Prep football roundup: Nampa’s Plew, Butler share haircuts and TD passes on senior night
You don’t have to look much further than their matching haircuts to get a sense of the chemistry between Nampa quarterback Isaak Plew and wide receiver Jacob Butler.
They were certainly on the same page Friday night in the Bulldogs’ 35-28 win over Vallivue.
Rocking identical mullets — cropped close on the sides and curly in the back — the duo connected on two touchdown passes, including the game winner with less than a minute to play.
“It was an amazing experience to come out here on senior night and play with my best friend,” Plew said. “We’ve been playing together for a long time, and we trust each other.”
With 55 seconds to play, the Bulldogs faced third-and-goal from Vallivue’s 9-yard line when Plew, rolling to his right, lobbed a pass Butler pulled down in the back corner of the end zone, putting Nampa ahead for good.
Butler said he had a sense before the snap that the play was going to come his way.
“I just had to trust my quarterback, trust myself and pull it in,” Butler said.
Vallivue, trying to improve to 6-0 for the first time since 2008, got the ball back with 49 seconds left, but the Falcons’ final drive stalled near midfield.
“It was all sides of the ball tonight,” Plew said. “Offense, defense and special teams, we were all clicking tonight and creating momentum on all sides of the ball, and that’s what really did it for us.”
Butler just barely got a foot in-bounds on his first touchdown pass from Plew — a 6-yard lob with 9 seconds left in the opening half, which sent Nampa (3-1) into halftime with a 21-13 lead.
Butler finished the game with eight catches for 127 yards and three touchdowns.
“(Plew and Butler) have always been very close, and we’re lucky to have them,” Nampa football coach Dan Holtry said. “This whole senior class is pretty tight knit, but those two are special.”
Butler caught his first touchdown of the night on senior Colton Seable’s only pass attempt. The Bulldogs snuck Seable in at quarterback for a play and he found Butler on a 29-yard strike, which cut Vallivue’s second-quarter lead to 13-7.
Seable also hauled in a pair of touchdown passes from Plew. The first was a 29-yard score, which gave the Bulldogs a 14-13 lead with 4:20 left in the half. The second covered 67 yards and tied the game, 28-28, with 9:04 left to play.
Seable finished with six catches for 115 yards.
“He’s a big, tall, athletic receiver, and he mixed in some early in this year at quarterback,” Holtry said. “He’s a guy who gives us some options.”
Plew completed 17-of-21 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns. He also extended plenty of plays with his legs and added 78 yards on the ground.
“He’s the epitome of a relentless football player,” Holtry said. “He never quit, even after he took a big, hard shot early. He just rallies and comes back and leads the team.”
Vallivue’s offense was hot early, scoring on its first two possessions.
Both ended in touchdown passes from quarterback Casey Cope. The first was a 14-yard toss to wide receiver Lincoln Marler, who, a few plays earlier, kept the drive alive with a nice double move and a 20-yard completion on fourth-and-6.
Cope ended the next possession with a 21-yard strike to tight end Braydon Ary, and the Falcons (5-1) went ahead 13-0 following a missed extra point.
Cope also found the end zone twice with his legs: once from 19 yards out, and again on an 86-yard keeper, which gave the Falcons a 28-21 lead as time expired in the third quarter.
The junior finished with 19 carries for 192 yards and completed 14-of-18 passes for 192 yards. Marler ended the night with 10 catches for 142 yards.
Skyview 27, Borah 13
Skyview scored two touchdowns in the second half to break open a one-score game.
Quarterback Clayton Franssen had a hand in three of the Hawks’ four touchdowns, totaling 173 yards passing and 51 yards rushing.
Cade Salois racked up 142 rushing yards on 14 carries for the Hawks (2-1, 2-1 5A SIC East), capped off by a 62-yard run to the house in the third quarter.
Tyler Phimmasone paced the Lions (0-2, 0-2) with 104 rushing yards and one TD.
Capital 48, Boise 0
Capital continued its long history of dominance over crosstown rival Boise (0-3, 0-3 5A SIC East). The Eagles (2-0, 2-0) have now won 31 games in a row over the Brave dating back to 1989.
Quarterback Max Clark guided Capital to the win with 302 yards and three touchdowns through the air, and Sean Holstein added 26 yards and two scores on the ground.
Justus Del Rio contributed on both sides of the ball, first returning an interception 85 yards for a TD and then hauling in a 28-yard touchdown pass.
Rocky Mountain 54, Kuna 15
Kuna scored first and last, but it was all Rocky Mountain in between.
Quarterback Kobe Warr passed for 214 yards and four touchdowns for the unbeaten Grizzlies (4-0, 4-0 5A SIC West). Jordan Erickson caught touchdown passes of 26, 39 and 42 yards and also scored on an 18-yard run.
Sean Austin went 27-for-42 passing for 318 yards with TD passes to Koltin Teater and Carter Johnson. The Kavemen fall to 1-4 overall and 1-3 in division play.
Mountain View 57, Centennial 14
Leyton Smithson ran for 114 yards and four TDs to lead the Mavericks (1-3, 1-3 5A SIC West) to their first win of the season.
Smith punched in his first three touchdowns as Mountain View raced out to a 37-0 lead early in the second quarter and racked up 453 yards of offense.
Quintez Evans also broke the 100-yard mark, running for 111 yards and a TD. Kayden Chan turned five catches into 163 yards and a TD. And quarterback Jake Farris finished 11-of-22 for 225 yards and a TD.
Stats for Centennial (0-4, 0-4) were not available.
Bishop Kelly 27, Middleton 23
Middleton led 23-7 at halftime but never scored again in this 4A Southern Idaho Conference showdown.
Bishop Kelly (3-1, 3-1 4A SIC) rallied for the victory with 20 unanswered points in the second half. That included a safety and second-half touchdowns from Keegan Croteau, Seth Knothe and Cormac Mullin.
Knothe led the Knights’ ground game with 35 carries for 182 yards.
Quarterback Ky McClure threw three touchdown passes for the Vikings (3-2, 1-2), including two to Tyler Medaris.
Columbia 21, Ridgevue 14
Columbia did all its scoring in the second half to rally for a win over Ridgevue.
No statistics were provided for the Wildcats (2-2, 2-2 4A SIC).
Carter Menchaca threw a 16-yard TD pass to Kolton McKie and also scored on a 2-yard run to lead the Warhawks (1-4, 0-4).
Emmett 35, Caldwell 0
The Caldwell School District shut down the 4A SIC game between Emmett and Caldwell at halftime after a dispute involving Ammon Bundy. It was unclear if the game would count as of Saturday morning.
Homedale 42, Parma 0
Six different players reached the end zone in Homedale’s victory over Parma in 3A SRV action.
Homedale quarterback Jaxon Dines threw TD passes to Josh Brown, Mason Strong and Keagen Christensen, while Dines, Trenton Fisher and Hayden Kincheloe scored on the ground.
The Trojans (3-1, 2-0) held Parma (0-6, 0-2) to 54 total yards and five first downs.
Weiser 70, Payette 15
After Payette tied the game at 7-7 in the first quarter, Weiser answered with nine consecutive touchdowns for a lopsided win.
Eleven different players registered at least one carry for the Wolverines (2-3, 1-1 3A SRV), led by Willy Shirts with 74 rushing yards and three TDs. Quarterback Brett Spencer completed 4-of-5 passes for 145 yards with TD tosses to Brock Spencer and Carlos Arana.
Abe Rodriguez threw two touchdowns for Payette (3-2, 1-1).
New Plymouth 42, Nampa Christian 28
New Plymouth trailed Nampa Christian 20-14 at halftime before mounting a comeback.
Javon Lindeman scored three times for the Pilgrims (3-2, 1-0 2A WIC), including a pick six in the third quarter that gave New Plymouth its first lead of the game. Lindeman totaled 127 yards on 27 carries, and Bailey Hite added two rushing TDs.
Quarterback Landon Cheney threw for 235 yards and two touchdowns but was also hampered by a pair of interceptions for the Trojans (3-3, 1-1).
Melba 56, Marsing 8
Junior Dillon Stosich returned the opening kick 75 yards for a touchdown to spur Melba’s win over Marsing.
Junior fullback Trace Stimpson added a pair of rushing TDs for Melba (3-1, 2-0 2A WIC), and senior receiver Cameron Wood finished with 80 yards and one touchdown.
No statistics were provided for Marsing (2-3, 0-2).
Notus 56, Greenleaf 0
Notus pushed its unbeaten streak to five games with a win over Greenleaf (0-3, 0-3) in a 1A D-1 Western Idaho Conference matchup.
The Pirates (5-0, 2-0) led 48-0 at halftime with the help of Carter Woodland, who needed just six carries to accumulate 150 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Kaeden Clemens completed 8-of-10 passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns, and Mack Shimondle was the Pirates’ top receiver with six grabs for 89 yards and a score. Julian Gallegos led the defense with 5 sacks.
Horseshoe Bend 62, Salmon River 26
Four players scored multiple touchdowns to carry Horseshoe Bend to a victory against Salmon River in the 1A D-II Long Pin Conference opener for both teams.
Horseshoe Bend quarterback Colten Meyer passed for 130 yards and three touchdowns while grabbing an interception and making six tackles on defense.
Hunter Howerton (164 rush yards, 2 TDs), Caedmon Graham (105 rec. yards, 2 TDs) and Blayne Meyer (1 rush TD, 2 rec. TDs) each made contributions on both sides of the ball for the Mustangs (4-1, 1-0).
No stats were provided for Salmon River (1-5, 0-2).
Garden Valley 47, Tri-Valley 8
No stats were reported.
Idaho City 46, Rimrock 18
No stats were reported.
This story was originally published October 3, 2020 at 12:52 AM.
