Bengals open new field with dominant victory

The Lewiston Bengals opened their new field just like they closed out the old one — with a one-sided victory.

Lewiston was 291-137-15 at Bengal Field before leaving the grass field behind two weeks ago. The Bengals are now 1-0 on their new turf.

The first touchdown scored at the new P1FCU Sports Complex on Friday was by Lake City’s Avrey Cherry. After that it was all Lewiston as the Bengals won 38-21.

Lewiston (5-3) scored 38 consecutive points and scored a touchdown on all five first-half possessions in a lopsided homecoming win.

The history books will be littered with the name Cole Arlint. The senior scored the first touchdown, extra point and field goal for the Bengals at the new Sports Complex.

“Feels good, man. I’ve always wanted to do (that), be the first one to do something,” Arlint said. “And hopefully later this season, I’ll get to try the school record for a field goal, which is 44 yards.”

Whole new atmosphere

Not only did Lewiston move on from the grass field to turf, but everything else surrounding the players on the field had a new-and-improved feel to it as well.

Before the game, LHS hosted a tailgate party in front of the gymnasium. Fans were able to take part in a game of cornhole or roll a bowling ball down a carpeted lane that the Bengal bowling team had set up.

There were several food vendors that lined the concourse to allow for the attendees to get a bite to eat as the rest of the facilities around the complex are yet to be completed.

The pregame was filled with flashing lights and “Enter Sandman” by Metallica blaring from the speakers.

“It was pretty cool, man. Like, it was just crazy,” Arlint said. “Like the students, the lights — I guess it’s just so nice to have a new field and one of the best fields in the state.”

During halftime, there were homecoming festivities and a performance by the Lewiston marching band.

More importantly, it was standing room only. Yes, there are currently less bleachers set up at the new complex than there are at Bengal Field, but even if all of those bleachers were available it would have been difficult to find a seat.

“It was crazy, wasn’t it? ... They got the firetruck with the flags and there’s just stuff going everywhere. Man, that was crazy,” Lewiston coach Matt Pancheri said. “Everything’s bananas. It’s hard to concentrate. So I’m proud of our kids for keeping their heads on straight.”

Offensive domination

Statistically, Lake City (4-4) has one of the best defenses in the state of Idaho. The Timberwolves had not allowed more than 17 points in a single game this season.

Those stats took a hit after the Bengals were done. Lewiston scored twice as many points in just one half of football as any team had scored in a game against the Timberwolves.

“We’re pretty fast and we thought we could get some kids open and make some plays, and I think that’s what turned out,” Pancheri said. “They’ve been tough on everybody. We had a good game plan and our kids really played well. You know, good on them, cause this is a chaotic week.”

Arlint scored on a shovel pass from quarterback Jeremy Yoder for the first Lewiston score at the P1FCU Sports Complex late in the first quarter.

Lewiston got fancy on its second drive of the game with a double-pass that ended with a 49-yard touchdown pass from running back Austin Topp to Nathan King.

Noah Carpenter got in on the scoring less than three minutes later when he streaked up the middle of the field behind the secondary for a 35-yard touchdown reception from Yoder.

Lake City fumbled the ball on the second play of the ensuing drive and Carpenter took no time to score. The senior took a 27-yard sweep to the house on the very next play.

The Bengals forced a three-and-out and used up the rest of the first half to go on an eight-play, 44-yard drive that ended with a Topp 12-yard touchdown run.

An even bigger stage next week

With all the festivities to open the new field behind them, now all the focus goes to next week.

The Bengals will host senior night in a defacto 5A Inland Empire League district championship game against the Lakeland Hawks.

“Well, they’re a really good football team. I think they’ve got a really good running back. They’re big and physical,” Pancheri said. “It’s gonna be a little bit like this. So the run game is their thing and we gotta be able to stop that.”

Lakeland improved to 6-2 overall and 1-0 in IEL action with a dominant 41-7 win over Sandpoint on Friday.

The winner next week will take the district title and be guaranteed a top-8 seed in the 16-team 5A state tournament.

Lake City 7 0 0 14—21

Lewiston 7 28 3 0—38

First Quarter

Lake City — Avrey Cherry 16 run (Jacob Bell kick), 5:01.

Lewiston — Cole Arlint 4 pass from Jeremy Yoder (Arlint kick), 0:55.

Second Quarter

Lewiston — Nathan King 49 pass from Austin Topp (Arlint kick), 8:18.

Lewiston — Noah Carpenter 35 pass from Yoder (Arlint kick), 5:55.

Lewiston — Carpenter 27 run (Arlint kick), 5:26.

Lewiston — Topp 12 run (Arlint kick), 0:43.

Third Quarter

Lewiston — FG Arlint 29, 4:08.

Fourth Quarter

Lake City — Jacob Hill 31 pass from Tyson Ruggiero (Bell kick), 5:59.

Lake City — Kyle Johnson 10 pass from Ruggiero (Bell kick), 1:23.

RUSHING — Lake City: Gabe Wullenwaber 16-83, Avrey Cherry 6-25, Ruggiero 3-19, Hill 1-8, Tony 1-6, Van Leuven 2-0; Lewiston: Noah Carpenter 5-61, Austin Topp 10-55, Mason Way 8-12, Jeremy Yoder 9-8, Sawyer Casey 3-(minus-5).

PASSING — Lake City: Ruggiero 10-22-0-113, Cherry 4-9-0-23; Lewiston: Yoder 6-10-0-99, Topp 1-1-0-49, Way 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING — Lake City: Hill 8-67, Johnson 3-28, Tony 3-41; Lewiston: Carpenter 3-75, King 1-49, Drew Alldredge 2-20, Cole Arlint 1-4.

Isbelle can be reached at 208-848-2268, risbelle@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyIsbelle.