Post Falls Rally Bests Wv Trojans Put Together Late Winning Drive For 14-11 Win To Go 3-0
Post Falls High’s Josh Mort, Travis O’Briant and Austin Lee hadn’t had the best of nights offensively.
But the threesome came together to key an 82-yard fourth-quarter touchdown drive that pushed the visiting Trojans to a 14-11 non-conference football win over West Valley on Friday.
Lee snagged a 10-yard scoring pass from O’Briant with 2:52 remaining. That came after Mort, limited to 66 yards until the winning drive, ripped off runs of 23 and 27 yards.
Add in a critical defensive holding penalty on West Valley, which gave Post Falls a first down at the Eagles’ 12, and the Trojans were able to squeak by in this evenly played contest.
“Our kids showed a lot of pride and came back,” said Post Falls coach Jerry Lee, whose club improved to 3-0. “West Valley is really good, extremely physical.”
Lee’s son, Austin, had hopped off side a couple of times and dropped an O’Briant aerial on the first play of the decisive drive.
“But we made the play when it counted,” said Austin Lee, who used all of his 6-foot-5 frame to haul in the lob pass over the middle.
The score nudged the Trojans into a 14-9 lead. West Valley stalled on its next possession and punted back to the Trojans with 1:52 remaining.
On fourth down, Post Falls took a safety to account for the final score. West Valley fired up three incompletions in the waning seconds.
“They hurt, not so much because they scored points off our turnovers, but because they kept our offense off the field.”
Steve Kent, West Valley coach “I’m very proud of the way our guys fought,” West Valley coach Steve Kent said. “It’s too bad we couldn’t put up a ‘W’ with that effort.”
The Eagles nearly did just that. Quarterback Riley Allen scooted 49 yards for a touchdown midway through the first quarter for a 6-0 lead. The extra-point attempt hit the upright.
Post Falls answered on O’Briant’s 15-yard TD pass to Brett Hollenbeck in the second quarter. Lee’s point-after gave the Trojans a 7-6 halftime lead.
O’Briant finished just 7 of 21 for 84 yards, but was on the mark with both scoring tosses. He threw almost exclusively to Hollenbeck on medium- and long-range passes, but WV’s Joe Andrews nicely defended the Trojans’ speedy receiver.
Mort rushed for 126 yards on 21 carries.
West Valley (0-2) took the lead late in the third quarter on Jason Whitney’s 33-yard field goal. Whitney had a dandy kicking effort, hitting the field goal and averaging 43 yards on five punts.
WV’s Justin Tichy had 71 yards on 19 attempts, but the Eagles were stung by four turnovers.
“They hurt, not so much because they scored points off our turnovers,” Kent said, “but because they kept our offense off the field.”
Post Falls 14, West Valley 11
Post Falls 0 7 0 7 - 14
West Valley 6 0 3 2 - 11
WV-Allen 49 run (kick failed)
PF-Hollenbeck 15 pass from O’Briant (Lee kick)
WV-36 FG Whitney
PF-Lee 10 pass from O’Briant (Lee kick)
WV-safety, Hollenbeck tackled in end zone
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