Fourth-down gamble sends Rocky Mountain football back to the state finals
Chris Culig had already made up his mind, but some of his assistant coaches thought he should call a timeout and change personnel.
It’s a good thing the Rocky Mountain football coach stuck with his gut.
Trailing by two at the start of the fourth quarter, Coeur d’Alene attempted a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-2 from the Rocky Mountain 30-yard line. Culig’s call was an all-out blitz, and that’s exactly what the Vikings got.
Coeur d’Alene senior quarterback Jack Prka was stopped short of the first down by a host of Grizzlies, and the roar from the Rocky Mountain sideline signaled a clear shift in momentum.
The Grizzlies scored on their ensuing possession, assuring the top-ranked Vikings a somber bus ride home with a 36-21 victory Friday night in the 5A state semifinals. Rocky Mountain (8-0) will face defending champion Rigby (10-0) in the state title game next week at Madison High in Rexburg.
“I think this whole season our defense has came in clutch, and they’re always cracking down at the end,” Rocky Mountain senior Jordan Erickson said. “... It’s exciting to see them always continue to do that.”
After watching their defensive teammates deliver a game-changing fourth-down stop, the Rocky Mountain offense made sure the moment wasn’t wasted.
Senior quarterback Kobe Warr was chased out of the pocket by three Coeur d’Alene (8-1) defenders and appeared on the verge of being sacked. But Warr turned the broken play on third-and-7 into a 14-yard touchdown run and a 29-21 lead with 8:28 remaining in the game.
“He’s a lot more mobile than people think,” Culig said of his 6-foot, 200-pound quarterback. “He’s really good in the pocket. He scrambles. He’s an outstanding quarterback. He hasn’t lost very many games in his whole life as a quarterback. ... He can throw, and he’s intelligent. But he knows how to move around in the pocket and scramble when he needs to.
“I’ve watched him do that from when he was a freshman all the way through — make a key play when he needed to.”
Warr completed 7-of-16 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns to go with nine carries for 48 yards and the fourth-quarter rushing TD. But the state semifinal game could have very well gone another way for the Grizzlies.
Warr threw an interception on his first pass attempt of the game, and Coeur d’Alene cashed in on the miscue two plays later for a 7-0 lead with 11:06 on the clock in the first quarter.
Rocky Mountain’s second drive ended with Warr getting sacked after the snap from his center nearly went over his head. The Vikings then went 57 yards in four plays topped off by a 50-yard touchdown pass from Prka to Gunner Giulio that made it 14-0 with 6:46 remaining in the first quarter.
“The beginning was really, really scary,” Culig said. “I mean, they jumped all over us.”
As swiftly as they fell behind, the Grizzlies clawed their way into the lead. Warr and Erickson teamed up for three touchdowns Friday night, and two of them came in the final 6 minutes of the first quarter. The first was a 75-yarder followed by a 20-yard field goal from Caden Zierenberg that cut Coeur d’Alene’s lead to 14-10.
Then the Grizzlies went ahead 16-14 with 30 seconds to play in the first quarter on Warr’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Erickson.
“We’ve been doing it ever since elementary school in first grade,” Erickson said. “We’ve always played on the same team together. It’s always fun playing with him.”
The Vikings took their final lead of the game, 21-16, on a hook and lateral midway through the second quarter, only to have it erased once again by the Warr-to-Erickson connection. Erickson’s third TD catch went for 67 yards as the senior totaled 172 receiving yards on three TD catches.
“He’s one of the best athletes in the state, if not the best athlete,” Warr said of Erickson. “Very trustworthy. If I put it up, he’ll go get it. He’s really good, so we’ve got to put the ball in his hands.”
This story was originally published November 14, 2020 at 12:44 AM.
