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Written by: Matt Harris
Follow Matt Harris on Twitter: @IdahoSportsMatt
Class 5A
Highland Rams (11-0) vs. Coeur d’Alene Vikings (8-3), Friday Nov. 22 at 7:00 p.m. PST at the Kibbie Dome
Well, well, well… what was arguably the most anticipated matchup of the 2013 regular season gets a rematch on the biggest stage… except this time Coeur d’Alene doesn’t have to travel so far. While Highland makes the 550-plus mile journey from Pocatello, the Vikings only have to drive a mere 85-miles to the Kibbie Dome on Friday.
The first question that comes to mind? How does Highland handle the travel? Only twice all season long have the Rams left the comfy confines of Holt Arena: once to play at Ravsten Stadium vs. Skyline and then on the last game of the regular schedule against Madison in Rexburg. That’s right; Highland has played NINE games at home this season if you include the playoffs. But even if you play at home, it’s still entirely possible to come out with jelly legs and play poorly. Watch and see how Highland looks stamina-wise and how well their team is flowing early on.
As for Coeur d’Alene, the Vikings have reeled off eight straight wins since their 24-21 defeat at the hands of the Rams back on Sept. 21… and most of the games haven’t even been close. Included in that streak are dominating wins over Timberline (52-9) and Capital (42-14). But those wins came minus the services of QB Gunnar Amos, who broke his ankle in the Timberline game. You look at a guy like Amos and think “That is one guy you just cannot lose”. But the team strength of the Viks has really showed since he went down. Sophomore QB Austin Lee stepped under center and hasn’t missed a beat seemingly. He threw four touchdown passes against Timberline before collecting two more TD’s (one passing and one rushing) against Capital in the snow and mud at Coeur d’Alene High School. He did throw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. How much concern you put into that is dependent on how much you feel the weather affected those passes.
Regardless of Lee’s play thus far, one thing Highland will still need to go through is the protection from the Vikings offensive line. In the first matchup two months ago, Gunnar Amos had ALL DAY in the pocket. Excellent protection has given the quarterbacks time to go over their reads and make the plays. We better not discount the play of the Coeur d’Alene defense either: they have been a solid unit all season long.
Highland’s defense has just become better since their last showdown against Coeur d’Alene. Last week, they held a Rocky Mountain team that averaged 49 points per game on offense to only six points. They have limited teams to well below their normal average not only on the scoreboard, but in the amount of yards gained over the course of a game.
The Rams offense has also been humming, to the tune of 41.6 points per game over their last five contests. Tommy Jewell continues to be stellar in his play at QB, but Thad Hansen has really become the main man for the red and black. His ability with his deceptively quick speed to out-angle and out-run defenders has been a benefit to not only the rushing attack, but the passing game on screen plays too.
One thing to remember: this game is being played in a dome. Does that give an advantage to Highland? Possibly, but we won’t know for sure until we see how they fare coming off the bus.
A big factor in this game will be the turnover margin. Whichever team gives up the ball less will have the inside track to the title. If Coeur d’Alene can slow down and limit Thad Hansen, the Vikings will have a good shot. If Highland can get to Austin Lee in the backfield and rattle him, the Rams could be the ones celebrating with that blue trophy all the way back to Pocatello.
Class 4A
Bishop Kelly Knights (11-0) vs. Skyview Hawks (10-1), Friday Nov. 22 at 7:30 p.m. MST at Bronco Stadium
Both Skyview and Bishop Kelly played at the beginning of the season, with the Knights coming out victorious 14-10. And wouldn’t you know it, they get a rematch at Bronco Stadium on Friday night.
It was a rather low scoring game the first time around, with Bishop Kelly’s and Skyview’s other contests being, on average, high scoring. That tells me that we are in for another defensive slugfest, unless one team can just unleash a wrecking ball on the other’s defense. But in all likelihood, this will be another great game that probably comes down to the wire.
In the first go around, Bishop Kelly’s QB Bowen Ogata completed 9-of-20 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns. He was the key cog then and he still is now. In last week’s double overtime win against Century, Ogata completed 20-of-35 passes for 217 yards and one touchdown. The running game for the Knights has stepped up, including players like Matt Mello, Mark Green, and Robby Degan who helped pick up big yardage in key spots for Bishop Kelly.
Skyview, on the other hand, has a seemingly unstoppable offense led by QB Anthony Marin. In the first meeting against the Knights, Marin went 14-of-21 passing for 191 yards and a touchdown. Not bad at all. But last week, he went off for FIVE touchdown passes, while completing 19-of-25 passes for 330 yards against Jerome. Four of those TD passes were caught by WR Hagen Graves, who also collected 151 yards receiving and 55 yards rushing.
Oh, by the way, Marin is pretty good at running too, collecting 62 yards rushing last week, while teammate Jaxson Pryor had 78 yards rushing and two touchdowns, along with 44 yards receiving. The Hawks offense is a true running and passing threat.
Bishop Kelly’s defense isn’t just going to keel over and give up though. There’s a reason they are 11-0. There is a reason they beat Skyview in a close game to start the year. The Knights defense has allowed 10+ points only four times this year (vs. Skyview, Jerome, Kuna, and Century). They have been lights out in all their other matchups. The question is: can they stop the potent Hawks offense a second time? If they can play like they did the first time around, Bishop Kelly will have the advantage and look to lock up another state championship.
Let’s not overlook the Hawks defense either. It’s awfully hard to make it to this point of the year without a good defense. Skyview has been a stifling defense for most teams this season, being able to swarm the ball carrier almost instantaneously. They will need a strong performance on Friday night. If the offense shows up to play and can out-gun the Knights defense, Skyview could be on their way to capping their best season ever with a state championship.
Class 3A
Shelley Russets (10-1) vs. Fruitland Grizzlies (10-1), Saturday Nov. 23 at 2:30 p.m. MST at Holt Arena
For what seems like the umpteenth time in recent memory (really only the 4th time since 2005), Shelley and Fruitland square off for a state championship. It’s mainly a new cast of faces on both sides, but the tradition of both schools remains.
Last year, these two sides met-up for a showdown of all showdowns at the 3A level. Both teams were undefeated. Both sides had crushed their competition all year long. And both squads had players that would move on to Division-I schools once they graduated.
However, Shelley dominated the championship game, leading 37-3 late before Fruitland put a TD on the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter. It was a rough way for the Grizzlies to end the Joe Martarano/Bruce Schlaich era at Fruitland. But it was just the capstone of a perfect first season for Russets’ coach Travis Hobson.
This time around, both teams come in with one loss, the competition has played both squads a little tighter overall, and both schools just want to add to their recent history.
Fruitland is looking for their first state championship since 2010, when they beat Snake River. This year marks their eighth straight state championship game appearance, just a ridiculous stat that goes to show the strength of the Grizzlies program. That stat was nearly derailed last week by a tough, upstart Homedale Trojans team that came up seven seconds short of advancing to their first 3A state championship game. A “go-for-it” two-point conversion call for RB Chase Fiddler ended the Trojans hopes for a title tilt appearance, while extending Fruitland’s streak for another year.
This time, Fruitland hopes to end their slide against the Russets. These teams have played for the state championship three previous times. And all three times, the Grizzlies came up on the losing end. How does that Russet-dominated streak end this year? It all starts on defense.
Slowing down Shelley’s Kaden Schmitt is going to be a tall order for the orange and black. He is a dual-threat that can pass and run at a moment’s notice. He is the main man for the Russets and the one who orchestrates and directs Shelley’s potent offense. His ability to escape the pocket and pick up yardage or throw while on the run will be a big focus of Fruitland’s defense. He threw four touchdown passes last week to four different receivers, which goes to show that Schmitt isn’t the only one that can hurt you.
Guys like RB Randy Bauer, WR Cameron Waite, and return man Jason Hathaway all have the tools to do damage and rack up yardage and points. Bauer is key in setting up the offense with his power running.
Fruitland’s offense has the talent to hurt you as well. QB Jerred Seamons, RB Chase Fiddler, and others can ram the ball down your throat with their own power run game, while also establishing a good passing game. If not for the offensive line for the Grizzlies, none of that would be possible. A tough, physical offensive line is always a challenge for any defense. The orange and black averaged 35.4 points per game offensively, with an average win margin of 22 points per game. Like was mentioned previously, you can’t get to the state championship purely on luck. Not in football, at least. The Grizzlies have many players with great talent. And on Saturday, it’s about taking all that hard work and effort and harnessing it for 48 minutes against the defending state champions.
Watch to see which side can gain an advantage with their special teams, meaning kickoff and punt returns, extra point attempts, and the field position battle. It could be the ‘X’ factor for a game that could go to either team.
If Fruitland can slow down/limit Kaden Schmitt, they will have a great chance of breaking the losing-streak against Shelley. But if the Russets can limit the Fruitland offense, much like they did last season, it could be back-to-back titles for Shelley. I’m anticipating another great battle between these two schools.
File footage of Fruitland from 2011.
Class 2A
Declo Hornets (10-1) vs. West Side Pirates (10-1), Saturday Nov. 23 at 5:30 p.m. MST at Holt Arena
Two schools that are perennially in the championship chase get to meet up one more time with everything on the line this Saturday. The defending state champion Declo Hornets facing off against the West Side Pirates.
Flashback to October 4th. In the upset of the night, Wendell took down the Hornets 7-6 and in so doing, took control of the Canyon Conference for the first time in what seemed like forever. Declo has just been that good over the years, a testament to their program led by head coach Kelly Kidd.
But, for one night at least, Wendell owned the 2A football world, having knocked off the defending champions. However, Declo would have their revenge. And they got it in a big way last Saturday night, by ousting the Trojans out of the playoffs with a 35-13 win.
It’s tough to get to the state championship game, let alone win it not once, but twice. The Hornets will try to do just that against another Eastern Idaho opponent. Last year’s finalist, the Firth Cougars, fell in overtime against West Side, so a rematch was out of the question (in fact, this is one of only two games this weekend that isn’t a rematch of some sort).
But when you play Declo, you’re going to get a healthy-dose of physical, ground-and-pound football. The Hornets LOVE the double wing and Wing-T formations and have the horses to block and run right around you if you let them. But something you often don’t see out of those two formations is the ability to effectively pass the football.
That’s where QB Travis Schroeder comes in. In last week’s win over Wendell, Schroeder went 9-of-12 passing for 122 yards and a touchdown, with several receptions being made by WR Hayden Hanson. It wasn’t just effective, it was extremely efficient. It’s a great one-two punch to have on any football team, but especially at the 2A level.
West Side, however, would like to make their case as to why they have the best scheme in the 2A ranks. Outside of the Pirates 24-12 opening week loss to Firth (which, of course, they later got their revenge on with their win last weekend), West Side has leveled teams with strong defense and a good, steady offense.
There are several players on this West Side team that you could point to as “the main guy”. Trevor Montes has been one of those main guys, especially this past weekend against Firth. Montes collected 82 yards rushing with two touchdowns, double-figure tackle numbers, and a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that really swung the momentum in favor of the Pirates late in the game.
Guys like RB Coby Roholt, QB Peyton Brown, and WR Karson Alder have also done their part to contribute to the effectiveness of this West Side team throughout the season. The Pirates averaged 37.9 points per game during the season and have only surrendered 9.8 points per game in their last five games: a lethal combination indeed.
The benchmarks for Declo have been their ability to control the clock on offense and physicality on defense. For West Side, the power run game and swarming defense lead their charge.
Two things are going to play a key factor in this game: blocking and special teams execution. Both sides need to gain an advantage somehow in the blocking department: without it, the difficulty of establishing any sort of offensive momentum become difficult. As for special teams, West Side was without a converted PAT attempt all game long against Firth, but they did have some long punt and kick returns that set up their offense in good field position. Whichever of these two squads excels at those two key aspects will be in position to snag the blue trophy.
Class 1AD1
Hagerman Pirates (12-0) vs. Troy Trojans (11-0), Saturday Nov. 23 at 12:00 p.m. MST at Holt Arena
Two more undefeated teams do battle in the 1AD1 State Championship at Holt Arena… and the scoreboard operator better be ready for a potentially high scoring affair in this one.
Hagerman comes in with a 12-0 record and not ever really being close in the final score with their opponents. They have smacked around the competition so far this season and look to cap it off with a perfect 13-0 record. But their toughest test yet comes to the Dome on Saturday afternoon.
For the Pirates, they are led by QB Kade Kress as they have been the past few years. Kress, a former 1A Idaho Player of the Year, has simply out-gunned opponents this season on the ground and through the air. Case in point: he threw SEVEN touchdown passes last week against Raft River. He completed 21-of-25 passes for 407 yards, including 116 yards rushing and a 52-yd kickoff return for a touchdown. And that was just on OFFENSE. You can add in quite a few hard tackles on defense to those already stellar numbers.
But Kress hasn’t had to do it himself. He’s received help from players like RB Austin Funkhouser, TE Hernan Sandoval, WR Dillon Henslee and WR Clint Clifford. Clifford recorded four touchdown receptions this past week against Raft River himself. There are more weapons than Kress may know what to do with on this team.
To put their dominance in perspective, Hagerman has won 33 of their last 34 football games. The only loss was against Butte County in the state quarterfinals last season, when multiple in-game injuries derailed the title hopes. No matter what level you play on, that is an impressive number.
Just as impressive are the numbers coming from a Troy Trojans team that is looking to collect their second state title in four seasons. They have a punishing rushing attack and are very tough to stop. They are led by RB Zach Bafus, who has 1,683 yards through 11 games for the Trojans, including 27 rushing TD’s. Couple him with QB Cody Self’s dual-threat abilities and 31 total touchdowns, and you have a very good one-two punch combination that most teams would have a hard time slowing down.
But there’s more: Troy brings Tylor Pearson and Kellen Hoskins to the table with their receiving and running abilities. Between those two alone, they have 27 touchdowns on the year. It’s good to have one guy with 10 touchdowns, but 54 touchdowns between Bafus, Pearson, and Hoskins is just flat out impressive.
Their defense has been excellent too. No team scored a single point on Troy until Sept. 27, when Genesee put six points on the board. In fact, through Oct. 18, Troy had only allowed 12 TOTAL points… a very ridiculous number indeed. Troy has run into some tougher opponents in recent weeks, including Prairie twice in a four-week span. If you want to know how hard it is to beat a team twice, just ask Troy how hard it was to beat the Prairie Pirates two times in a row. It’s definitely not easy.
While Troy won’t have to play Hagerman twice, both sides will need to give everything they’ve got in order to get the ‘W’ and be state champions. Ball control will be HUGE in this game: both on turnovers and in time of possession. It’s hard to score when you don’t have the ball and I’m intrigued to see if there is a time-of-possession strategy involved in this game on Saturday. Watch and see how defensive line pressure affects the outcome. I believe that whichever defensive unit can successfully get into the opponents backfield on a regular basis will lead their team to a state title.
Class 1AD2
Salmon River Savages (11-0) vs. Council Lumberjacks, Friday Nov. 22 at 5:00 p.m. MST at Bronco Stadium
Last, but certainly not least, is the 1A Division II state championship. And just like the 4A title tilt, this is another conference rematch. But it wasn’t nearly as close as the BK/Skyview game was.
In that earlier matchup on Oct. 11, the Salmon River Savages went in to Council and ANNIHILATED the Lumberjacks 50-0. And it only took them two quarters to do it. Pretty impressive if you’re a Salmon River fan.
The Savages outgained, outmuscled, out-everything’d (I know that’s not a word) the Dietrich Blue Devils in a 44-0 win last weekend. Leighton Vander Esch threw for a touchdown, rushed for five TD’s, ran for 305 yards, and passed for 167 yards. The Blue Devils as a team gained only 82 total yards the entire game, meaning that Vander Esch himself outgained Dietrich by nearly SEVEN times the amount of yardage the Blue Devils attained. If this were basketball, the NBA Jam announcer would be screaming “He’s on FIRE! BOOMSHAKALAKA!”
Council is no slouch though. In their previous game against Salmon River, they were without the services of QB Mick Wilson and OL/DL Lucas Daniels. Can those two players make that much of a difference against Salmon River? Well, ask yourself this: “If Salmon River played without Leighton Vander Esch, would they be the same team?” They most certainly would not be.
The Lumberjacks sport a five-game winning streak, with two wins coming in the playoffs against Deary and then Lighthouse Christian. All I know is that Paul Kingsbury and Will Hoenike picked against these guys two weeks in a row… and for two consecutive weeks, Joe Hughes (IdahoSports.com Broadcaster and Council High School alum) was able to send the ‘W’ along with a nice side of crow back into the faces of Paul and Will. Maybe Paul and Will should pick them again? Are they Council’s new lucky charm?
While you may or may not be superstitious, these kids just know how to play. You can’t win football games if you don’t have the intuition to be a winner and to play to your strengths. Council’s strength is leaning on each other through thick and thin. Last week against Lighthouse Christian, the Lumberjacks were outgained by nearly 150 yards… but they still won. Why? They played as a team and kept to their strategy… and it worked.
Can Council come up with the biggest upset of the season and win their third straight playoff game as an underdog? Or will Salmon River continue their dominance of the Long Pin Conference by securing their second straight state title?
If Council is to get that blue trophy, they will need to somehow prevent Vander Esch from gaining yards, both rushing and passing – a tall order indeed. He is the key to the Salmon River offense. If they can get him out of his groove, they will be in contention. If not, Salmon River could be on their way to back-to-back state championships.
Good luck to all the teams this weekend! Play your best, play hard, play with heart, and play with class. This is the greatest stage than a high school football player can be on at this point in their young lives. Make it the best memory you possibly can.
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