By Jim Meehan, NWPrepsNow
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Just when you thought the fourth quarter couldn’t get any crazier, it did.
Post Falls and visiting Coeur d’Alene traded haymakers throughout but the Trojans landed the last one. Make that the last two, as Post Falls scored on the final play of regulation and added a two-point conversion to pull out a 37-36 victory Friday night.
“That’s the wildest game I’ve seen,” Trojans coach Jeff Hinz said. “That was a great win by our kids. We overcame a lot, some penalties and turnovers. I couldn’t be more proud of everybody in an orange jersey.”
Post Falls (5-4) clinched second place in the Inland Empire League 5A and a trip to the state playoffs for the first time since joining the 5A classification in 2006. The Trojans visit Eagle (8-1) in next week’s opening round.
Coeur d’Alene (6-3), which dropped a 45-42 thriller to Lake City last week, earned an at-large berth and will travel to Meridian (4-5) next Friday.
“They made the plays, they deserved the win,” Vikings coach Shawn Amos said. “We won’t be in (the playoffs) long if we keep playing like that.”
The Vikings scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, both after Post Falls turnovers, to take a 28-21 lead with 7:07 remaining. Post Falls responded with Dalton Thompson’s 33-yard touchdown pass to Zach Hillman. Ryan English hauled in a Thompson pass for the two-point conversion and the Trojans led 29-28 with 4:04 left.
Coeur d’Alene went back on top on Austin Lee’s 37-yard touchdown strike to Colby Daniels. The Vikings added the two-point conversion and led 36-29 with 2:16 remaining.
Post Falls answered quickly as Thompson hit Nathan Gregory down the sideline for 55 yards. Later, Austin Jackson’s 2-yard run put the ball at CdA’s 1. With the clock ticking under 6 seconds, Post Falls hurried to line up and snapped the ball. Thompson rolled right and found Kameron Welker for the touchdown.
“I was going to run it but I’m too slow,” said Thompson, who passed for 279 yards and rushed for 138. “I saw Welker and just lobbed it to him.”
The same two Trojans connected on the two-point play, with Welker reaching up and making a one-handed catch before being tackled by a defender. Thompson thought he overthrew the junior tight end, but Welker said, “I thought it was a perfect ball.”
Jackson rushed for a hard-earned 88 yards on 36 attempts. Hillman finished with seven catches for 122 yards. The Trojans ran 81 offensive plays to CdA’s 40, which helped keep the Vikings’ potent offense on the sideline.
“This means a lot,” Thompson said. “I just wanted to get this for Coach Hinz.”
