Believe it or not, the playoffs are just two weeks away for half of the classifications in Idaho.

While most, if not all, teams treat the conference schedule as their “pre-playoffs”, the real deal gets underway in the 1AD1, 2A, and 3A classifications on Halloween. There’s no hiding behind masks in the playoffs like there is on Halloween though: by that point, your weaknesses are exposed and opponents know how to attack them.

A few teams in Idaho have completed their regular season, more teams wrap up their slate this coming week, and the rest finish out the schedule in two weeks. Some will advance, others will go home. Make no mistake, the playoff party is getting started here in Idaho. For the most part, we just don’t know who has been invited.

Enjoy it while it lasts: the postseason arrives quickly.

Here are your Week Seven Observations:

Bear Lake 34, American Falls 0: The Bears rolled the Beavers in an important conference matchup standings-wise. Bear Lake clinches a playoff-berth with the win and gained positive momentum heading into the conference championship game against Snake River next week. Kaden Neves had 2 rushing TD’s, Derek Weston punched in another TD, and Kasey Keetch caught 2 TD passes from Jaden Crane. Is this the year that Bear Lake finally pushes past Snake River for the conference championship? American Falls is still in the playoff hunt too: while they are winless in conference play, so is their final opponent in Marsh Valley. Whoever wins that game will claim berth 5C and face the top team from the 3A Mountain Rivers Conference in the first round of the playoffs.

Snake River 21, Marsh Valley 14: Is there cause for concern in Moreland? There could be. With only a seven-point victory against an Eagles team that has struggled all season, the Panthers just aren’t playing their best ball right now it seems. Their next game doesn’t get any easier, as Snake River will host Bear Lake at Harrison Field. Take away Wyatt Vogler’s 75-yard kickoff return for a TD and you have a tie ballgame. Marsh Valley’s effort against the pre-season favorite in the 3A South East Idaho Conference shouldn’t go unnoticed. Even though they are 0-7 on the year, they could STILL make the playoffs with a win at American Falls this Friday.

Madison 28, Blackfoot 20: Last year’s “Buck Bowl” was between the top two teams in 4A and 5A. Both would go on to win the state championship in their respective classifications. This season, a MUCH different story: multiple seniors graduated, two combined wins, and a season full of rebuilding. Madison broke the game open near the end of the third quarter before Blackfoot’s Stan Buck inserted freshman quarterback Pacen Hayes, who quickly put two TD’s on the board for the Broncos. Could Hayes be the quarterback of the future for the Broncos? Based on one quarter of play: you bet. Watch out for Madison in the coming years too, as they have a good group of kids moving up to the varsity level.

Century 31, Bonneville 7: The Diamondbacks were up against the wall. They NEEDED a win against Bonneville to keep their playoff hopes alive. They got the win and then some. Century shut down Lincoln Clayton and the Bees on their way to a 24-point rout. Clayton had only 21 yards rushing on 11 attempts. Tanner Smith completed 14-of-20 passes for 220 yards and a TD, but also threw two interceptions. On the flip side, Shane Rominger went 21-of-26 passing for 214 yards and 2 TD’s, but had no turnovers. The supporting cast stepped up for Century in this one, whereas Bonneville’s did not. Now the Bees potentially have their backs against the proverbial wall, as they travel north to play conference-leading Rigby. If the Bees falter in that game, the control of their playoff aspirations falls out of their hands. The Diamondbacks now need a win against Preston and Pocatello to secure their spot in the postseason.

Coeur d’Alene 54, Skyline 14: The Grizzlies went with Benton Mitchell at quarterback, replacing Zak Bennett who was out with injury, and unfortunately for Skyline fans the result was no different. The Vikings put up 35 points on the board in the first quarter, with four touchdown passes coming from Gunnar Amos. The Grizz didn’t hit the score sheet until the fourth quarter, when the result was well in hand with the Coeur d’Alene starters on the bench. The Vikings now face their most important test yet in the Lake City Timberwolves. With only one state berth up for grabs for 5A District 1-2, you can’t have an off night in conference play. On another note, according to Jason Elliott of the Coeur d’Alene Press, Vikings head coach Shawn Amos was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease last week after discovering a lump over his collarbone. From all of us at IdahoSports.com, we sure wish all the best to coach Amos and his family.

Homedale 27, Gooding 14: The Trojans are for real. Having already locked up the top seed from the District III SRV en route to the playoffs, Homedale added an exclamation point with a win over the top team from the District IV SCIC. Don’t despair, Gooding fans. Head coach Cameron Andersen told the Times-News, “We hate to lose, but got what we needed out of this game.” I would have to believe that he meant a measuring stick against non-District IV competition and a way to discover weaknesses against quality teams that they might see in the playoffs. By doing that, they could then improve on those deficiencies and (hopefully) have them corrected by the time the postseason rolls around. Homedale finishes out the regular season at one-win Payette, while Gooding travels to Eagle HS to play Grangeville.

Idaho Falls 28, Hillcrest 22 (OT): Hillcrest was 1-6 entering this game. Idaho Falls was 6-0. Could the Tigers have mentally underestimated the Knights? Did they possibly look ahead to the Highland game on Oct. 25? While we may not know with certainty, it sure looks like they did. It wasn’t really until the waning moments of the 4^th quarter that things finally began clicking for the Idaho Falls offense. A late score and 2-point conversion forced overtime, followed by a defensive stop and one-play touchdown drive gave the Tigers the win. It was ugly, but they’ll take it. Idaho Falls clinches a playoff spot and has the opportunity to win the conference this week against Highland.

Lake City 33, Chiawana, WA 26: This was a big win for the Timberwolves. Chiawana was the No. 3 ranked team in Washington’s 4A classification heading into this game (4A is the largest classification in Washington). Lake City is starting to put things together, led by the Louie-McGee brothers. A solid all-around performance, including balanced passing, rushing, and defense all contributed to the victory. Next up: a big-time matchup against cross-town rival Coeur d’Alene. Could the Timberwolves pull off the upset and knock off the high-powered Vikings? 

Firth 45, North Fremont 6: This game was essentially the 2A Nuclear Conference championship game. Firth entered the game with only one loss overall (a 2-point defeat at the hands of 3A Sugar-Salem) and a perfect conference record. North Fremont entered the contest with a 3-2 record, having knocked off Salmon in their previous game two weeks ago by six points. With Firth barely edging Salmon 41-40 last week, many believed (including myself) that this would be a close one down to the wire. Well… it was close to the halfway point. After limiting the Cougars offense in the first half, Firth exploded for 32 points in the final two quarters to seal yet another conference championship and the top berth from District 6. The Huskies, meanwhile, can still snag the second berth with a win this week at Ririe.

Pocatello 20, Preston 14: Preston’s Austin Smellie passed for 264 yards on the night with only 10 completions. That averages out to 26.4 yards per catch, a ridiculous number. But he didn’t get much help elsewhere, as the team gained only 37 rushing yards. Pocatello played good, but not great. They had three different players pass the ball in this one, two of them on an every other down basis. In my opinion, that’s tough to have continuity within the offense if your signal caller is changing every play. Poky made enough plays at key moments during the game to withstand Preston. Both teams are still mathematically in the playoff race, but they will need to win out along with having plenty of outside help to clinch a berth.

Soda Springs 21, Malad 13: This one could have gone either way. Chase Bartschi gets the nod as the hero with the eventual game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. The stats were there for both sides: the pass and run games were efficient. But the difference was interceptions: Malad threw three of them, while Soda had none. That’s three extra possessions for the Cardinals. Especially with how close the game was, the Dragons have to be kicking themselves for those crucial mistakes that eventually cost them the game. Soda Springs now travels to Dayton to play West Side and can lock themselves into a playoff berth with a win. Malad desperately needs a win to keep their aspirations for the postseason alive.

Shelley 49, South Fremont 0: An all-out dominating performance by the Russets in this one. Shelley’s Kaden Schmitt threw for 3 TD’s, the run game collected 3 TD’s, and the special teams garnered an 85-yard kickoff return. Don’t overlook the defensive shutout either, as South Fremont was limited to 117 total yards. The Cougars just couldn’t get anything going all night long. They better hope to turn it around this week against Sugar-Salem: a South Fremont loss ends their season and clinches a berth for the Diggers. Shelley has secured a berth already, but we will not know what placement they will be in on the 3A bracket until their showdown against Teton this Thursday night.

Sugar-Salem 24, Teton 20: 314 yards. For any team, that amount of yards rushing the ball is considered a job well done. But those 314 yards were gained by one player: Sugar-Salem’s Jordan Godby. The Diggers gained 392 rushing yards, meaning that Godby accounted for 80.1% of his team’s rushing yard total. I’m sure he has already thanked his offensive line for their help in that number. Teton, meanwhile, gave Sugar-Salem three extra chances via turnovers to score. Anytime the turnover ratio is that high, you’re doomed. Credit Sugar’s defense for slowing down the Redskins’ Wing T offense. Sugar now plays for a playoff spot against South Fremont while Teton travels to Shelley for a crack at the 6-1 Shelley Russets.

West Side 28, Aberdeen 0: One word comes to mind with this game: beatdown. West Side outhustled, outmuscled, and just outplayed the Tigers in this one. 124 total yards were gained by Aberdeen, including only 19 through the air on 2-of-14 passing. Clancy Beck and Hilario Carillo gained only 46 total yards combined on the ground. West Side, however, had it rolling as they controlled the clock and played efficiently, gaining 275 total yards rushing on only 33 carries. The Pirates punch their ticket to the playoffs and can lock up the top seed from the District with a win at home against Soda Springs this week. Aberdeen now has to regroup and prepare for a Malad team desperate on making the postseason.

Salmon 55, Ririe 20: The Bulldogs made the long trip to Salmon entertaining for one half of play. It was 13-12 at the break as Ririe came out guns-a-blazin’ in the first frame. But the Savages finally got it together and outscored the Bulldogs in the second half 42-7 behind the play of senior Jedd Tibbitts. Salmon can clinch the final playoff berth from District 6 with a win against 0-7 West Jefferson this Friday, while Ririe needs a win against North Fremont to keep any hope of moving on alive.

Final Thoughts: There were three games forfeited in high school football this week. 1AD2 Sho-Ban forfeited their season as a result of lack of players. Traditionally, Sho-Ban has been a basketball-crazy school. They have the athletes in basketball, so why can’t that translate to the gridiron? It could be monetary decisions, desire to play, time, etc. It could be any number of things. In my opinion, it might be a good idea for the Chiefs to explore the Idaho 6-Man Football pilot project.

2A Glenns Ferry (really a 1AD1 school playing up in classification), forfeited their game against Declo, just as they had done against Wendell two weeks ago. Disciplinary issues on the team is what has been cited as the reason for the forfeitures. Of course, we would all like to know the specific reasons for this, as now the players for both Declo and Wendell lose a home game (Wendell’s homecoming game in fact). I hope that the reasons for these forfeitures were good (I’m sure they were) as the decisions made affected more than just one football team. If there were mistakes made by players on the Pilots team, I hope that they can be corrected and that the young men can learn and improve. While football is important, it's not everything. 

4A Wood River forfeited their game against Burley because of injuries. Wood River athletic director John Rade said to the Times-News there were “only 14 players medically cleared to play in the game.” In 11-man football, that’s tough. The Times-News article also reported that the Wolverines did not field a JV team due to low turnout. In a school of approximately 735 students, it almost seems unfathomable that finding enough players to play would be an issue. Whether it’s a combination of injuries plus low turnout, either way it doesn’t boost the morale of a program that’s down and out right now.

That's it for "Week Seven Observations". Feel free to comment below on games I may not have covered with analysis of your own.