Prediction: These 3 Treasure Valley football teams will play for a state title
A football season like no other winds to a close with the state semifinals this weekend.
Treasure Valley teams took a licking in the quarterfinals, going a combined 4-9. But those fortunes ought to turn around this week as No. 1 falls, Cinderella extends its run and a bridesmaid gets another shot at a state championship.
Here’s who’s moving on to the final round, and why.
Coeur d’Alene at Rocky Mountain, 7 p.m. Friday
A month ago I’d have taken Coeur d’Alene in a blowout.
The Vikings (8-0) went wire-to-wire as 5A’s top-ranked team. They lead the state in scoring offense (49.6 ppg). And only one team has come within four touchdowns of them.
No. 3-ranked Rocky Mountain (7-0) ran through the season undefeated. But frankly, they disappointed, never playing up to their full potential.
The Grizzlies seem to have found their mojo in the past month, though.
The state’s top defense each of the past two years has started forcing turnovers in bunches again (10 in the last three games).
Rocky Mountain started finding a way to get the ball into the hands of one the state’s best playmakers, Jordan Erickson (445 total yards, 5 TDs in the last three games).
And they proved they could take to the air to punish an opponent packing the box (224 passing yards vs. Highland last week).
This Rocky Mountain team looks like the one everyone envisioned when a loaded sophomore class filled several key roles on the undefeated 2018 state championship team.
Coeur d’Alene poses a legit challenge. The Vikings sling the ball all over the field and turn mundane gains into big plays with regularity. They will test that vaunted Rocky Mountain defense like no one has in years.
Strap in for a chess match as Coeur d’Alene tries to spread the Grizzlies out and find holes. Rocky Mountain won’t sit back and try to contain the Vikings, though. It will attack and try to force quick, and bad, decisions.
Those gambles will create opportunities. Rocky Mountain will just have to limit any damage when it misses.
“We’ve got to be 100% in tackling,” Rocky Mountain coach Chris Culig said. “And we’ve got to do a good job defeating blocks when you’re out in space.”
Expect Coeur d’Alene to hit a few home runs. But also expect Rocky Mountain to take the ball away a few times.
Coeur d’Alene has steamrolled everyone in its way so far. But that’s partially due to a weak schedule necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic. No season in Washington and Oregon forced Coeur d’Alene to stay home and drum its Inland Empire League opponents (as well as two 4A teams) twice.
Rocky Mountain has been tested and came out the other side every time with a win. You can’t say that about Coeur d’Alene. And this late in the season, always take the battle-tested team.
Rocky Mountain 30, Coeur d’Alene 28
Mountain View at Rigby, 7 p.m. Friday
The Mavericks know no one expected them to get here.
Mountain View began the year 0-3, the worst start in program history. They needed to win out just to qualify for the playoffs. Then they just kept on winning, riding a five-game winning streak into the state semifinals.
It’s right out of a sappy Disney movie. And it makes the Mavericks (5-3) a dangerous opponent.
“We have nothing to lose at this point,” Mountain View coach Judd Benedick said. “We’re not expected to win. … We can go in and fire all of our bullets and not have any pressure.”
Mountain View gets some reinforcements this week as quarterback Jake Farris and running back Leyton Smithson are expected to play.
Benedick said the Mavericks need to get out to a fast start as an early deficit could spell trouble for his still young team.
Eagle did just that, going toe-to-toe with the reigning state champ before Rigby (9-0) overwhelmed it in the fourth quarter.
But that’s an awfully narrow path to victory against a Trojans squad riding a 19-game winning streak.
Rigby 28, Mountain View 14
Century at Emmett, 7 p.m. Friday
Emmett, a long-struggling program, making the 4A state semifinals is amazing on its own. All the drama the Huskies (9-2) had to overcome to get there makes it even more astonishing.
Let’s try to recap.
An investigation into a stolen playbook started the season with controversy. Ammon Bundy refused to wear a mask, leading to the cancellation of a game at halftime and creating a media firestorm. Then a senior football player died on the eve of the Huskies’ regular-season finale.
No one could have blamed Emmett for withering in the face of all that. Yet here the Huskies stand, mounting the best 4A season in program history.
“Somebody asked me (after a player died) if we were mentally tough enough to handle adversity,” Emmett coach Rich Hargitt said. “I told them, ‘No — if it was the first time. But since it’s the 50th time since June, I wasn’t worried about it. They’ve shown they can handle it again and again and again.’ ”
Overcoming all those off-the-field issues has the Huskies believing they can overcome anything on it. And they’re right.
While Emmett won the 4A SIC title and finished fourth in the final state media poll, it hasn’t dominated opponents. Instead, it keeps finding ways to rally in the second half and pull out miracle victory after miracle victory.
The Huskies have won five of their nine games while trailing in the second half. It even won last week’s quarterfinal on a safety with 1:20 left in the fourth quarter to squeak out a 28-27 win over Blackfoot.
“We have a lot of trouble starting,” Hargitt said. “But we’re pretty damn good finishers.”
I’m not one for the mystical. But something magical is happening in Emmett this year. At this point, a dramatic fourth-quarter rally is the expectation.
I’m 1-4 picking against the Huskies. So it’s time to learn my lesson.
Emmett 22, Century 21
South Fremont at Homedale, 1 p.m. Saturday
South Fremont (8-2) reached the semifinals for the first time in program history. But the run ends here.
Homedale (7-1) showed how truly dangerous it is last week. Timberlake tried to sell out to stop the run, and sophomore quarterback Jaxon Dines diced up the Tigers’ defense for 301 yards and four TDs.
All that remains is finally scoring the big win in Homedale’s third straight trip to the finals.
Homedale 35, South Fremont 20
This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 4:57 PM.
