‘Maybe next year.’ Capital football crushes rival, reasserts dominance over Boise schools.

The Capital High football team heard all the rumors and the hype.

But the Eagles reminded everyone who still rules the Boise School District, smacking around rival and undefeated Borah in a 39-7 victory Friday at Dona Larsen Park.

“We’re a long ways from where we need to be, but 3-2 feels OK,” Capital coach Todd Simis said. “I will say this: The demise of Capital football, I think people were a little premature in saying that.”

The win extends Capital’s dominance over its rival. The Eagles have won 17 of the last 18 games against Borah (4-1), which entered Friday ranked fourth in the state and favored against the Eagles for the first time since the mid-1990s.

Instead, Capital grounded Borah’s high-flying offense, holding it to 195 total yards as the Eagles’ student section finished the game with taunts of “Maybe next year.”

Capital’s defensive line lived in the Lions’ backfield all night, keeping quarterback Jake Standlee from setting his feet and forcing him into quick checkdowns. Standlee finished 19-of-32 for 110 yards and a single TD, averaging 3.4 yards per pass attempt.

“Borah hasn’t played against a D-line or a defense like ours,” said Capital defensive end Joey Quitugua II, who led the assault. “We always have a chip on our shoulder, and we’re always willing to do our jobs.”

Capital sat back in coverage, daring Borah to run the ball. It couldn’t, finishing with 85 yards on the ground and averaging 2.7 yards per carry.

The Eagles faced no such struggles on offense, finishing with 413 total yards. Senior quarterback Ryan Hibbs finished nearly perfect, completing 13-of-16 passes for 264 yards and three TDs. He also ran for 83 yards and another score.

Simis said Capital’s coaching staff worked with Hibbs all week on his touch on deep throws, trying to explain he doesn’t need to throw the ball through every receiver’s chest. Hibbs took that lesson to heart and showed a soft touch on several long throws. He punished Borah’s man-to-man coverage with a 57-yard TD pass to Jonah Blackham, a 35-yard score to Keishawn Stuckman and a 33-yard touchdown to Alec Bindner.

The win improves Capital to 46-1 against Boise School District opponents since Simis took over the program in 2004. Borah last beat the Eagles in 2015, Timberline in 2003 and Boise in 1988. Capital is already 2-0 this fall against district rivals with only Boise remaining in the regular-season finale.

Continuing that streak looked like a long shot two weeks ago when Rocky Mountain embarrassed the Eagles with a 50-17 beatdown at Dona Larsen. Simis admits the first quarter was the worst Capital had ever played in his tenure and that he went into the locker room at halftime wondering if he’d lost control of the team.

But Capital rebounded and answered any doubters with two straight wins to stay in the 5A Southern Idaho Conference title hunt.

“That wasn’t what we were about,” Hibbs said of the Rocky Mountain performance. “We knew we were a better team than that, and we needed to prove that to everybody.

“We can always get better, but today was a good show of what we can do on both sides of the ball.”

First quarter

CAP — Keishawn Stuckman 35 pass from Ryan Hibbs (Chase Miller kick), 5:24

CAP — Jake Jones 21 run (Miller kick), 1:33

Second quarter

CAP — Hibbs 9 run (Miller kick), 10:14

BOR — Ellis Magnuson 3 catch from Jake Standlee (Kellan McCullough kick), 2:17

CAP — Jonah Blackham 57 pass from Hibbs (Miller kick), 1:52

Fourth quarter

CAP — Alec Bindner 33 pass from Hibbs (Miller kick), 8:22

CAP — Safety, 8:04

CAP — Safety, 5:12

Individual leaders

RUSHING — Capital: Michael Holley 1-2, Sam Sessou-Djokoto 11-21, Ryan Hibbs 12-83, Alec Weber 1-(-9), Sean Holstein 3-3, Jake Jones 7-52, Isaiah Schilling 1-(-3). Borah: Jake Standlee 3-(-20), Austin Bolt 2-28, Innocent Ndayiragije 1-0, Cameron Pruitt 4-3, Tyler Phimmason 4-28, Austdan Phomphackdy 15-66, Team 2-(-20).

PASSING — Capital: Hibbs 13-16-0 264. Borah: Standlee 19-32-1 110.

RECEIVING — Capital: Alec Bindner 6-117, Keishawn Stuckman 1-35, Jackson Beers 2-11, Jonah Blackman 2-60, Matt Ruhl 2-41. Borah: Logan Miller 1-7, Caleb Golden 1-11, Ellis Magnuson 9-70, Bolt 2-1, Ndayiragije 1-6, Kade Dilworth 2-8, Pruitt 2-5, Phomphackdy 1-2.

This story was originally published September 21, 2018 at 11:46 PM.