MOSCOW — Just minutes after wearing a crown and riding on a halftime float as part of Moscow’s homecoming royalty, running back Trevor Dismukes barrelled into the end zone for a touchdown in the third quarter.
The 6-yard score came on the senior’s fourth consecutive run and put Moscow ahead by five touchdowns in its 35-7 win against 3A Bonners Ferry.
“It was my first touchdown this year ... everything I was working for,” Dismukes said. “I told myself I’m going to try to get a touchdown this game and that’s what happened.”
Dismuke’s touchdown was Moscow’s highlight of the second half in a game that pretty much was done by halftime.
Moscow (3-2) used a 20-point second quarter to take a 27-0 lead into the locker room.
Bears quarterback Chad Redinger rushed for a pair of touchdowns and threw another to his favorite target, Brayden Decker, who did the rest himself en route to a 67-yard score.
Redinger racked up 152 passing yards, 77 going to Decker.
But Moscow did most of its work on the ground, led by Logan Shears (77 yards), Dismukes (53) and Brandon Suquet (27, one TD).
“I thought the 1s there in the first half executed and did what they should do,” Moscow coach Phil Helbling said, “and that’s how we game planned it all week long as far as getting our 2s and backup guys some opportunities and a chance to get on the field.”
The second half presented an opportunity for the Moscow backups to get some much-needed playing time. The reserves battled through some hiccups in the final 24 minutes, but did enough to maintain the comfortable lead.
“Obviously, we didn’t execute the way we wanted to there in the second half on both sides of the ball,” Helbling said. “But those are learning opportunities. Those are situations that our kids have to be put in so they get a bit of a taste of what it’s like to play live football against an opponent out on the field.”
Bonners Ferry (0-4) struggled to get anything going for the first three quarters, but found some space in the fourth behind running back Willy Wall. The junior scored on a 14-yard run and finished with 88 rushing yards, most of those coming in the fourth quarter.
“I give Bonners credit just as far as coming down here and playing us tough and giving us everything they had,” Helbling said.
With the win, Moscow is riding a two-game winning streak. Helbing said it was pivotal to get the pair of wins going into a tough final stretch that features games against 5A Lewiston and conference opponents Sandpoint and Lakeland.
As for this one, the Bears were just happy to enjoy a big homecoming victory.
“It’s actually my first time getting a homecoming win being on varsity on Moscow, so it’s just amazing,” Dismukes said. “Now we just need to go have fun, and that’s all you can ask for really.”
Bonners Ferry 0 0 0 7—7
Moscow 7 20 7 0—35
First Quarter
Moscow — Chad Redinger 2 run (Ben Postell kick)
Second Quarter
Moscow — Redinger 9 run (Postell kick)
Moscow — Brayden Decker 67 pass from Redinger (Postell kick)
Moscow — Brandon Suquet 1 run (kick failed)
Third Quarter
Moscow — Trevor Dismukes 6 run (Lane Hanson run)
Fourth Quarter
Bonners Ferry — Willy Wall 14 run (Sky Reinhardt kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING — Bonners Ferry: Teigan Banning 2-7-0—6, Ty Bateman 1-1-0—4, Blake Rice 0-1-0—0, team 1-1-0—5. Moscow: Redinger 7-9-1—152, Hanson 3-4-0—39.
RUSHING — Bonners Ferry: Wall 22-88, Bateman 4-15, Eli Richards 2-11, Carver Copley 1-1, Blake Rice 2-(-1), Mitch Falk 1-(-1), Banning 2-(-4), team 1-(-4). Moscow: Logan Shears 10-77, Trevor Dismukes 9-53, Suquet 5-27, Redinger 7-20, Jonah Elliss 2-20, Isaiah Murphy 1-(-2), team 2-18.
RECEIVING — Bonners Ferry: Wall 2-7, Falk 1-4, team 1-4. Moscow: Decker 2-77, Ethan Hopkins 2-38, Postell 1-30, Elliss 2-27, Hanson 1-9, Shears 1-9, Quinlan Hudiberg 1-1.
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at swiebe@dnews.com and on Twitter at @StephanSports.
