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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Defense allows Coeur d’Alene to hold back Moses Lake

Coeur d’Alene had enough on its hands facing a tough Moses Lake football team.

The Vikings made the task even tougher by committing four turnovers and misfiring on a short field, but they found a way to finish, thanks primarily to their stingy defense, and held off the visiting Chiefs 17-14 on Friday.

CdA (3-1) dominated statistically but not on the scoreboard because of three fumbles, an interception and a penalty that erased sophomore quarterback Colson Yankoff’s 45-yard touchdown run.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a bunch and Moses Lake kept battling,” CdA coach Shawn Amos said. “We made the last play. That’s all that counts, I guess.”

The Vikings fumbled the ball away at the Chiefs 19-yard line early in the fourth quarter with the score knotted at 14. The defense forced a three-and-out and CdA moved to Moses Lake’s 5. After a shaky snap, Griphen Le’s 22-yard field-goal attempt came up short.

CdA again forced a three-and-out and the Vikings again reached the Chiefs 5. A penalty pushed them back to the 10 and Le’s 27-yard field goal just cleared the cross bar to put the Vikings in front 17-14 with 4:17 remaining.

“The second one I knew the game was on my shoulders,” Le said. “It was a little low, but like I was saying earlier the boys up front were getting it done.”

Moses Lake (1-2) methodically marched down field on quarterback Wes Harrington’s arm and scrambling ability. Facing third-and-10 at the Vikings 14 with less than a minute remaining, Harrington threw for the end zone, but cornerback Alec Seibold broke quickly and made an interception near the goal line.

“I thought our defense played lights’ out,” Amos said. “We screwed up a lot of things on their last drive except that last play. I think our kids will be smart enough to know we can’t play like this week in, week out and come away with wins.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Yankoff replaced Austin Lee and promptly hit Cole Ramseyer for 23 yards, Jakob Lynn for 31 and Brian Skinner for 11. Ramseyer soared high to snag a 12-yard touchdown pass. Le hit Joseph Naccarato on a halfback-option pass for the 2-point conversion, putting CdA in front 8-0.

The Chiefs finally got untracked when Harrington hit speedy receiver Isaiah Thomas in stride for a 73-yard touchdown. Defensive lineman Trevor Lucky batted down the 2-point conversion pass and Moses Lake trailed 8-6.

The Vikings padded their lead with another drive sparked by Yankoff’s passing. On fourth-and-goal at the 4, Le caught a screen pass, broke a tackle and reached the end zone with 41.3 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Yankoff was sacked on the two-point conversion, leaving CdA on top 14-6 at half.

Yankoff passed for 175 yards and two scores in the second quarter. Lee ran for 65 yards in the second half.