Post Falls Grabs First Win Ever Over Lewiston Four Touchdowns In Second Half Send Trojans To 41-20 Victory In Iel Opener

You can erase the word “never” from the reference to the Post Falls-Lewiston high school football series.

Winless since the series began in 1980, Post Falls used a four-touchdown explosion in the second half to run away from the Lewiston Bengals 41-20 in an Inland Empire League opener Friday at Bengal Field.

Leading the Trojans was an emotionally charged offensive line. Taking advantage of the initial blocks and churning up a lot of yards down field was running back Josh Mort.

The workhorse Mort scored four touchdowns as he gained 286 yards on 38 carries.

“It’s awesome,” Mort said as the Trojans won for the first time in 17 tries. “It finally came together for us in the second half. We definitely stepped it up this game.”

The game ended with 50 seconds left on the clock when Lewiston offensive lineman Andy Peterson injured a hip. Lewiston coach Nick Menegas asked the officials to stop a game that had lasted 3 hours largely because of 26 penalties, 14 committed by Lewiston.

Post Falls coach Jerry Lee wore a smile that easily covered up the goose egg that had previously represented the Trojans’ victories in the series.

“I think we beat a very good football team,” said Lee, whose second-ranked team raised its record to 4-0 overall. “Our offensive line dominated and we got after them. Defensively we played really sound. The only thing that concerned us was our kickoff (coverage).”

Poor kickoff coverage by the Trojans allowed Lewiston superb field position most of the game.

But that was Post Falls’ lone liability Friday.

Lee’s son, Austin (tight end/defensive end), caught the touchdown pass late in the first half that appeared to be a momentum-turner for the Trojans.

On third-and-3 from the Lewiston 38-yard line, Trojan quarterback Travis O’Briant faked a handoff and lofted a pass to Lee, who finished off the 38-yard TD connection by breaking an ankle tackle by Luke Blewett at the 20 and lumbering into the end zone. Lee’s PAT made the score 14-all at half.

The Trojans took control on the opening drive of the second half. Post Falls marched 81 yards on five plays as Mort capped the drive with a 3-yard dash behind the left side of the line.

Mort added two more TDs on runs of 7 and 66 yards, the final score breaking the Bengals’ backs with 6:42 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“Sixteen years is too damn long,” Austin Lee said. “We had a great effort all around. We dominated the game. We controlled the ball and scored when we had to.”

After Post Falls extended its lead to 26-14 on the second of three Mort TDs in the third quarter, Lewiston scored its final TD on the ensuing kickoff.

The Bengals set up a huge wall to the left and Chris Kennedy took the kick and dashed 90 yards to pull Lewiston within six at 26-20 with 5:06 remaining in the third quarter.

But the Trojans marched back down the field, scoring on a 10-yard pass from O’Briant to Brett Hollenbeck. The pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage, but Hollenback made a sliding catch in the end zone to put the Trojans ahead 34-20 with :41 left in the third period.

The third-ranked Bengals fell to 3-1.

Post Falls 41, Lewiston 20

Post Falls 7 7 20 7 - 41 Lewiston 7 7 6 0 - 20

L-Kennedy 22 run (Van Malsen kick)

PF-Mort 2 run (Lee kick)

L-Ah Hi 1 run (Van Malsen kick)

PF-Lee 38 pass from O’Briant ( Lee kick)

PF-Mort 3 run (kick failed)

PF-Mort 7 run (run failed)

L-Kennedy 90 kickoff return (kick failed)

PF-Hollenbeck 10 pass from O’Briant (Dolan pass from O’Briant)

PF-Mort 66 run (Lee kick)

, DataTimes