3 Idaho high school football games you should not have missed in Week 3
Nicholas Sorrell paused for a moment when asked how to sum up a game that featured a blocked field goal, a touchdown being called back and not one, but two goal-line pass interference calls all within the last 83 seconds of the game.
“It’s a typical Highland-Poky game,” Sorrell said with a laugh.
The 66th edition of the "Black and Blue Bowl" didn’t disappoint with Highland edging arch-rival Pocatello, 24-17, on Friday night at Lookout Field.
The Rams (4-0) have won 13 consecutive games in the longstanding series that was celebrating its 60th anniversary.
“That team was designed and put together to beat us,” Sorrell said. “The town has talked about it. It’s been that way ever since they were freshmen. It was like, ‘They’re gonna get you guys. They’re gonna get you guys. It’s their year.’”
And it nearly was.
The Thunder (2-1) had five chances from inside the Highland 10-yard line to either force overtime or win the game.
Boise State basketball commit and senior wide receiver Julian Bowie failed to haul in a pass from senior quarterback Dreyson Contreras in the corner of the end zone with seven seconds remaining. Ty Wilkinson then got a turn. But the senior tight end couldn’t either after Brennen Carlson was all over him for a pass interference call.
So Contreras went over the middle and found junior wideout Hunter May for the three-yard touchdown pass. However, officials quickly waved it off after they finally granted Sorrell a timeout just mere moments before the ball was snapped.
“I probably yelled it six or seven times as I was running down the sideline,” Sorrell said. “The ref on my side didn’t hear me. But the head official saw me running down calling timeout, so he was the actual one who called it. That was a big, big timeout.”
Highland thought it had won the game after Contreras’ pass to Wilkinson fell to the turf. But he once again drew a pass interference call on Carlson to give Pocatello one last chance at ending the long drought to its bitter rivals.
The Thunder had the opportunity in their hands - literally.
Contreras spotted a wide-open Kudter Stucki. But the senior wide receiver had it go in and out of his hands on the game’s final play. He immediately keeled over in heartbreak as the Rams stormed the field.
“They were gonna go for two,” Sorrell said. “It was exciting. It was edge of your seat. Everybody’s still packed in that place. And you just watch the ball go up and it’s kind of like in the movies where it’s slow motion and it’s just hanging in the air in what seems like forever. And then it finally hits the ground and you can breathe a sigh of relief.”
Highland didn’t look like it was going to need any of those late-game dramatics.
It led 17-0 at the break. Zerek Younis scored the first 10 points of the game himself. The senior defensive back drilled a 28-yard field on the team’s opening drive of the game before a 61-yard interception return for a touchdown. He also caused Contreras to cough up the ball when the Thunder were threatening at the Highland 6-yard line down 24-14 midway though the fourth quarter.
“He was huge,” Sorrell said. “He made play after play tonight, which is huge for him. It’s a big confidence boost for him. He was the dude tonight.”
Senior tailback Tyson Beckles, who transferred in from Pocatello this year, made it 17-0 on 1-yard run in the second quarter.
“That game was very personal for him,” Sorrell said.
The Rams pushed the lead back to 24-7 when senior quarterback Drew Hymas connected with senior halfback Jackson Riddle on a 25-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Riddle then appeared to ice the game late in the fourth.
He broke free for a 22-yard touchdown run on third down. But the score was called back on a questionable holding call.
“That was an atrocious holding call. I’m not gonna lie to you,” Sorrell said. “That was the most technically sound block you’ll ever see.”
It forced Highland into attempting a 45-yard field goal. Younis’ kick was blocked and returned back to the Rams’ 44-yard line, setting the stage for the thrilling finish.
“We had to give the fans their money’s worth, right,” Sorrell said.
Highland now leads the all-time series, 52-14. It’s the second consecutive year a team has won the game by seven points or fewer, which hadn’t happened since 2011.
The Rams will host reigning state runner-up Meridian (2-2) next week.
Pocatello has a showdown with Hillcrest (4-0), which knocked off defending state champion Skyline, next Friday.
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HILLCREST STUNS 3-TIME CHAMPION SKYLINE ON FINAL PLAY
Brennon Mossholder went 0-9 and was outscored 250-71 in his first season.
Two years later, the Hillcrest coach’s team staked a claim to being the best in the state after a thrilling 36-35 win over three-time reigning Class 4A champion Skyline.
“I’ve only been here three years and I’m not a historian of the program, but it’s certainly right up there with anything I’ve accomplished or done in my time here,” Mossholder said. “We knew this day was coming. Playing so many sophomores that first year that developed into juniors who made the playoffs, are now developed into the team we have today. I’m just proud of their growth.”
But the player who made this all possible wasn’t on any of those previous teams. He didn’t even come out until the start of fall practice.
Isaac Davis has led the Hillcrest basketball team to back-to-back state titles. And after talking it over for months with Mossholder, the 6-foot-7 BYU commit wanted to play football for the first time in five years. The move has certainly paid off for both parties, especially Friday night.
Davis somehow hauled in a desperation heave from sophomore backup quarterback Tyson Sweetwood, who barely escaped a sack, over four Skyline (2-2) defenders. He then proceeded to split another two on his way to a 55-yard touchdown catch as time expired.
“Prayers were answered. They call it 'Hail Mary' for a reason,” Mossholder said. “But you can’t teach the athleticism and size that he has. And the ability to just make plays like that is just special.”
The fifth-ranked Knights (4-0) led 21-12 after a back-and-forth first half. But the No. 3 Grizzlies regained the lead midway through the fourth quarter after Hillcrest turned the ball over three times in the second half. They also stopped the Knights on a fourth-and-1 with two minutes remaining in the game.
But thanks to a pair of timeouts, a key tackle-for-loss and some penalties, Hillcrest got the ball back with just six seconds to go. There was a quick incompletion on a 5-yard out, and you know the rest.
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TOP-RANKED EAGLE SURVIVES OWYHEE UPSET BID
The top-ranked Mustangs’ (4-0) hold over the entire classification looked to be in serious jeopardy midway through the fourth quarter.
But their sophomore running back wasn’t about to let it end there. Noah Burnham literally carried Eagle to a 21-17 come-from-behind win over No. 4 Owyhee (3-2), which had stunned third-ranked Mountain View just a week earlier.
Burnham ran the ball 19 times for 117 yards and a touchdown that proved to be the game winner. Most of that production came on the final drive down 17-14 with 6:13 left to play. He carried the ball seven times on the 10-play, game-winning drive that chewed up 5:15 off the clock. It resulted in 61 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown run with 58 seconds remaining.
Matt Irwin went 13-of-23 for 174 yards and a touchdown, while Timothy Jamerson scored on a 18-yard touchdown run to give the Storm the lead late.
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