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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Bengals roar back in fourth against Post Falls

Jason Shoot Correspondent

Time remains for the Post Falls football team to recover from another tough-to-swallow defeat.

If the Trojans hope to keep their fading state playoff hopes alive, however, they’re going to need a little help from familiar teams not so apt to give it.

Post Falls suffered a second consecutive fourth-quarter meltdown Friday night, turning the ball over twice in the fourth quarter en route to a 39-21 loss to Lewiston in an Inland Empire League football game.

On the heels of an eerily similar loss against Lake City one week earlier in which they fell apart in the final quarter, the Trojans (4-4, 0-2) failed to maintain a 21-20 lead with 7 minutes left in the contest. Post Falls must win at Coeur d’Alene on Thursday and hope Lake City defeats Lewiston in order to force a tiebreaker for one of the league’s two berths to state.

Lewiston quarterback Tom Kerr located Michael Schulz open for a 25-yard touchdown with 5:44 left to give the Bengals (4-4, 1-1) a 26-21 edge. Lewiston’s P.J. Munoz hauled in an errant Nikk Reinhardt pass moments later for an interception, and that led to Schulz’s 5-yard touchdown run for a 32-21 lead.

Casey Dragon, who started at quarterback for the Trojans and split time there with Reinhardt throughout the game, threw an interception on Post Falls’ next possession. Lewiston tailback Joey Walton raced 25 yards untouched for a touchdown on the next play to cement the outcome.

Kerr plunged into the end zone on a 1-yard run to give the Bengals a 20-7 lead in the third quarter, but the Trojans staged a comeback. Reinhardt threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Brubaker to cut Post Falls’ deficit to 20-14 in the third quarter. Randy Hamilton, who finished with 240 yards of total offense, gave the Trojans their first lead of the game when he scampered 24 yards for a score with 7:10 left in the game.

Lewiston led 14-7 at halftime and benefited when Post Falls failed to score a point on two trips inside the Bengals’ 10. Kerr and Munoz connected on a 32-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, but the Trojans evened the score when Kenneth Bartholomew scored on a 5-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.

The Bengals didn’t flinch, though. Ryan Young collected the ensuing kickoff and raced 85 yards for a touchdown.

Hamilton had 184 rushing yards on 28 carries and caught five passes for 56 yards. Reinhardt completed 11 of 16 passes for 134 yards and one interception.

Kerr completed 12 for 24 passes for 187 yards for the Bengals.