Timberlake prevails despite late scare
SPIRIT LAKE – Nick Puckett’s eyes couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
The Timberlake High senior running back/linebacker watched a 17-0 lead dissolve to three points before the Tigers held off the Weiser Wolverines 17-14 in a State 3A football quarterfinal Saturday afternoon at Van Tuinstra Memorial Field.
Timberlake (8-2) travels to defending state champ and No. 1-ranked Fruitland (10-0) Saturday. In the other semifinal, Shelley (10-0) and Kimberly (10-0) meet Friday at Holt Arena in Pocatello.
Fruitland topped Buhl 33-15 in a rematch of the 2006 state final.
Timberlake seemingly had things in control when quarterback Levi Powers cut back and sprinted 22 yards on an option keeper to put the Tigers ahead 17-0 with 10:58 remaining in a game that the home team probably should have socked away much sooner.
“We have to know to play ball control,” Puckett said. “It could easily have been 17-0 and that’s what we were hunting for was a goose egg. To let them back in the game was a mistake on our part. It was a lack of focus for us and we can’t do that next week.”
Timberlake penetrated the red zone midway in the second quarter when Puckett bobbled a pitch that was recovered by the Wolverines (8-2) at the 15.
A similar miscue occurred in the third quarter when the Tigers reached the Weiser 25 before fumbling the opportunity.
With a 17-0 lead, Timberlake lost two more fumbles in the final minutes, including one that Weiser turned into touchdown.
“Offensively, we had (two) turnovers in the fourth quarter and that can’t happen to a team that wants to be in state championship contention,” said Puckett, who finished with a game-high 190 yards on 34 attempts.
Thankfully for the Tigers, their defense was up to the task. They threw a shutout for 41 minutes against a team that scored 48 points against Kellogg last week.
“Hopefully, it’s a lesson learned,” Timberlake coach Roy Albertson said of the turnovers. “I thought we really pressed. Our best players made some fumbles, but they were just pressing too hard trying to make big plays.”
Powers fumbled and Weiser recovered at the Tigers’ 29 with 2:37 to go.
Four plays later, Wolverines running back Jacob Scharbrough scored from 4 yards out and a two-point conversion allowed Weiser to pull within the final margin at 17-14 with 1:55 to go.
Powers recovered the ensuing onside kick, and the Tigers ran out the clock with one more first down.
“We did just enough to make it scary for them, I guess,” Weiser coach John Srholec said. “I didn’t think we executed. Nothing against them, they’re a good football team, they deserved to beat us. They kicked our tails (today), but we dug too many holes and made too many mistakes – things we hadn’t done all year.”
Timberlake took a 7-0 lead when Josh Goodman hauled in an 8-yard pass from Powers on a screen play, completing a 14-play, 53-yard drive with 2:06 left in the first quarter.
The Tigers went ahead 10-0 when Dominik Regler hit a 21-yard field goal 1:24 before intermission.
Albertson praised first-year defensive coordinator Mike Menti with a solid game plan.
Puckett, who made several tackles at linebacker, agreed with his coach.
“We watched a lot of film and saw that Weiser was very formation specific,” Puckett said. “We knew what was coming out of formations. There was a lot of defensive chatter by us. We did our homework and that’s what we have to do again this week.”
Fruitland eliminated Timberlake 28-6 in the semifinals last year.
Srholec, whose team fell to Fruitland 28-7 during the regular season, expects Timberlake to battle competitively with the Grizzlies.
“They’ve got enough good kids and I give them a great shot (against Fruitland),” Srholec said. “Fruitland is big and talented, but anyone can be beaten.”