From underdog to undefeated state champ, Kuna football caps historic season with title
The Kuna student section started the “It’s too easy” chant with 32 seconds left Saturday. And for the Kuna High football team, it almost was.
Kuna and its high-flying offense soared past Blackfoot 49-35 in the 4A state championship game at Holt Arena, clinching the Kavemen (13-0) their first perfect season and first 4A state title in program history.
Kuna’s only other state championship came in 1991 as a 3A program.
“It’s something that we’re never going to be able to forget,” Kuna senior receiver Tyler Brown said. “It’s going to stick with us for the rest of our lives. It’s a lifetime experience that no one can take from us.”
Second-ranked Blackfoot (11-2) jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter. But top-ranked Kuna soon woke up, scoring 42 of the game’s next 49 points to run away with the title.
Kuna put its full arsenal of weapons on display on the state’s largest stage, racking up 515 yards of offense.
Junior quarterback Sean Austin completed 21-of-30 passes for 326 yards and three TDs. Brown hauled in three highlight-reel catches, finishing with seven catches for 104 yards and two TDs. And senior running back Jonathan Edwards racked up 131 yards and three TDs on the ground, including 76 yards in the fourth quarter as the Kavemen iced the game.
“It all starts and ends with Sean,” Kuna coach Sherm Blaser said. “Honest to goodness, I think we have the best quarterback in the state at the high school level. He’s unreal. The things that we’re able to do because he can understand what’s going on, it’s phenomenal.”
Kuna started the year as one of the also-rans in Idaho high school football. The Kavemen had never won a Southern Idaho Conference title. They had won a lone playoff game since 1998. And they didn’t receive a single vote in the preseason state media poll.
But Kuna set three goals to start the season: Win a league title, win a state title and go undefeated. And one by one, it checked off each of those seemingly impossible goals, finishing the final two Saturday in Pocatello.
“It was all about proving everybody wrong,” Edwards said. “We always had the negatives. Nobody knew who we were until now. And they’ll know forever now.”
Kuna’s offense has carried it all year to new heights. But Blackfoot struck the first two blows as the Kavemen struggled early in their first state championship appearance in 21 years.
The Broncos scored on the game’s opening play as Reece Robinson broke loose for a 76-yard touchdown catch. Blackfoot then held Kuna to an uncharacteristic three-and-out on its first possession, and the Broncos stretched their lead to two scores when Robinson ran free through the secondary again for a 36-yard TD catch.
But with all of its big-play weapons, Kuna never batted an eye at the 13-0 deficit, senior defensive lineman Gavin Heindel said.
“We just got a couple big plays thrown at us that we weren’t entirely ready for,” Heindel said. “But then we just flipped our mindset and came back to kill things.”
A successful onside kick allowed Kuna to pull ahead 14-13. After Blackfoot answered, the Kavemen responded with 28 straight points to put the game out of reach at 42-21 with 3 minutes, 24 seconds left in the third quarter.
“Once we start rolling, it’s hard to stop us,” Brown said.
Earlier this week, Blaser admitted a perfect season was a lofty goal. A 7-2 season would have made the former Boise State tight end more than happy. But as the Kavemen kept knocking off challengers and rewriting the school record books, those lofty goals coaches and players can only dream about quickly turned into reality, surprising even him.
“You work your tail off to get this, and this is awesome,” Blaser said, fighting back tears. “I’m so proud of these kids. They work so hard. And we pushed them and pushed them, and we challenged them to be great and be elite. And they pulled it off. They pulled it off.”
KUNA 49, BLACKFOOT 35
Kuna | 7 | 28 | 7 | 7 | — | 49 |
Blackfoot | 13 | 8 | 7 | 7 | — | 35 |
First quarter
BF — Reece Robinson 76 pass from Craig Young (Dominique Sanchez kick), 11:41
BF — Robinson 36 pass from Young (kick failed), 5:33
KUN — Koltin Teater 1 run (Kaden Minnick kick), 3:08
Second quarter
KUN — Tyler Brown 13 pass from Sean Austin (Minnick kick), 11:54
BF — Brayden Wright 19 pass from Young (Young to Ja King pass), 7:26
KUN — Mason Leatham 52 pass from Austin (Minnick kick), 6:13
KUN — Brown 6 pass from Austin (Minnick kick), 1:57
KUN — Jonathan Edwards 2 run (Minnick kick), 0:03
Third quarter
KUN — Edwards 2 run (Minnick kick), 3:24
BF — Isaiah Thomas 15 pass from Young (Sanchez kick), 0:56
Fourth quarter
BF — Robinson 13 pass from Young (Sanchez kick), 5:25
KUN — Edwards 15 run (Minnick kick), 2:53
Individual leaders
RUSHING — Kuna: Sean Austin 10-29, Koltin Teater 3-7, Tyler Cobb 8-22, Jonathan Edwards 25-131, Xander Bateman 1-0. Blackfoot: Craig Young 5-(-12), Teegan Thomas 12-35, Team 1-(-3).
PASSING — Kuna: Austin 21-30-0 326. Blackfoot: Young 25-37-1 366.
RECEIVING — Kuna: Teater 6-82, Mason Leatham 1-52, Tyler Brown 7-104, Zeke Wilson 4-43, Cobb 3-45. Blackfoot: Isaiah Thomas 4-27, Brayden Wright 8-80, Reece Robinson 7-176, Kameron Lawes 2-42, Thomas 3-33, Dragen Robinson 1-8.
This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 10:14 PM.
