Emmett football was always the underdog. Now it’s one win away from a state title.
Year after year, Emmett High School football held a standard place in Idaho’s 4A pecking order — at the bottom.
But not anymore.
The Huskies rallied in the second half yet again Friday, edging Century 27-22 to advance to the 4A state championship game for the first time in program history.
No. 4-ranked Emmett (10-2) will face No. 1 Skyline (11-1) somewhere in the Treasure Valley next week for the title. Boise State facilities are not an option due to the global coronavirus pandemic. A time and date for kickoff have not been set yet.
Emmett has now won six of its 10 games this year while trailing in the second half. And Friday saw even more drama in a season filled with it for the Huskies.
Emmett trailed 16-7 late in the second quarter before mounting its rally. First, junior quarterback Caden Young found Jack Maxwell for a 12-yard TD with 22 seconds left in the first half to cut the deficit to two points.
Young then hit Tanner Wilkerson on a back-shoulder throw for a 6-yard TD in the third quarter. And Young provided what turned out to be the winning score with a 61-yard touchdown run to open the fourth quarter.
Century (7-4) threatened its own comeback after Bruin Fleischmann hauled in his third TD pass of the night with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter. The Diamondbacks then forced Emmett to punt and entered Huskies territory with less than 2 minutes to go.
But Emmett safety Caseyn Pearson pounced on an underthrown ball and returned it 64 yards to the Century 16-yard line with 1:18 left, icing the win.
Young finished 8-of-18 for 121 yards and two TDs through the air, adding 143 yards and a TD on the ground. Westyn Smith also ran for 82 yards and a TD for the Huskies.
Emmett joined the 4A classification in 1998 and promptly missed the playoffs 16 years in a row. A two-year stint in 3A saw the Huskies win the 2015 state title (the only other finals appearance in program history). But it never found much success at the 4A level until this fall.
This year’s firsts include the Huskies’ first 4A Southern Idaho Conference title, their first 4A semifinal appearance and now their first berth in the 4A championship — all with zero preseason expectations.
Emmett finished last season 3-6 and was picked to finish fifth out of eight teams in the 4A SIC entering the season.
RIGBY 26, MOUNTAIN VIEW 19
Mountain View’s second-half comeback fell one touchdown short, ending the Mavericks’ season in the 5A semifinals after an 0-3 start.
Mountain View (5-4) trailed 20-6 at halftime before it recovered a fumble in the end zone and Leyton Smithson scored on a 38-yard run in the third quarter. But the Mavericks could never find the end zone again.
Mountain View finished with 160 total yards, all on the ground as it failed to complete a pass in snowy conditions at Rigby. Smithson led the team with 52 yards and a TD. Kayden Chan ran for 40 yards, Quintez Evan 39 yards and Jake Farris 29 yards and a TD.
Meanwhile, Rigby racked up 348 rushing yards and 444 yards overall. Gabe Mobley ran for 158 yards and two TDs, and quarterback Tiger Adolpho finished with 210 total yards.
Rigby (10-0) will defend its 5A state title next week against Rocky Mountain (8-0) at Madison High in Rexburg.
HOMEDALE 48, SOUTH FREMONT 28
Homedale’s ground game overpowered South Fremont all afternoon Saturday, sending the Trojans to the 3A state finals for the third straight year.
Junior running back Hayden Kincheloe ran for 348 yards and four touchdowns, and sophomore quarterback Jaxon Dines added 105 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns as Homedale (8-1) rarely ever needed to throw.
The Trojans ran for 457 yards as a team. Dines completed just 2-of-r3 passes for 17 yards.
South Fremont (8-3) kept paced early, tying the game at 14 early in the second quarter. But the Trojans scored 27 unanswered points from there to put the game out of reach.
The victory sets up another rematch between No. 2-ranked Homedale and No. 1 Sugar-Salem (9-1) in the state championship. Sugar-Salem has topped the Trojans for each of the past two state titles.
The game will be hosted somewhere in the Treasure Valley next week. The IHSAA has not set a time, date or location yet.
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 11:52 PM.
