Lakeland High School (LHS) came in second losing to the Lewiston Bengals for the IEL championship, in the Kansas City Tiebreaker.
The Kansas City Tiebreaker happened at Coeur d’Alane High School (CHS) Oct. 27. This is an event that is not seen often. A double elimination football game, each team getting a chance to get a touchdown, 4 downs starting at the 50-yard line.
The Hawks were the first seed so the Bengals and the Sandpoint Bulldogs had to face off first and the Bengals won.
The Hawks faced off against the Bengals in the second round losing by a touchdown.
With the Hawks and the Bulldogs being 0-1 they were the third face off. In a stressful play the Hawks ended up eliminating the Bulldogs.
The Bengals are 1-0 and the Hawks are 1-1. The Hawks still have a chance to beat the Bengals, but they have to beat them twice.
The Hawks won the third match getting a touchdown and kept the Bengals from scoring. The Hawks are now 2-1 and the Bengals are 1-1.
The Hawks have to win the next round. They ended up getting a touchdown and going for a kick, making the score 7-0. The Bengals have one chance to make it to the endzone for a touchdown.
The Bengals made it to the endzone and went for the 2 point conversion, and won the game 8-7 making them the IEL Champions.
“We did not stop them at the goal line,” Jace Taylor said. “I think we did good at times but we definitely had our mistakes and it shows us what we need to work on going into this week.”
The reason for the tie-breaker was because the Bulldogs lost to the Bengals and beat the Hawks, but the Hawks beat the Bengals.
This loss from these games moved the Hawks from the fifth seed in state to the ninth.
The first playoff game is at Lewiston High School Oct. 31. The Hawks beat the Bengals Oct. 24, they need to do it again to stay on the Champion side of the bracket and continue going for a State title.
