Bengals too much to handle on somber day at Bear Field

Oct. 1—MOSCOW — Fourteen Lewiston players touched the football on offense and seven scored touchdowns as the Bengals rumbled their way to their fifth straight win, 68-7 on Friday against Moscow at Bear Field.

But there was more than just football on the minds and hearts of the packed homecoming crowd:

Bigger than football

Before the playing of the national anthem, the two programs held a moment of silence for Moscow athletic director Lance Abendroth, who died Thursday after a three-year battle with cancer.

The Bears' players and coaches also wore pink wristbands on their right wrists to honor Abendroth. The team had planned to wear the wristbands in October for cancer awareness.

"We thought it was fitting to do this for Lance now," Moscow coach Rob Bafus said. "We wore them on our right wrists because Lance guided these people in the right direction."

Bafus touched on what Abendroth meant to the Moscow community.

"I saw Lance last weekend on the sidelines being recognized for the 30-year reunion of a state championship football team, so he's been around here forever," Bafus said. "You just think of the amount of kids he has impacted is incredible. ... These kids played their rear-end off tonight for Lance."

Quick strike Bengals

Lewiston (5-1) is known for its up-tempo offense and its ability to pile up yards — and points — in a hurry.

That was on full display in the first half against a Moscow team (0-6) with a roster about half the size of Lewiston's.

After punting on their first drive, the Bengals scored a touchdown on the second play of their second drive — a 67-yard pass from quarterback Drew Hottinger to Jackson Lathen up the left side.

All seven of Lewiston's first-half touchdowns took fewer than two minutes off the clock, including a punt block return by Dayton Phillips in the second quarter.

"I thought Drew threw the ball really well today," Lewiston coach Matt Pancheri said. "He had a couple really good balls that were long strikes. We've got fast kids and they turn them into long touchdowns and it kinda just snowballs on you."

Everybody gets a handoff

The Bengals turned to their reserves late in the second quarter, which allowed backup quarterback Jeremy Yoder to get plenty of snaps.

The sophomore completed only one pass for four yards but ran for 75 yards and a game-high two touchdowns. He was one of 10 Bengals to log a rushing attempt.

"We're pretty big and athletic and it's tough for them to line up against us this year," Pancheri said. "I was proud of our kids."

One big play

Moscow's biggest play came on a receiver toss sweep to Logan Tate for 66 yards in the third quarter.

The Bears' crowd, which was loud all game despite the score, gave its biggest cheers for Tate's score.

"Just trying to get the ball to one of our dogs who has a bunch of speed and we finally broke him free and made it happen," Bafus said.

Lewiston 20 27 0 21—68

Moscow 0 0 7 0 — 7

First Quarter

Lewiston — Jackson Lathen 67 pass from Drew Hottinger (kick failed), 7:11.

Lewiston — James White 1 run (Cole Arlint kick), 5:03.

Lewiston — Jared Jelinek 33 run (Arlint kick), 1:28.

Second Quarter

Lewiston — Safety, 11:47.

Lewiston — Dayton Phillips 15 punt block return (Arlint kick), 8:56.

Lewiston — Rylan Gomez 18 pass from Hottinger (Arlint kick), 6:14.

Lewiston — Jeremy Yoder 25 run (run failed), 10:25.

Third Quarter

Moscow — Logan Tate 66 run (Butch Kiblen kick), 6:05.

Fourth Quarter

Lewiston — Jayden Cobley 12 run (Arlint kick), 11:17.

Lewiston — Yoder 17 run (Arlint kick), 5:50.

Lewiston — Brock Thompson 22 run (Arlint kick), 2:17.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Lewiston: Yoder 7-75, Cobley 6-68, Jelinek 2-49, Hottinger 6-45, Brock Thompson 1-22, White 4-21, Chris Ricard 3-20, Gomez 1-11, Nathan King 3-7, Keagan Brocks 1-6, team 2-(-34). Moscow: Tate 1-66, Toby Frei 4-17, Sam Young 2-5, Scotty Needham 2-2, Carter Kiblen 1-1, team 1-1, Eby Qualls 3-(-2), Michael Kiblen 1-(-2), Noah Velasco 1-(-8).

PASSING — Lewiston: Hottinger 6-6-0—213, Yoder 1-4-0—4. Moscow: Valesco 13-30-3—163.

RECEIVING — Lewiston: Lathen 1-67, Brayden Rice 2-61, Austin Lawrence 1-46, Gomez 1-18, Ricard 1-19, Cobley 1-4. Moscow: Tate 3-49, M. Kiblen 4-46, Alex Thrall 1-35, Caden Teigen 4-19, Young 1-8, C. Kiblen 1-6.

Wiebe may be contacted at (208) 848-2260, swiebe@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @StephanSports.