It took three overtimes, but Rigby ended Meridian football’s underdog run in 5A semis
Standing on the field, disappointed but with his head held high, Meridian High senior running back Kross Antonnacchi summed up the three hours of chaos that had just unfolded.
“It was a really fun night,” he said with a smile. “You know, we were unstoppable until that last drive.”
That last drive — in triple overtime — was the only Meridian possession that didn’t end with a touchdown. But visiting Rigby matched the Warriors score for score, and when quarterback Tiger Adolpho plowed into the end zone on fourth down following the Trojans’ only defensive stop, Rigby celebrated a thrilling state semifinal victory, winning 55-49.
Rigby (10-1) advances to play Highland for the 5A championship next weekend at Idaho State’s Holt Arena.
Antonnacchi scored three touchdowns for Meridian (8-4), with Rylie Byington adding two scores. Malakai Martinez ran for a score and threw for 164 yards, including 138 yards and a TD to Quentin Riley.
Still, it wasn’t quite enough to lift the Warriors to their first state title game since 2007.
“Well, the fans got their money’s worth — what a battle that was,” Meridian coach John Zamberlin said. “It was two offenses slugging it out all night. The atmosphere here, it was special, and our guys fought their hearts out. Still, it stings, because it’s hard to get this far.”
It was a wild game filled with twists, turns and offensive fireworks. There were zero punts and zero turnovers. With the exception of time expiring at the end of each half, every possession ended in an offensive touchdown prior to Martinez’s fourth-down pass getting broken up to open the third overtime (wherein each team gets the ball on the 10-yard line, with four downs to score).
“That’s a great football team, and so are we,” Rigby coach Armando Gonzalez said. “It just comes down to who has the ball last. It’s sad someone has to lose on the scoreboard, because there really are no losers in a game like that.”
Adolpho accounted for six Rigby touchdowns, throwing for 246 yards with scores to Sam Kunz (10 catches, 131 yards) and Con Dansie (8-92). Adolpho also added 76 yards and four TDs on the ground, and bruising tailback Zheik Falevai led all rushers with 28 carries for 168 yards and two TDs.
Meridian appeared to seize the advantage after Falevai’s fourth-quarter touchdown run, when Judah Argon blocked the extra point to keep Rigby’s lead at six, 35-29.
But after Antonnacchi’s game-tying TD run for the Warriors, Hunter Nield returned the favor, bursting through the line to block the PAT to keep the score knotted at 35 all.
“That was wild,” Zamberlin said. “Everyone was just competing so hard on both sides.”
The script flipped again in the first OT, with Damien Walker blocking Meridian’s PAT after Byington opened the scoring with a fourth-down TD run. Adolpho soon tied it, but Rigby’s potential game-winning PAT sailed wide right.
After Adolpho and Antonnacchi traded touchdowns in the second OT, both teams completed two-point conversion passes. Meridian had the ball first in the third overtime, and for one of the few times in the game, the Warriors faced a tough down-and-distance situation — fourth-and-goal from the 10.
“We finally got them into a long-yardage situation,” Gonzalez said. “We tried to force them to make a quick throw and have our defensive backs drive on the ball.”
Ryder Thompson did just that, diving to break up Martinez’s pass in the end zone. It took Rigby all four downs to score the winning TD, but Adolpho finally lunged in from the 1 to earn the wild victory.
“We didn’t come out victorious, but I felt like we played our best,” Antonnacchi said. “You know, Rigby is a great team, and tonight, they just made one more play than we did.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2021 at 12:55 AM.