end zone to cut Lewiston’s lead to 14-10.

“Honestly, some stuff went on before when we were getting on the bus I wasn’t real happy with. I didn’t know if we were mentally ready for the game and the first half we didn’t play very good football,” Bengals coach Shawn Nilsson said. “I was proud of the kids in the second half. They came out and did what we asked of them.”

Lewiston pulled away in the third quarter as LC committed three turnovers. Mason Ulrich returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown and Riley Way scored the second of his four touchdowns. LC closed within 33-16 on McMaster’s 9-yard reception, but the Bengals answered with a pair of touchdowns.

Bengals quarterback Colton Richardson finished 18 of 21 for 187 yards.

Buttz, LC’s fourth-string quarterback, passed for 111 yards. McMaster and Ram Lettau combined for 106 yards rushing for Lake City, which was also missing its top two backs.