Coeur d'Alene wins big again — Comstock, whose season ended early last year due to injury, catches two of Stern's five touchdown passes

By MARK NELKE 

Sports editor 

COEUR d’ALENE — Gibson Comstock suffered torn ligaments in his left ankle last year in the Lake City game, and the speedy receiver had to watch from the sidelines as Coeur d’Alene reached the semifinals before bowing out of the state 6A playoffs. 

"It was hard, because we had such a good connection with those seniors,” Comstock said. “Not being able to finish out that season, and especially with them, was really hard, and it was a mental battle as much as a physical battle.” 

This year, the Viking senior is making up for lost time. 

Comstock caught two of Tannar Stern’s five touchdown passes on Friday night, and finished with six receptions for 126 yards as Coeur d’Alene romped past Moses Lake 42-7 at Viking Field. 

“I wanted to make it through this whole year as bad as I could,” Comstock said. “Tannar and me have a good connection. He gets it to me really well. It’s not just me; we’ve got a whole team that does it right.” 

Early in the second quater, Comstock took a short pass from Stern and powered off a defender and into the end zone for a 14-0 lead. On the next drive, Comstock got behind the secondary and hauled in a 60-yard scoring toss from Stern to make it 21-0.. 

"Gibson can stretch you,” Coeur d’Alene coach Shawn Amos said. “And Maddox Lindquist went off as well. We just have a lot of guys that can cause some problems.” 

Stern passed for 339 yards and five touchdowns for Coeur d’Alene (4-0). Senior Maddox Lindquist also caught two TD passes, including an 80-yard catch-and-run on first and 20, and finished with five catches for 113 yards. 

Senior Jackson Hackett caught the first TD pass, a juggling catch-and-run for a 43-yard score. 

Defensively, Coeur d’Alene picked off five passes from a pair of Moses Lake (1-1) quarterbacks. Junior Prentice Palmgren had two picks, including one in the end zone on a Hail Mary at the end of the first half. Senior Davis Whittaker also had two interceptions, junior Max DeMarre one. 

“Our defense obviously played great,” Amos said. “When you have that many turnovers, you’re probably going to be successful.”  

Moses Lake didn’t threaten much, but late in the first half returned a kickoff 79 yards to the Viking 12. But pass breakups by Ben Murray and Whittaker kept the Mavericks from scoring.  

Early in the second half, Moses Lake was stopped short on fourth and 1 from the Vikings 3. 

“Really good start,” Amos said. “Got a little sloppy in the second half, which sometimes happens when you have a pretty big lead. But that’s a good football team that we beat. 

Coeur d’Alene outgained Moses Lake 410-296; a big chunk of the Mavericks’ yards came late. 

“Moses Lake was real tough to run against; their front was real good. Tanner and the receivers had a great game. It was a good performance against a good team.” 

Coeur d’Alene travels to Sandpoint next Friday.  

Moses Lake     0    0    0    7    —    7 

Coeur d’Alene     7    21    7    7    —    42 

First quarter 

Cd’A — Jackson Hackett 43 pass from Tannar Stern (Frankie Lopez kick), 4:32 

Second quarter 

Cd’A — Gibson Comstock 17 pass from Stern (Lopez kick), 10:31 

Cd’A — Comstock 60 pass from Stern (Lopez kick), 7:36 

Cd’A — Maddox Lindquist 3 pass from Stern (Lopez kick), 1:06 

Third quarter  

Cd’A — Lindquist 80 pass from Stern (Lopez kick), 6:23 

Fourth quarter  

ML — JB Olson 37 pass from Nolan Decubber (Case Anderson kick), 5:57 

Cd’A — Bear Coleman 17 run (Lopez kick), 4:47 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

RUSHING — ML, Burns 10-28, Decubber 2-0, Mackenzie 5-6, E. Anderson 1-2, DeLeon 1-(minus 6), Miles 4-23. Cd’A, Stern 10-45, Coleman 1-17, Murray 2-1, Lindquist 1-4, Paulin 2-3, Strait 1-0, McCooey 1-2, Gatten 1-(minus 1). 

PASSING — ML, Decubber 19-32-2-200, DeLeon 5-15-3-43. Cd’A, Stern 23-30-1-339. 

RECEIVING — Burns 6-10, C. Anderson 4-14, Hutchinson 3-61, Legault 3-40, Olson 2-53, Miles 1-8, Reffett 2-43, Rathbun 3-15. Cd’A, Comstock 6-126, Lindquist 5-113, Strait 1-5, Schilloinger 2-8, Whittaker 1-9, Coleman 1-1, Murray 2-6, Hackett 2-50, McCooey 1-15, Sampson 1-13, Paulin 1-4. 

    MARK NELKE/Press Coeur d'Alene junior Prentice Palmgren (13) makes an interception on a Hail Mary at the end of the first half on Friday against Moses Lake at Viking Field.