|
ORDER GAME PHOTOS
CLASS 5A
East #2 Rigby (10-2) vs. West #1A Meridian (11-0) at Albertsons Stadium
7 p.m. Friday
Listen Live
Amazingly, every single No. 1 overall seed has advanced to the championship round this weekend, including undefeated Meridian, who steamrolled upstart Mountain View 34-10 in the semifinals.
Also amazingly, five of the six No. 2 overall seeds (or second-best team overall — i.e. Dietrich in the 1AD2 bracket, which seeds differently than the other classifications) also have survived thus far. The exception — 5A defending state champion Rigby.
Few fans are likely surprised by the Trojans run through the 2022 state playoff bracket, however. This will be the fourth straight 5A State Championship Game appearance for Rigby, who has won two of the last three state title's in Idaho's largest classification.
Over the past four seasons, the Trojans only playoff loss was a 17-14 defeat in the 2020 state title game against fellow 5A powerhouse Rocky Mountain.
After narrowly falling to Highland during the regular season, the Trojans lost out on a first-round bye, but Head Coach Armando Gonzalez' team came into the postseason on a roll and they have not slowed down one bit.
Rigby has taken down three straight SIC opponents of increasing difficulty over the past three weeks. The Trojans started off with an opening-round win at home over Owyhee, then won at Eagle in the quarterfinals before picking up a huge 34-27 road win at Rocky Mountain last Friday.
Next up is a rematch of last season's 5A semifinals against an undefeated Meridian squad that is hungry for its first state title since 2007. The Trojans will have their hands full against one of the best defenses in Idaho as they travel back to the Treasure Valley for the third week in a row.
The Warriors and fourth-year Head Coach John Zamberlin have been building toward this goal all season. Meridian has dominated opponents with their three-headed rushing attack featuring Rylie Bylington, Marco Del Rio and Luke St. Mitchell and a stellar defense that allows less than seven points per game.
After finishing with a perfect 8-0 record in the regular season, Meridian had a bye in the first round before slogging out a win over Middleton in the quarterfinals and mashing Mountain View last week.
This will be the Warriors first state championship appearance since 2007, but they are not happy just to be here. The Warriors want to win, especially given the fact that they get a rematch with a Rigby squad that quashed their Cinderella run in the 2021 playoffs in a heartbreaking 55-49 overtime loss in the semifinals.
If this year's matchup is anything like last season's, fans should buckle up for another instant classic.
Either Rigby will continue its rule as a budding dynasty in 5A football or Meridian will start a new reign atop the classification. All of that will be settled Friday night on the blue turf at Boise State's Albertson's Stadium.
CLASS 4A
#2 Skyline (9-3) vs. #1 Bishop Kelly (12-0) at Holt Arena
8:30 p.m. Friday
Listen Live
Like the 5A finals, the 4A State Championship Game features a defending champion (in this case, a two-time defending champion) entering as an underdog against an undefeated No. 1 seed.
Fortunately for second-seeded Skyline, however, is that they will get a "home-field advantage" with the game being played in East Idaho at Idaho State's Holt Arena, as opposed to having to make a trip to the Treasure Valley.
The Grizzlies have reached the 4A title game for third straight year and Head Coach Scott Berger's squad is looking to win its fifth championship in the past seven seasons — a feat that few teams have ever accomplished. Intriguingly, one school that has had a similar level of championship pedigree over the last decade-plus is Bishop Kelly, who won six championships from 2004-2015, including three in a row from 2013-15.
But the Knights have not won a title since 2015, and Skyline is a big reason why. The Grizzlies had playoff wins over Bishop Kelly in both their 2016 and 2017 state championship runs, including a thrilling 50-49 victory in the 2016 finals.
This season, Skyline and Bishop Kelly's paths to the title game have been a bit different from one another.
Just like the 2021 season, the Grizzlies started the year with a loss to a talented team from Utah and hit a few more bumps along the way during the regular season. Skyline was shut out by Rigby on Sept. 30 and lost a shocker to Bonneville on Oct. 14.
Yet, down the final stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs, the Grizzlies found their way, picking up a tight win over Shelley to win the District 6 title, earning the No. 2 seed, and putting up 42 points in three straight playoff wins over Bonneville, Twin Falls and Sandpoint.
A lot of Skyline's success this postseason can be attributed to the quarterback-receiver combination of Lachlan Haacke and Oregon commit Kenyon Sadiq. Haacke and Sadiq connected on six passes in last week's semifinal win over Sandpoint, totaling a whopping 246 yards and five touchdowns.
Haacke and Sadiq will need to have that same type of success this Friday if Skyline wants to compete with Bishop Kelly.
The Knights have looked dominant from the opening kickoff of the season. Bishop Kelly has still yet to play anything closer than a three-score game this year.
Bishop Kelly has used a strong rushing attack and a stellar defense to knock off opponents by an average of 35 points per game.
Head Coach Tim Brennan has won five state titles during his two stints at Bishop Kelly, but his Knights are 0-2 in championship games since 2015. Although it was a while back, Brennan and Bishop Kelly would love nothing more than to get some revenge against Skyline, whose 2016 4A State Championship Game victory over the Knights spoiled what would have been four straight titles.
Regardless of the outcome, fans can be excited for a matchup of two of the most talented football teams in the state during the late game Friday night at Holt Arena.
CLASS 3A
#2 Homedale (10-1) vs. #1 Sugar-Salem (10-0) at Middleton High School
1 p.m. Saturday
Listen Live
While every state championship game this weekend obviously means a lot for the teams competing, possibly no squad has more motivation to win — and get the monkey off their back — than Homedale.
The Trojans will get yet another shot to fend off archnemesis Sugar-Salem and pick up their first state title since 1997.
This will be the fifth straight season with a Homedale-Sugar-Salem clash in the late rounds of the 3A state playoffs. The Diggers defeated the Trojans in the state title game three years in a row from 2018-2020 and then took them down again last season in the semifinals before falling to Homedale's district rival Weiser by one point in the state championship game.
Once again, it all comes down to Homedale and Sugar-Salem, who are clearly the best two teams in 3A.
The Trojans dominated for much of the season, only losing 28-21 to 4A semifinalist Sandpoint on the road in mid-September. Aside from that defeat, Homedale has failed to score at least 35 points only once (in a 21-7 win over Weiser in the regular season) and have not allowed more than 14 points in any contest.
Homedale has been paced by senior running back Trenton Fisher, who ran for 201 yards and four touchdowns in the Trojans 35-7 semifinal route of Weiser. Head Coach Matt Holtry's squad is going to need that type of output from Fisher, combined with their best defense performance of the season, if they want to finally slay the Diggers and avoid becoming Idaho's equivalent of the 1990s Buffalo Bills.
Sugar-Salem is not going to make it easy, though. There is a reason that Head Coach Tyler Richins and the Diggers are one failed two-point conversion from being state champions for four years running.
Much like Bishop Kelly in 4A, the Diggers have not only won every game this season, but they also have not played a game any tighter than a three-touchdown win margin (and even that game was a 28-9 win over Layton Christian, who just won a state championship in Utah). The Diggers have won each game by an average of 38 points.
With this contest being the final state championship game to be played this weekend — taking place Saturday afternoon at Middleton High School — all eyes will be on this showdown between 3A heavyweights Homedale and Sugar-Salem.
Can the Trojans finally get over the hump, or is Sugar-Salem still the class of 3A?
We will find out Saturday.
CLASS 2A
#2 Firth (8-2) vs. #1 Bear Lake (9-1) at Holt Arena
8 p.m. Thursday
Listen Live
In another exciting No. 1-versus-No. 2 contest, the Firth Cougars and Bear Lake Bears will battle in the 2A State Championship Game with each team looking to end lengthy championship droughts.
Despite appearing in the state finals in each of the previous two seasons, Firth has not won a title since 2006. Bear Lake, meanwhile, has never won a state championship, yet they seem to be the team of destiny in 2022.
The Bears are the only team to beat three-time defending champion West Side in the last three seasons, and they did so twice this year. Bear Lake took down the Pirates 28-27 on its home field Sept. 23 and then amazingly replicated that score in a thrilling 28-27 overtime win against West Side in last week's semifinal game at Holt Arena.
Bear Lake was powered by the duo of quarterback Tayson Neal and receiver Bryson Crane who connected for 106 yards and two touchdowns in the semifinal victory, including the game-winning score on fourth down in overtime that Crane snagged with two Pirates defenders draped all over him.
Much like Bear Lake, who finally unseated their district rivals to snag a top seed, Firth knocked off perennial Nuclear Conference powerhouse North Fremont this season to win the district title for the first time since 2017.
The Cougars lost their season opener to West Side and fell 21-14 at Bear Lake Sept. 9, but they have not lost since and the only close game they have played over that seven-game stretch was last week's semifinal game, which they won 34-20 over Aberdeen.
While Firth certainly has a strong offense, the Cougars strength is their defense, which led all of 2A with less than 9 points per game allowed this season. Firth posted four shutouts during the regular season, including blanking North Fremont twice.
Now, in his first year as head coach at Firth, Rigo Vasquez has a shot to lead his team to a state title.
Firth and Bear Lake will both get to return to the friendly confines of Pocatello's Holt Arena for what should be an extremely competitive 2A State Championship Game.
CLASS 1AD1
#2 Grace (9-1) vs. #1 Oakley (9-1) at Holt Arena
5:30 p.m. Thursday
Listen Live
The first state championship game on tap this weekend should be a doozey, as two-time defending 1AD1 champion Oakley faces off against a young and talented Grace squad in search of its first ever state championship.
The story of this game will likely be a battle of the Hornets potent offense and the Grizzlies stout defense.
Led by 2021 High Desert Conference Defensive Player of the Year Dallon Draper and five other all-conference defensive players from last season, Grace allows less than 15 points per game, which is the best mark in all of 1AD1 this season. Oakley, meanwhile, boasts the classification's third-highest scoring offense at just under 50 points per contest thanks to the strong play of quarterback Porter Pickett and receiver Bridger Duncan.
Last season, Grace went just 4-5, losing in the opening round of the playoffs to Potlatch, but the Grizzlies came out firing in 2022, shutting out defending 1AD2 runner-up Carey 7-0 in the season opener.
The Grizzlies only lost this season came in an 8-0 shutout against Castleford on Sept. 9. Since then, Grace has won seven straight games, including a 32-26 victory over conference rival Butte County in the regular season finale and playoff wins over Raft River and Kamiah.
Oakley, on the other hand, knew that it had championship aspirations to live up to once again this season, and the Hornets have not disappointed.
Oakley's lone loss this year came in a 52-48 thriller against 1AD2 finalist Kendrick on Sept. 2. The Hornets powered through the rest of their schedule, knocking off Raft River in a rematch of the 2021 championship and taking down Carey twice, including a come-from-behind 26-18 win last Thursday at Holt Arena.
With both teams possessing identical records and equally strong resumes, this matchup between Oakley and Grace should be a great way to kick off championship weekend in the state of Idaho.
CLASS 1AD2
4A Dietrich (11-0) vs. 2A Kendrick (11-0) at Holt Arena
6 p.m. Friday (Mountain Time)
Listen Live
Dietrich and Kendrick have seemingly been on a collision course all season as both the Blue Devils and Tigers have racked up one impressive and dominating victory after another.
The Blue Devils have outscored opponents 648-128 this season, compared to the Tigers' 566-62 (not including a forfeit win over Timberline) total margin of victory.
Dietrich scores nearly 59 points per contest and has put up less than 54 points only once this season. Kendrick allows less than six points per game and has allowed more than 8 point on only one occasion this year.
You get the picture. These are far-and-away the best two teams in 1AD2 and possibly the best two overall 8-man teams in the state.
Head Coach Rick Astle and his Blue Devils were state semifinalists last season after winning the 2020 1AD2 title. They completely buzz sawed every team on their schedule this season aside from Sawtooth Conference rival Castleford, who Dietrich only beat 26-20 back on Oct. 7.
Despite posting a perfect 8-0 regular season, the Blue Devils had to host a first-round playoff game against Horseshoe Bend, which they won handily 54-20. Over the past two weeks, Dietrich dominated Rockland 64-14 and then destroyed Garden Valley 72-20 to get to the championship round.
Kendrick, meanwhile, has been equally as impressive this season, if not more.
After losing just one player to graduation from last year's state championship team, the Tigers soared through the regular season with incredible ease. The only close game Kendrick has played all season was a 52-48 win over Oakley on Sept. 2.
The Tigers have only allowed three opponents to score on them this season, shutting out seven teams and picking up a forfeit victory in one contest. In fact, many of Kendrick's scores appear much closer than they would have been, if not for multiple opponents opting for a running clock in the second half or calling the game off early due to Kendrick being ahead by so many points.
The last time Kendrick lost a game was Oct. 22, 2021, against 1AD1 Genessee. The Tigers have swept through the 2022 playoffs, earning a first-round bye and then shutting out Camas County 46-0 in the quarterfinals and beating Castleford 38-8 last week at Lewiston High School.
One advantage that Dietrich has, however, is that this year's 1AD2 Championship Game is being played at Holt Arena, instead of the Kibbie Dome, like it was last year. The Blue Devils will have a short two-hour drive to Pocatello, compared to the nearly 9-hour trek the Tigers will need to make.
Regardless of who wins, this should be a thrilling battle between top-notch 8-man football teams that will be a lot of fun to watch (and listen to).
|