Written by: Lucas Gebhart
For the better part of the last three decades, the 5A Inland Empire has been dominated by Coeur d’Alene. But this year the Vikings, while still talented, are inexperienced as many key players are new to the varsity level, something that’s not the case at Lewiston.
While the Bengals do lose a couple key pieces in quarterback Jace McKarcher and star running back Cruz Hepburn, much of last year’s varsity roster is back and this year’s coaching staff has set the bar high.
The Bengals return their entire receiving core, three offensive linemen, three running backs and all-conference tight end James White. Junior Drew Hottinger is expected to take over at quarterback.
“Our experience at all but a couple of positions should help us this year,” head coach Matt Pancheri said. “We have a lot of talented athletes like Jackson Lathen, Jared Jelinek and James White and just need to work on getting them the ball in space and letting them make plays.”
The Bengals had a high-flying offense last year, scoring an average of over 38 points per game, but at times it was the defense that got Lewiston in trouble. The Bengals surrendered at least 28 or more points in eight of their 10 games. Three of those turned into losses.
Pancheri is hoping his secondary will help reduce those numbers in 2022, calling this year’s group one of the best in program history.
“We need to give up fewer point and be better at defending the pass,” Pancheri said. “The interior defensive line should be a problem for other teams. We are deep and competitive at linebacker and our defensive backs are as talented of a group as we have had at Lewiston.”
Lewiston stream rolled its opponents early in the 2021 season and had it not been for a one-point loss at Sandpoint, the Bengals would have entered the final game of the regular season undefeated.
Still a chance to win the Inland Empire waited in Coeur d’Alene to close the regular season.
The trip didn’t go as planned. Lewiston was blown out and sent home with only a share of the conference championship. A three-way tiebreaker didn’t go their way either and Coeur d’Alene was awarded the top spot in the conference for the fifth year in a row. The reward was an opening round bye in the state playoffs, something that could have come in handy for Lewiston, as the Bengals were blown out the following week by Capitol on their home turf.
To win the conference, Lewiston will likely need to beat Coeur d’Alene, something it has not done since 2016. It’s a task that’s a lot harder than it may sound.
Over that six-year timeframe, the Vikings have only lost two games to their Inland Empire foes.
There’s the 2016 loss to Lewiston and a 32-27 loss to Post Falls a season ago. But this year the door appears to be open as it’s the Bengals, not the Vikings, that have key returning pieces.