Heartbreak for Homedale against its nemesis in state final; Emmett’s dream season falls short

Try as they might, the Homedale Trojans can’t quite get past Sugar-Salem.

The high school football teams met in the state final for the third consecutive year Saturday, with Sugar-Salem winning a 34-28 overtime thriller at Middleton High to cap a 3A championship three-peat.

Crew Clark had a key interception and scored two touchdowns, including the overtime game-winner, for Sugar-Salem (10-2). The Diggers also defeated Homedale 48-14 last season and 30-22 in 2018.

“It hurts,” Homedale coach Matt Holtry said. “Losing is never easy, but three years in a row is tough. These kids battled so hard and they deserved it.”

Junior tailback Hayden Kincheloe rushed for 197 yards and a touchdown on 38 carries to lead Homedale (9-2), which roared to a 20-0 lead behind a suffocating defense that only allowed 33 first-half yards. Sophomore quarterback Jaxon Dines threw TD passes to Eli Heck and Mason Strong and scrambled in for a third score as the Trojans looked poised to pull away.

But Jonah Schulties’ 82-yard kickoff-return TD after Homedale’s third touchdown ignited a Sugar-Salem rally. The Diggers captured the lead in the third quarter by scoring twice in a span of 15 seconds — first on a 2-yard run by quarterback Kyzon Garner and then on a fumble recovery in the end zone by Spencer Blaser.

Homedale was shell-shocked, but Kincheloe helped steady his team, punching in a 4-yard TD to restore the Trojans’ lead. A two-point conversion made it 28-21.

The teams traded crucial turnovers down the stretch. Sugar-Salem was driving for the tie when Garner fumbled inside the 15. But Clark got the ball back with an acrobatic interception three plays later, then capped the ensuing drive with a leaping, fourth-down touchdown catch to tie the game.

Clark nearly ended it with a 55-yard field goal on the last play of regulation, but the kick fell just short. The Diggers scored on the first play of overtime on a nifty 10-yard reverse by Clark. Sugar-Salem missed the extra point, leaving the door open for Homedale to win.

Three handoffs to Kincheloe pushed the ball to the 4 and, on fourth down, Homedale went to the air. A play-action pass had promise, but the ball was bobbled and ultimately fell to the ground in the corner of the end zone as Sugar-Salem stormed the field in celebration.

“We had a look based off a couple of plays we’d run earlier in the game, and it was there,” Holtry said. “It’s unfortunate, but it doesn’t come down to just that one play. There were a lot of other plays we could have made over the course of the game.”

Dines threw for 191 yards on 10-for-17 passing, with Strong grabbing five catches for 103 yards.

SKYLINE TOPPLES EMMETT FOR 4A TITLE

Emmett’s roller-coaster season fell one win short of a state title Saturday as the Huskies couldn’t match the explosive firepower of Skyline in a 42-22 loss. Senior receiver Connor Maloney racked up 166 yards and caught four touchdown passes as the Grizzlies (12-1) captured their third 4A state title in five years.

“Skyline is really good, and they deserve to be state champions,” Emmett coach Rich Hargitt said. “We weren’t good enough to get it done today, but I’m really proud of our kids for returning Emmett to legitimacy on the football landscape in Idaho.”

Emmett (10-3) got off to a quick start, taking advantage of the turnover-prone Grizzlies. Skyline fumbled on its second offensive snap and, moments later, Emmett quarterback Caden Young scored on a short run to make it 7-0.

Skyline fumbled again on the ensuing kickoff, but the Huskies couldn’t capitalize. That would become a trend for Emmett, which had five takeaways but only came away with points on two of them.

“We thought we could play turnover-free football, and we did,” Hargitt said. “We thought we could turn them over, and we did. The problem was, we felt like we needed three really big, game-changing plays. We got one, but we never got the other two, and they were just able to keep us at arm’s reach.”

Meanwhile, the Huskies offense struggled to move the ball and, apart from the turnovers, the Huskies had no answer for Skyline’s explosive playmakers. Maloney broke loose for 55- and 56-yard TD catches — including one on a double pass — while fellow senior Eli Ames amassed 121 total yards and two TDs. Senior quarterback Cade Marlow finished with 243 yards and four scores through the air.

Young had 128 yards passing, adding 42 yards and two scores on the ground. Tailback Westyn Smith added 66 yards and a TD on the ground, but the Huskies’ vaunted rushing attack was held to less than 4 yards per carry.

This story was originally published November 21, 2020 at 7:53 PM with the headline "Heartbreak for Homedale against its nemesis in state final; Emmett’s dream season falls short."