Hermiston overcame a halftime deficit Friday night and literally ran away from Lewiston to chalk up an impressive 52-26 win at Kennison Field.
The Bulldogs went into the half trailing the Bengals 13-10, but outscored Lewiston 42-13 in the second half to ice the game away. The win gives Hermiston a 4-0 start to the season for the first time since 2002.
Lewiston scored on the opening drive of the game on a 10-yard touchdown pass. The Bulldogs answered right back on their first possession, driving 85 yards and scoring on a 5-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Chase Knutz to a wide open Ethan Snow in the end zone with 3:45 left in the quarter.
Both teams traded punts until a 27-yard field goal by Luis Medina put Hermiston up by 3 about midway through the second quarter. Lewiston then scored when Tyler Everhardt ran in from 3 yards out to give the Bengals a 13-10 halftime lead.
Hermiston took back the lead just 41 seconds into the third quarter when Knutz connected on a 17-yard pass to Carson Morter.
A pair of Lewiston field goals gave the Bengals a 19-17 lead, but it was a short-lived lead as Hermiston fed the ball to Sam Colbray who ate up big yards and scored from 17 yards out with 1:42 left in the third to give Hermiston the lead for good, 24-19.
The turning point in the game came on the first play of the fourth quarter when Morter intercepted a Colton Richardson pass and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 31-19.
Lewiston, however, looked like it wasn’t going away when Everhardt ran 30 yards for a score to cut the Hermiston lead to 5. It never got any closer, as the Bulldogs scored on their next possession on a 24-yard touchdown run by Colbray to give Hermiston a 38-26 lead with 8:33 left in the game.
Hermiston kept churning out the rushing yards in the second half. A 38-yard run by Colbray set up a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Cory Adams to give Hermiston a commanding 45-26 lead. Adams wasn’t done. On the next Hermiston possession, Adams was ruled out at the 2 yard line after an apparent 55-yard touchdown run, but found his way into the end zone on the very next play to finish up the scoring on the night.
Lewiston threatened to score late in the game, but Adams stepped in front of a Richardson pass in the end zone to end the threat.
Hermiston totaled 296 yards on the ground Friday night with Adams carrying 18 times for 148 yards and two scores, while Colbray finished the night with 130 yards on 12 carries and a pair of touchdowns. Morter had 5 catches for 69 yards and two receiving touchdowns, while Keegan Crafton led the receivers with 92 yards.
Hermiston will now take to the road when they take on the 4-1 Coeur d’Alene Vikings next Friday. Coeur d’Alene lost to Highland, 13-10, Friday night in a non-conference game.
