Post Falls motivated
The Post Falls High football team didn’t play a lick of defense in the first half Friday.
If the Trojans broke a sweat in the first two quarters, it surely was from chasing the Caldwell Cougars, not stopping them.
So Post Falls defensive coordinator Mike Lindquist admonished his troops to play with passion in the second half. They responded.
The Trojans held the visiting Cougars to 79 yards in the final two quarters as Post Falls prevailed 40-35 in a non-league game.
Post Falls’ defense, which gave up 278 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, didn’t budge after halftime. Caldwell’s lone second-half touchdown came on a 90-yard kickoff return.
“I left that up to Coach Lindquist,” Post Falls head coach Jeff Hinz said of the motivational speech at intermission. “We didn’t feel like there were any adjustments we needed to make – it was playing physical and playing hard. That’s what we need to do to win ballgames.”
From free safety Travis Reis to defensive linemen Sam Fetterhoff, Bryson Gilbert and Scott Baxter, the Trojans (2-0) were much more active on defense and certainly showed more emotion.
Reis finished with three interceptions, two coming in the second half. Then on Caldwell’s final possession, Gilbert had Caldwell quarterback Duncan Koga in the grasp when he forced a fumble and Baxter recovered at the Cougars’ 27 to seal the victory.
“We didn’t come out prepared as much as we should have in the first half,” Reis said. “Coach (Lindquist) rung our bells and we got pumped up. So we came out and played better in the second half. It was a team effort.”
While the defense did its job, the offense scored three TDs in the third quarter to take control. Leading the way was backup junior quarterback Nick Reinhardt.
Reinhardt came in with 33 seconds remaining in the first quarter when senior starter Casey Dragon sprained his left ankle. On his first play, Reinhardt hit Alex Triplett for a 31-yard touchdown to tie the score at 14.
Caldwell (1-1) took a 28-21 lead into halftime.
During one stretch, Reinhardt completed eight straight. PF’s final two TDs came on 30- and 10-yard passes from Reinhardt, who finished 11 of 16 for 177 yards.
“Both of our quarterbacks are quality quarterbacks and do a fantastic job,” Hinz said. “They coach each other at practice. They make each other do up-downs when they make mistakes. They talk about their technique with each other. They do a good job pushing each other. Nick was prepared and did a wonderful job.”
Hinz said it appears Dragon will be out at least two weeks.
Reinhardt’s last TD pass gave the Trojans their biggest lead at 40-28 with 28 seconds to go in the third quarter.
But the cushion shrank moments later when Mike Messler returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown.
The Trojans’ defense gritted its teeth thereafter.
“It’s a great stepping stone for us to see where we’re at,” Hinz said of the victory. “With all the distractions last week (the season opener played over two days) and school starting this week, we needed to come out and play football. At times we did and at times we didn’t. We’ve got to put four quarters together.”