Published: 8/27/2018 11:45:03 AM

ORDER GAME PHOTOS

Despite poor air quality in multiple areas throughout Idaho, all games were able to be played in week one of the high school football season. A few games had to see a change in date and location, but aside from that, the majority of teams throughout the state now have a game under their belt. With week one in the rearview mirror, we take a look at some of the things that stood out.

5A CLASSIFICATION

-Not that this should come as much of a surprise to anybody who has followed the SIC the last few years, but the quarterbacks dominated the headlines in week one. Borah’s Jake Standlee, Capital’s Ryan Hibbs and Centennial’s Dayne Koch all threw for four or more touchdowns in their week one action. Each of their teams went on to victory as well. Eagle sophomore Ben Ford was also impressive in his first career start, displaying dual-threat abilities on his way to 139 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns to go along with 161 passing yards.

-Rocky Mountain and Mountain View had another low-scoring affair, with the Grizzlies coming out on top 16-6. It was a dominating defensive effort from Rocky Mountain against a high-powered Mavericks offensive attack. As the offense continues to gel under offensive coordinator Scott Criner, the team should become even more dangerous. Nick Romano led the way in game one with 200 yards and two touchdowns rushing for the Grizzlies. 

-It took a valiant late rally, but Coeur d’Alene is 1-0 after coming back from 19 points down on the road at Rigby to knock off the upstart Trojans. New quarterback Kale Edwards threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Colbey Nosworthy with under a minute remaining to help make the trip back up to the panhandle a more enjoyable one for the Vikings. Fellow conference foe Post Falls also improved to 1-0 with a 34-7 defeat of Sandpoint.

-Defending 5A state champion Highland forced Shadow Ridge (NV) to commit four second half turnovers on their way to an opening 28-8 win as they begin their quest for a repeat. Quarterback Kobe Tracy was as efficient as ever, going 24-30 through the air for 271 yards and two touchdowns. Landon Demuzio was his favorite target, hauling in six passes for 93 yards. Fellow conference foe Madison had the offense clicking on all cylinders in a 42-6 blowout win over Lake City on the road. Thunder Ridge lost the first football game in school history 48-7 against Bonneville.

-Meridian transfer Caden Clark was an All-Conference selection last season for the Warriors and was a matchup nightmare on night one in a Centennial uniform. The connection of Clark and quarterback Dayne Koch connected ten times for 161 yards and a touchdown in a 36-9 win over Boise. 

-What an impressive opening weekend for teams in the 4A High Country Conference. Teams out of the conference went an undefeated 6-0 in week one. Highlighting the wins were Rocky Mountain Rumble victories for Blackfoot, Skyline and Hillcrest. The back-to-back state champion Grizzlies are back and looking strong again. With Easton Taylor at quarterback throwing for 298 yards and three touchdowns and Connor Maloney brining in four passes for 139 yards and catching each of those three touchdown passes, Scott Berger’s group looks explosive. Mammoth 6-foot-5-inch receiver Chase Baker was the difference for Idaho Falls in a 34-33 win over Lewiston, bringing in a 23-yard touchdown reception with 1:26 left from backup quarterback Taggert Miller. Starter Cannon Thompson was in the concussion protocol. Shelley and Bonneville also had wins in their openers.

-Middleton escaped a major scare from Kuna to win 28-22. The Kavemen led 22-7 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Vikings went with two different quarterbacks in week one after losing standout Darin Post to graduation after last year. Dallas Hagler and Cash Cowdery were the two behind center for head coach Bill Brock, with the duo combining for over 350 passing yards and Hagler completing a 46-yard touchdown pass to Carson Smith with 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

-Two rushing performances stood out above the rest across the state in week one. Allamar Alexander of Columbia got things started on Friday, scoring touchdowns on 25 percent of his 28 carries. Yes, that’s right, seven touchdowns. Alexander also ran for 348 yards in the Wildcats 69-29 defeat of Emmett. Perhaps even more remarkable, Twin Falls running back Jarad Perry ran the ball 60 times for 227 yards and three touchdowns in the Bruins 28-14 win. Perry himself carried the football more than the total number of plays that the Twin Falls offense ran all night (45). 

-Despite a new coach on the sideline in Keelan McCaffrey, Minico looked exactly like fans have become accustomed to seeing the program on the field. A heavy-run focus was highlighted by Colter May’s 113 yards and a touchdown in the 42-7 win over Kirtland Central (NM). Fellow Great Basin Conference programs Burley and Mountain Home squeaked out close wins in their openers. The win for the Tigers was the first since October 7 of 2016.
 

-Bishop Kelly and Vallivue each had impressive opening wins. The Falcons ran for 325 yards in a 54-22 neutral site thumping of Canyon Ridge at Mountain Home. The Knights and quarterback Beau Nelson look to have restocked the talent pool quickly after losing 13 All-Conference selections from last season, beating a good Nampa team 43-21. 

-Teams with title aspirations showed well in week one, with Gooding, Kimberly, Fruitland, Homedale and Marsh Valley all impressing in big wins. Marsh Valley and Homedale also each shut out their opponents, with the Trojans defeating New Plymouth 50-0 and the Eagles knocking off Malad 33-0 on the road. 

-Talk throughout the offseason was that defending champion Fruitland would throw more. Boy was that accurate. Senior quarterback Cole Eiguren threw for 312 yards and two touchdowns in a 43-14 home victory over South Fremont. Watch out for the Eiguren to Josh Henggeler connection this season. The two were on the same wavelength nine times for 226 yards and a touchdown. 

-Weiser won the Tom Harrison opener on the sideline 24-7 over Buhl. The ten-time state champion head coach has to be happy with the way the defense played, holding the Indians scoreless after an opening 72-yard touchdown pass from Jade Juker to Adam Lauda. It was a diverse offensive attack for the Wolverines when they had the ball, which should help ease the load for running back Braden Bumgarner as the season goes on. 

-It was a tough week for the three 3A Intermountain League teams that were in action, as Timberlake, Bonners Ferry and Kellogg were outscored 135-20 combined in their openers. 

-Teams in the Mountain Rivers Conference challenged themselves in a big way in week one. South Fremont fell to defending title-winner Fruitland, Sugar-Salem battled tough at Declo before falling 16-14 on the final play of the game and Teton came from behind to upend Jackson (WY) 28-20. The Redskins trailed 20-6 to begin the fourth quarter, but got right back into the game thanks to four Jackson turnovers. 

-There shouldn’t be much question that the 2A classification has an enormous amount of talent on-hand this season. The talk surrounding Declo has been largely centered on Boise State commit Keegan Duncan, but plenty of players stepped up after he had to be carted off the field with an apparent hip injury during a 16-14 win over Sugar-Salem. Quarterback McKay Breshears connected with receiver Ben Fuentes from 36-yards out to tie the game, then the Hornets capped it off by converting the two-point conversion to go up by what would go on to be the 16-14 final. Sugar-Salem was ranked number two in the preseason 3A media poll. 

-Grangeville played up two classifications and blew out 4A Moscow by a score of 36-12. Tescher Harris threw five touchdown passes and Booker Bush brought in three himself to pace the Bulldogs. Conference opponent St. Maries also had a strong showing on opening night against Kellogg, winning 47-14.

-Wendell won for the first time since September 25 of 2015, defeating Marsing 37-12 to snap a 21-game losing streak. Running back Kyler Lukesh ran for 130 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead the Trojans. 

-Outside of Malad, 2A South East Idaho Conference teams that were in action on opening weekend outscored their opponents 108-12 on Friday. Aberdeen, Bear Lake and West Side each hope that positive momentum can carry forward in the season. For the Pirates, defeating reigning 2A runner-up Firth on the road 36-6 represents a solid start to the season despite the fact that the Cougars lost a large core of their roster from a year ago. 

-North Fremont ran up, over, around and in between the Filer defense. The Huskies beat up on an experienced 3A school to win their opener 46-14 thanks to close to 400 yards on the ground. Riggin Cordingley and Blake Oberhansley combined for 306 of those yards. 2A Nuclear Conference foe Salmon also won its opener, 28-0 against Anaconda (MT). West Jefferson and Ririe improved to 1-0 as well. 

-Cole Valley’s defense had the stat of the week from week one, holding Payette’s offense to six total yards in a 56-0 shutout win. Roman Conder had five total touchdowns for the Chargers in the win.

 

-Multiple schools with new coaches won their first games, including Ryan Ball at Potlatch, Joe Woodland at Notus and Mark Dodge at Grace. 

-After having to forfeit their final two games last season, Potlatch rebounded in a big way in game one of the Ryan Ball era, defeating Deary 26-12. The Mustangs made the playoffs and advanced to the 1AD2 semifinals last season, so for the Loggers the excitement level has to be high. Quarterback Justin Nicholson completed all seven of his passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. 

-Oakley traveled all the way up to Lapwai and beat a good Wildcats football team 58-18. Quarterback Tate Cranney went 13-18 for 218 yards and four touchdowns for the Hornets. The highlight of the game was a 99-yard touchdown run from Josh Nyman. 

-Wilder, Challis, Idaho City, Wallace, Glenns Ferry and Valley each defeated opponents by three or more touchdowns. Idaho City led the way in the scoring department with a 70-12 win over Cascade. 

-In Wilder’s 31-8 win over Garden Valley, Norman Gonzalez had two interception returns for touchdowns. Cristian Aguilar led the way offensively with 138 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. 

 

-Despite falling 72-50 to Kendrick, Genesee quarterback Kolby Moser threw for 520 yards on 49 pass attempts. Daniel Lindquist caught four of those touchdowns for over 200 yards.

-Carey didn’t waste much time establishing themselves a power again this year after a state championship victory in 2017. The Panthers erupted to a 52-0 lead after a quarter in what would go on to be a 60-0 win over Castleford. 

-Dietrich had four players rush for over 70 yards in a 58-12 win over Hagerman. Brady Power ran for 73 of them and threw for 363 in addition to that. Murtaugh was also impressive, blanking Horseshoe Bend 48-0 behind a 9-9 passing night for quarterback Graden Dimond. 

-Kendrick put up 72 points in a 72-50 win over defending 1AD1 runner-up Genesee. The Tigers ran for over 500 yards on the night, including five touchdowns from Cooper Hewett.

 

-Brendan Nelson was a two-way star for Lewis County. The Eagles defeated Clark Fork 52-14 thanks in large part to Nelson’s 178 yards rushing and three touchdowns on the offensive side of the ball and his nine tackles and an interception on defense. 

-It was a great start to the season for North Gem, picking up a massive win over a quality Butte County team 48-42 at home in overtime. On the night, Butte County fumbled three times.