It was an emphatic ending for historic Bengal Field on Friday. The Lewiston Bengals went out with a bang.

Lewiston closed out the 90-year history at its home venue with a dominant 48-0 football victory over Hermiston of Oregon.

The 443rd game at Bengal Field was one of the more lopsided shutouts in Lewiston history. The 48-point margin in a shutout was the largest for the Bengals (3-3) at home since they topped Borah 54-0 in 1998.

The team will play the remainder of its home games at its new high school.

“I’m so proud of our kids,” Lewiston coach Matt Pancheri said. “Our kids are really playing hard.”

Lewiston finished 291-137-15 at Bengal field and recorded its 84th shutout according to valley statistician Denny Grubb. Pancheri went 22-12 as the head coach of Lewiston on the home field.

“The defense, they came out, they showed out, it was just like (the win against) Coeur d’Alene,” Lewiston senior Noah Carpenter said. “I mean, we really put it together and we forced turnovers, and did what we had to.”

The Lewiston defense made life difficult for Hermiston (0-5) and its quarterback, Dale Krebs, all night long. Krebs was never able to stand in the pocket to throw a pass and scrambled on almost every drop back. The Bengal secondary took advantage and intercepted Krebs five times, and added one more off backup QB Kyle Stasik in the fourth quarter.

The six interceptions were a school record. The previous record was five interceptions — a feat Lewiston has accomplished three times. The last instance was versus Kellogg in 1976.

The final touchdown in a Lewiston High School game at Bengal Field came in the fourth quarter when sophomore quarterback Blaze Hepburn ran it in from 11 yards out.

Fast start

On the third play from scrimmage, Krebs attempted his first pass of the game on a third-and-17 and was intercepted by Lewiston’s Gage Steiner.

The Bulldogs were unable to get anything going on their other five possessions in the first half. Hermiston moved the chains five times, three of those on a 15-play drive that started on its own 35-yard line. The Bulldogs were able to move down to the Lewiston 21-yard line, but a false start pushed the offense to a fourth-and-6 and Nathan King picked off Krebs on the ensuing play.

Meanwhile, the Lewiston offense played physical Pancheri football and ran the ball with success against Herminston.

The Bengals did not attempt a pass in their first two possessions of the game, but took advantage of good field position and a strong running game. Both drives opened in Bulldog territory and Lewiston went 80 yards on 12 plays for two Jeremy Yoder rushing touchdowns.

Yoder completed three consecutive passes on the Bengals’ third drive. A 17-yarder to wide receiver Drew Alldredge and a pair of passes to running back Sawyer Casey. Yoder found Carpenter for a 4-yard touchdown five plays later.

The final first half drive for Lewiston was just like the previous three as the Bengals went right down the field and scored on a Carpenter 4-yard touchdown. Lewiston led 28-0 at halftime.

A sloppy offensive third quarter

Pancheri noted in an interview that was played during the pregame show of a radio broadcast on The River 105.1 FM that Lewiston has struggled to perform in the third quarter. That was the case again on Friday, at least offensively.

The Bengals opened the second half with the ball and moved backward on each of their first two possessions. On the third offensive drive of the quarter, Lewiston was forced to punt. Hermiston got through the line and blocked the punt.

Every time the Bengals struggled on offense, the defense came to the rescue. The Bulldogs gained one first down in the third quarter. Carpenter also added to the defensive interception total when he jumped a route at midfield.

“What we feel right now is that we can play good defense no matter where we are on the field,” Pancheri said. “We’re really challenging our kids to go get a three-and-out.”

With a little over three minutes to go in the third, Lewiston finally got the offense going and it all came on one play. Yoder found Alldredge down the field and the senior outraced everyone for a 74-yard touchdown. Yoder finished the day a perfect 5-for-5 for 125 yards through the air and added six carries for 32 yards. He had four total touchdowns.

Carpenter closed out the third quarter with another interception. This time he had open grass and he took it back for a touchdown to force a running clock. Lewiston led 42-0 as the quarter came to an end.

“I just sat there, I knew it was coming eventually,” Carpenter said. “Those were my first two picks of the season. First pick-6 ever in my life, so I mean, yeah, it was a great time, last home game here ever.”

The senior RB/DB finished with three touchdowns on the day. One on the ground, one as a receiver and one on defense.

Moving to a new home

Lewiston will move its football home games to the new high school when the Bengals play Lake City on Oct. 18 at the new P1FCU Sports Complex.

It is yet to be seen if the new complex will come close to the 32,834 day history of Lewiston playing at Bengal Field, but that new history begins in two weeks.

“We played a lot of games here. It’ll be weird to get out of the routine and, I think I have mentioned this before, but I’m ready. But the routine of coming here, you know, we got a great home field advantage here,” Pancheri said. “That new field is so spectacular though, it’s going to be easy to transition.”

Hermiston 0 0 0 0—0

Lewiston 14 14 14 6—48

First Quarter

Lewiston — Jeremy Yoder 5 run (Cole Arlint kick), 8:36.

Lewiston — Yoder 11 run (Arlint kick), 5:00.

Second Quarter

Lewiston — Noah Carpenter 5 pass from Yoder (Arlint kick), 11:19.

Lewiston — Carpenter 11 run (Arlint kick), 1:22.

Third Quarter

Lewiston — Drew Alldredge 74 pass from Yoder (Arlint kick), 3:03.

Lewiston — Carpenter 45 interception return (Arlint kick), 0:23.

Fourth Quarter

Lewiston — Blaze Hepburn (kick missed), 3:37.

PASSING — Hermiston: Dale Krebs 9-21-5-29, Kyle Stasik 0-2-1-0; Lewiston: Jeremy Yoder 5-5-0-125, Mason Way 2-4-0-16.

RUSHING — Hermiston: Dale Krebs 14-49, Hayden Larson 7-24, Matthew Hill 3-6, Kole Mikami 3-5, Ryan Allen 2-2, Kyle Stasik 2-0, Nathan Waelty 2-(-10); Lewiston: Noah Carpenter 8-53, Blaze Hepburn 5-52, Austin Topp 10-49, Yoder 6-32, Way 5-9, Andrew Haines 1-3, Cole Arlint 1-2, Dash Grittner 3-1.

RECEIVING — Hermiston: James Young 2-11, Waelty 3-8, Nathaniel Henderson 1-7, Larson 2-3, Allen 1-0; Lewiston: Drew Alldredge 3-94, Casey 2-29, Arlint 1-12, Carpenter 1-6.