Forget the drama. Rocky Mountain turned the first 5A SIC title game into a whipping.
The 5A Southern Idaho Conference created its first league championship game expecting a back-and-forth, drama-filled battle between two of its top high school football teams.
Rocky Mountain didn’t oblige.
The Grizzlies turned the historic game into a blowout, routing Capital 49-13 and triggering the running-clock mercy rule en route to their third straight conference title.
“Hearing (we got) the mercy rule is a bit of a proud moment,” said Rocky Mountain senior safety Xander Nawahine, a starter on all three league champion teams. “It tells us we came out strong and smacked them in the mouth a little bit.”
Rocky Mountain’s 29th straight win over a league opponent guarantees the No. 3-ranked Grizzlies (6-0) the Treasure Valley’s top seed into the 5A state playoffs. That top seed comes with home-field advantage through the semifinals. The Grizzlies will host the winner of Highland vs. Meridian in two weeks.
By qualifying for the SIC championship, Capital (4-1) also receives a bye into the quarterfinals. It will host the winner of Post Falls vs. Mountain View in two weeks.
Friday started as the exciting battle first envisioned for the new title game. Rising COVID-19 case numbers in Ada County prevented fans from entering the stadium at Rocky Mountain. But after two possessions, the game appeared destined for a shootout.
Capital only needed four plays to find the end zone on its opening drive as Kaden Reimer took a delayed handoff, broke to the right and raced through the Grizzlies’ vaunted defense for a 41-yard TD run.
But that was the end of Capital’s offensive highlights.
Ty Tanner intercepted a pass on the Eagles’ next drive, and then Rocky Mountain’s defense forced a three-and-out on seven of the next eight possessions.
One of those three-and-outs led to a blocked punt Justin Douglas recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. Capital could only muster 129 total yards before the running clock started in the fourth quarter.
Rocky Mountain coach Chris Culig said Capital surprised his defense with a few new plays on the opening drive. After that, he fell back into a vanilla zone defense and turned the game over to his players.
“We have a lot of pride around our defense,” Culig said. “… I’m a firm believer whoever has the best defense usually ends up being the state champion.”
The blocked punt permanently turned the momentum as Rocky Mountain scored 41 unanswered points to run away with another league title.
Senior quarterback Kobe Warr led the offensive outbreak, completing 15-of-22 passes for 236 yards and four TDs. He also ran for another score.
He twice led a pair of one-play scoring drives. He found Jackson Mason for a 56-yard touchdown pass after his defense forced a three-and-out in the second quarter. After another three-and-out in the third quarter, he hit C.J. Jacobsen for a 45-yard TD.
A third straight league title adds another bullet to Rocky Mountain’s resume. But one more goal remains — a state championship.
“Our hard work has shown,” Warr said. “We’re going to keep working hard, and we have our goal for the end of the season. … But there are a few steps along the way.”
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 11:46 PM.
