Trojans whip Kuna 35-20, give Hinz his first win

It took three weeks and a new quarterback, but Jeff Hinz finally got his first victory as head football coach of the Post Falls Trojans.

Post Falls scored a 35-20 victory over visiting Kuna Friday night.

After dropping games to Mead and Lake City in the opening two games of the season, Hinz opted to start sophomore Jake Salisbury against the Kavemen over senior Danny Mathewson.

“Jake came in last week and threw the ball well and moved the team well,” Hinz explained. “That’s nothing against Danny. He’s still a big part of the program and he’s still going to play.”

Salisbury needed just three plays to make his coach look like a genius.

The sophomore dropped back and floated a 37-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Nick Mehalechko.

After a Kuna turnover, junior Jon Aune bolted 28 yards to give the Trojans a first down at the 2 and Salisbury converted by squeezing over on a sneak to give his team a 14-0 lead less than 5 minutes into the game.

Post Falls faltered as many times as it scored in the first half.

Flyback Bobby Kuber was stripped at the goal line with 19 seconds left in the first quarter.

Aune, who spent much of the game running in the Kavemen’s defensive secondary with safeties hanging off his back, bolted 21 yards to the Kuna 8 only to be stripped of the ball as he struggled for an extra yard.

Post Falls held a 14-6 lead at intermission and opened the second half with an 11-play, 67-yard drive to take a two-touchdown lead.

Salisbury set up the touchdown with a 38-yard strike to Mehalechko, who got behind both safeties to give the Trojans a first down at the Kuna 1.

Denied twice on quarterback sneaks, Salisbury instead handed the ball to Aune, who blasted through a big hole behind left guard.

Kuber added two fourth-quarter scoring runs subbing for Aune, sidelined with leg cramps for much of the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, the Post Falls defense twice stopped the Kavemen without a first down to open the fourth quarter.

“We made some mistakes the last two weeks and that really killed us,” Hinz said. “Tonight we made some mistakes, but we worked hard to correct them.

“My hat’s off to our defense. Our defense really stepped up, especially in the second half. We had four or five turnovers there and stopped them when we had to.”