Reardan takes down Lind-Ritzville
Jake Ferderer and Jon Jayne combined for 241 rushing yards and three touchdowns to lead Reardan (5-0, 4-0) to a 36-15 win over Lind-Ritzville (4-1, 4-1) in a first-place battle between the two Northeast 2B League teams.
Josh Eldred scored on a 25-yard run in the third quarter to break a 15-15 tie. Ferderer and Jayne then added rushing touchdowns to put the game out of reach. Tyler Bruegeman and Mike Osborn scored rushing touchdowns for the Broncos. Justin Whitney led Lind-Ritzville with 77 rushing yards on 15 carries.
In other Northeast 2B League action, Cory Christman rushed for 119 yards on 12 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead Davenport (5-1, 3-1) to a 32-6 win at Republic (3-2, 3-2). The Tigers’ John Palmier scored the first touchdown of the game on an 11-yard run in the first quarter. … Bryce Hubbard scored on a 45-yard pass from Matt Schroeder in the first quarter and Jesse Esquivel added an 8-yard run for a score in the third as Wilbur-Creston (1-5, 1-4) beat host Wellpinit (3-3, 2-2) 13-8. Norbert Abrahamson caught a 65-yard touchdown pass from Jake Green in the second quarter for the Redskins’ touchdown. … Liberty (5-1, 3-1) beat Springdale (0-6, 0-5) by forfeit because the Chargers did not have enough healthy players to compete.
Northeast A League
Chris Davis scored three rushing touchdowns and returned a punt 33 yards for another score to lead Freeman (5-1, 5-1) to a 56-0 thrashing of visiting Newport (0-5, 0-5). The Scotties scored five touchdowns in the first quarter to build a 35-0 lead. … Lucas Fox scored on a 10-yard run with 3:20 left in the fourth quarter to give Kettle Falls (6-0, 6-0) a 26-19 win over host Lakeside (2-4, 2-4) at Nine Mile Falls. The Eagles had a chance to come back, but turned over the ball on downs at midfield with 40 seconds left. The undefeated Bulldogs remain atop the Northeast A League standings. … Ben Aune was 11 of 17 passing for 206 yards and three touchdowns to lead Colfax (4-2, 4-2) to a 49-28 victory over visiting Chewelah (0-5, 0-5). Kyle Hill gained 79 yards on the ground and scored two touchdowns for the Bulldogs. Mike Day led the Cougars with 130 rushing yards on nine carries and a touchdown and also returned a kickoff 94 yards for another score.
Southeast 2B League
Kevin Baffney was 16 of 23 passing for 227 yards and four touchdowns to lead DeSales (3-2, 1-0) to a 49-12 win over visiting Tekoa-Oakesdale/Rosalia (1-4, 0-2). Baffney’s favorite target was Michael Richard, who caught six passes for 136 yards and scored three touchdowns.
Northeast 1B League
Martin St. John rushed for 222 yards on 22 carries and scored twice to lead host Columbia (3-3, 2-1) to a 42-22 win over Entiat at Hunters. Josh Wynne added two receiving touchdowns for the Lions, who built an insurmountable 42-6 halftime lead. … Pateros (2-2, 2-2) raced out to a 35-6 halftime lead en route to a 51-6 drubbing (1-3, 0-3) of host Curlew. The Cougars turned the ball over eight times, six on fumbles … Jacob Schmidt scored the first two touchdowns of the game on runs of 14 and 82 yards to lead Odessa (5-0, 3-0) to a 50-0 shut-out of visiting Cusick (2-4, 1-2). Logan Luiten added an 82-yard touchdown reception and returned a kick 75 yards for another score. The game was called after three quarters because of the 45-point mercy rule. … Greg Giese rushed for 169 yards and scored three touchdowns and had 150 yards passing with two more touchdowns to lead host Almira/Coulee-Hartline (5-1, 3-0) to a 72-24 win over Inchelium (0-6, 0-2). Travis Bean added two touchdowns, one receiving and one rushing, for the Warriors.
Southeast 1B League
Sergio Velazco had a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter to put Touchet (2-3, 2-3) up 20-0 as the Indians coasted to a 47-18 win over visiting Garfield-Palouse (3-2, 3-2). … Phillip Luft scored two rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns to lead St. John-Endicott (6-0, 5-0) to a 60-14 win over visiting Jubilee Academy (2-3, 2-3). Luft finished with 249 rushing yards and 75 yards through the air. … Hans Guske galloped for 235 yards on 20 carries to lead host LaCrosse-Washtucna (4-2, 3-2) to a 38-16 win over Prescott (3-2, 3-2). Justin Aune was 10 of 13 passing for 120 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigercats. Aune also scored two rushing touchdowns. … Trevor Turner ran for 161 yards and scored three touchdowns as Liberty Christian (1-5, 1-4) beat visiting Sprague-Harrington (0-6, 0-5) 43-16. The Patriots built a 31-6 halftime lead and never looked back. Terry Kissler led the Falcons with 191 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Idaho non-league
Timberlake junior running back Nick Puckett thought he had let down his team when he fumbled the ball away at midfield with 3:44 remaining.
Timberlake’s defense, though, gave the 3A Tigers another chance when they forced Lakeland to punt moments later. Then Puckett’s offensive buddies did the same as the Tigers ran their 2-minute offense to perfection.
Tigers junior quarterback Levi Powers scored on a 2-yard option keeper with 10 seconds to go as Timberlake pulled out a 19-15 win over 4A Lakeland in a mistake-filled but entertaining non-league game at Van Tuinstra Memorial Field.
The late-game excitement didn’t end until the horn sounded and Powers had made a touchdown-saving tackle. Lakeland quarterback Jack Vanderlinden hit wide receiver Steve Hanni in stride on a deep bomb, but Powers tackled the Hawk at the 16 as the clock expired.
The final 8 minutes were a fitting finish to a game neither team could control.
With the score tied 12-12, Lakeland took over at its 20 when a Puckett 25-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide left with 8:03 to go.
The Hawks followed with their second-best offensive series of the game. They marched to the Timberlake 10 before a fumbled snap by Vanderlinden followed by two incomplete passes forced Lakeland to attempt a 29-yard field goal. Left-footed John Novak split the uprights, pushing the Hawks ahead 15-12 with 3:49 to go.
A personal foul penalty by Lakeland for a late hit on the ensuing kickoff return allowed Timberlake to begin at its 49. That’s when Puckett, who finished with 220 yards, fumbled on the first play. If his heart could have sunk below the grass, it would have at that point.
“There’s really no excuse. A helmet got on the ball and I didn’t have a good handle on it,” Puckett said. “It’s my bad. For my team to pick me up like that and for us to drive in – that’s awesome.”
Puckett picked up 33 yards on Timberlake’s first four plays on its final possession as the Tigers had to use a hurry-up approach.
Tight end Casey Denton had the key contribution, though, when he somehow found a way to reach back while sliding to catch a 10-yard pass from Powers that put the Tigers at the 19. Denton followed by hauling in a 14-yard throw that gave Timberlake first-and-goal at the 4.
Powers quickly spiked the ball, stopping the clock with 14 seconds to go. Then Lakeland was called offside, giving the Tigers first-and-goal at the 2.
On the next play, Powers executed a fake handoff to Puckett on a dive, pulled the ball back and scampered untouched for the winning score.
“Levi read it perfect,” Puckett said. “We’d been running that pretty successfully all night. I’m just glad I was able to pull a good fake. It’s Levi’s decision to read the (defensive) end, and the end bit down on me. Then he’s got the option to pitch it to Cody (Jones) if he wants to. Obviously, there was no need to. I can’t give our (offensive) line enough props.”
Timberlake is 6-0 overall and ranked third in the state.
“It’s nice to be going into the league championship game 6-0,” Puckett said.
Timberlake coach Roy Albertson said his team’s ability to come from behind late was directly related to its overtime win over Riverside (42-41) in which the Tigers trailed by two TDs.
“We’ve had practice in games like this,” Albertson said. “We managed to get some big plays when we needed them.”
For Lakeland (4-3), the loss was disappointing – especially with a bye next week. The Hawks had limited use of two-way starter Bubba Bartlett, who suffered a minor pulled muscle last week.
“I didn’t think we were flat at all. I thought we played extremely well,” Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said. “Defensively, I thought we played well. Offensively, I thought we moved the ball. It was just offensive mistakes that shut us down.”
In other non-league action, John Aune scored from 4 yards out and Randy Hamilton caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Jake Salisbury in the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough as Libby beat Post Falls (3-3) 17-14 in Libby, Mont. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter. … Kurt Stoll bulldozed his way for 242 yards on 39 carries to lead Sandpoint (3-4) to a 33-21 win over visiting Lewiston (3-3). Stoll scored three touchdowns for the Bulldogs, who rushed for 178 more yards than the Bengals. Lewiston’s Nate Ebel returned an interception 62 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to bring the Bengals within six points, but Stoll’s 7-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter sealed the deal for the Bulldogs. … La Grande (Ore.) beat Moscow 44-22 at Moscow.