LEWISTON - Mitch Bevacqua returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for a Lake City touchdown, and the Timberwolves went on to build a two-TD lead in the first half of their 5A Inland Empire League football matchup with Lewiston.

Lake City's defense spent the second half trying to protect that lead. And while the T-Wolves bent and they bent and they bent, and eventually allowed Lewiston to pull within two points, Lake City was able to stop the game-tying two-point conversion attempt and escaped with a 21-19 victory Friday night at Bengal Field - the Timberwolves' second league victory in two weeks.

"It was getting hard," said Lake City junior linebacker/lineman Gavan Rosteck, who recovered a fumble and also rushed for a touchdown. "But you've just got to push through that, and persevere. We came off the ball really well in the second half. We got really fired up, and we did it."

Lewiston (2-2, 0-1 5A IEL) pulled within two points when quarterback Drew Melton bootlegged around left end, bounced off a defender from Lake City (3-1-1, 2-0) at the 4, and dove across the goal line to score from 4 yards out with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter.

Lewiston wanted to use that play on the two-point conversion, but since the Bengals had just run it, they tried another play, and Melton’s pass to Aaron Kracke in the end zone was high and off his hands as Lake City’s Chris Baker defended.

Lake City’s Jacob Dahl recovered the onside kick, and the Timberwolves ran out the clock.

“They’re kind of finding their way a little bit,” Lake City coach Van Troxel said. “You’ve got to give Lewiston great credit; they played extremely hard — the best football we’ve seen them play. I thought we played hard at times — and obviously at the right times.”

Lewiston answered Bevacqua’s touchdown with a 4-yard run by Austin Poxleitner on its first possession. Lake City’s defense then stiffened, and TD runs by Jerry Louie-McGee and Rosteck put the Timberwolves up 21-7 with 3:03 left in the first half.

But Lewiston took some momentum into the locker room when Melton rolled left, escaped the Lake City pass rusher, and hit Tanner Dickeson just inside the front pylon for a 2-yard touchdown pass with 3 seconds left in the first half.

Lewiston surprised Lake City by coming out in a wildcat offense to start the second half. The Bengals moved the ball before Lake City eventually stopped them on downs at the T-Wolf 28.

But Lake City struggled to move the ball in the second half. After totaling 146 yards in the first half, the Timberwolves managed just 41 after intermission.

Lake City made a key stop when Rosteck recovered a Bengal fumble at the Lake City 8 and returned it to the 41. But the T-Wolves fumbled it away two plays later, leading to Lewiston’s final score.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Troxel said. “Our offense looked pretty good the first half, and then the second half the defense looked pretty good. In the big picture, they’re learning how to win.”

Lewiston outgained Lake City 230-187. Melton, a running back filling in for the injured Cole Zacha at quarterback, completed 12 of 19 passes, mostly of the short variety, for 93 yards.

“We were talking to the kids about staying disciplined, staying with our responsibilities, not trying to make plays we shouldn’t be making,” first-year Lewiston coach Shawn Nilsson said of his team’s strong second-half defense. “Early on, that happened a few times on us where kids were jumping, trying to make plays on something that’s not their responsibility. You can’t do that against their veer option.”

Lake City plays host to Sandpoint next Friday.

Lake City 14 7 0 0 — 21

Lewiston 7 6 0 6 — 19

LC — Mitch Bevacqua 91 kickoff return (Andrew Hocking kick)

Lew — Austin Poxleitner 4 run (Andres Nunez kick)

LC — Jerry Louie-McGee 2 run (Hocking kick)

LC — Gavan Rosteck 12 run (Hocking kick)

Lew — Tanner Dickeson 2 pass from Drew Melton (kick failed)

Lew — Melton 4 run (pass failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — LC, Shipley 7-30, Br. Johnson 13-73, J. Louie-McGee 7-23, Bevacqua 1-10, Rosteck 3-18, Hicks 1-1, H. Damschen 1-1. Lew, Poxleitner 18-68, Nunez 1-1, Melton 8-42, Ralston 8-24.

PASSING — LC, Shipley 6-11-1-31. Lew, Melton 12-19-0-93.

RECEIVING — LC, Bl. Johnson 1-4, Br. Johnson 1-5, Bevacqua 3-22, J. Louie-McGee 1-0. Lew, Dickeson 2-17, Kracke 5-48, Nunez 4-14, Poxleitner 1-14.