Unbelievable ending ... Matthews takes slant pass to end zone as Trojans clip Eastmont in final seconds

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

POST FALLS — Sometimes, even when it looks bleak, you’ve got to believe. 

Post Falls football coach Blaine Bennett believed in junior wide receiver Cody Matthews.

And Matthews believed in himself when it mattered most on Friday.

Matthews caught a slant pass on third down from junior quarterback Philip Schmitt and scored from 15 yards out with 12 seconds remaining to give the Trojans the lead for good in a 22-21 win over the Eastmont Wildcats of East Wenatchee, Wash., at Trojan Stadium.

“I always believe in last drives,” Matthews said. “I knew we could do it and I knew it was a touchdown. I just caught it and ran to the sideline.”

Matthews caught a 15-yard touchdown pass to tie the game for the Trojans (2-1) in the second quarter.

“Eastmont was moving the ball really well offensively,” Matthews said. “They were stopping us in the early stages, and we just had to keep going through it. We’ve got to get better in the first half and we’ve got to pick it up.”

“He’s an athlete, and he’s quick,” Bennett said. “We try to get him the ball as many times as we can. It’s hard sometimes, but we really thought he’d probably get open there against No. 8 (Eastmont’s Logan Schmutzler), even though he’s a great player. Out in space, Cody can get open and it was nice to see our quarterback throw him a catchable ball.”

Eastmont (0-1) took a 21-16 lead on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Zelinski to Dax Dickson with 1:07 remaining. Earlier in the drive, Zelinski pitched the ball to senior running back Bodie Yale, who hit Zelinki on a 35-yard pass to move into Trojan territory.

“We made some plays, and we’ve talked about it constantly because it happened to us last year, is that we’d move the ball on offense and then do some silly things and turn it over,” Eastmont coach Jay Foster said. “I felt in the first half, it should have been 28-7 at halftime, but we’d do something silly and give the ball back.”

Eastmont led 14-7 at halftime, but Post Falls cut the deficit to 14-13 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Marshall Tomlinson early in the third.

Sophomore Bradyn Singleton gave Post Falls its first lead of the night on a 37-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in the third.

“I was really impressed with their mental toughness,” said Foster, who previously coached at Clarion and UAlbany. “We’d come back with a big drive and they’d come back with a big drive. And that’s the way the game goes. Their quarterback was spot-on. That last drive, he was tough and made some plays. Hats off to them.”

“This is their first game, so it wasn’t like we had a lot of video on them,” Bennett said. “We came in trying to prepare for the game last year. Their coach does a great job and runs a great program and their defensive line was really physical and tough. I thought Mike McKeown, our offensive line coach, did a great job with our guys up front and we got into some schemes in the second half and made some things happen.”

Schmitt completed 12 of 18 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns for Post Falls.

“He’s going to get better each week,” said Bennett of Schmitt, who stepped into the starting role after Week 1 starter Jace Ostlund left the program. “He had a good week of practice and throws a nice ball. He can run around a bit and is very smart, but still learning that quarterback position. Some games, he’s going to make some mistakes, but it was nice to see him have some success at the end there.”

Post Falls hosts Lakeland next Friday.

“It was an exciting high school football game, it really was,” Bennett said. “Last week, when we lost by a field goal (at Sandpoint), it was nice to see our kids hang in there and compete for four quarters.”

Eastmont    0    14    0    7    —    21

Post Falls    0    7    9    6    —    22

Second quarter

East — Javin Britton 3 run (Finnley Potter kick), 11:17

PF — Cody Matthews 15 pass from Philip Schmitt (Bradyn Singleton kick), 5:33

East — Austin Zelinski 1 run (Potter kick), 3:17

Third quarter

PF — Marshall Tomlinson 1 run (kick failed), 8:32

PF — FG, Singleton, 37, :02

Fourth quarter

East — Dax Dickson 15 pass from Peyton Zelinski (Potter kick), 1:09

PF — Matthews 15 pass from Schmitt (kick failed), :12

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — East, A. Zelinski 16-112, Britton 13-112, Akpodiete 4-26, Yale 9-24, Healey 4-6. PF, Felix 22-84, Tomlinson 12-94, Navarette 1-10, Schmitt 8-18, Zazuetta 1-7.

PASSING — East, Healey 6-11-0-73, Yale 1-3-0-35. PF, Schmitt 12-18-0–148.

RECEIVING — East, Akpodiete 1-15, Zelinski 2-(-1) Dickson 2-48, Britton 1-12, Healey 1-35. PF, Carver 1-35, Matthews 8-69, Felix 2-49, Tomlinson 1-13.

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Post Falls senior wide receiver Connor Carver reaches up for a reception as Eastmont's Kymani Owyen defends during the first quarter of Friday's game at Trojan Stadium.