MIDDLETON — The 2012 4A Southern Idaho Conference championship was won 3 yards at a time.
The Middleton High football team wouldn’t have it any other way. The Vikings rode their grind-it-out, double-wing offense to another methodical win Friday, trampling Skyview 34-15 at Vikings Stadium to clinch the 4A SIC title and a top seed in the state playoffs.
Senior tailback Victor Dias rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns to lead Middleton (7-1 overall, 7-0 SIC), which never trailed while extending its winning streak to seven games.
“Our kids did another outstanding job tonight,” Middleton coach Bill Brock said. “They wanted to be conference champions, and they came out and got the job done against a very talented Skyview team.”
Senior fullback Derrick Toll added 75 yards and a TD for Middleton, while senior tailback Max Foote tacked on 57 yards and two scores. The Vikings rushed for 266 yards overall, dominating the time of possession and keeping the Skyview offense out of sync for much of the night.
Big plays were hard to come by — Middleton only had two gains of longer than 14 yards in the game — but anytime the Vikings needed three tough yards to extend a drive, they came through.
“Our saying on offense is ‘Beat the Drum,’ ” Foote said. “Just little by little, we keep pounding it.”
Dias drew first blood, ripping off a big kickoff return and punctuating an impressive opening drive with a 2-yard plunge for a 6-0 lead. Skyview responded with a field goal, but Middleton grabbed a 12-3 lead just before halftime when Toll rumbled in from 12 yards out with 39 seconds remaining.
The Vikings seized command early in the second half when Foote recovered a fumbled Hawks lateral at the Skyview 30. Two plays later, Dias ripped off a 28-yard scoring burst to make it 20-3, and the rout was on.
“It feels great,” Foote said. “We had lost to Skyview the past three years, but we were ready to roll. To finally beat them this year and to be conference champs, it’s definitely a good feeling.”
Junior tailback Jaxon Pryor rushed for 134 yards and two second-half TDs to lead Skyview. Middleton answered both of Pryor’s scores with TD runs by Foote, slamming the door on any hopes of a comeback.
Skyview (6-3 overall, 5-2 SIC) clinched a playoff berth despite the loss. The Hawks will be the third seed from District Three. Bishop Kelly is the No. 2 seed.
“There were no secrets tonight — we knew what Middleton was going to do and they knew what we were going to do,” Skyview coach David Young said. “They just did a better job than we did.”
