This 3-time state champ was an underdog. Sugar-Salem proved why that label was wrong
After starting the season with back-to-back losses, Sugar-Salem heard all the whispers that this was a down year for the Diggers. That the three-time defending state champs had lost a step. That they should start looking ahead to basketball season.
Sugar-Salem proved all those doubters wrong Saturday, knocking off unanimous No. 1 Homedale 16-7 on its home field to advance to the 3A high school football state championship game for the fourth straight year.
The Diggers (8-2) will face Weiser (11-1) next week in Eastern Idaho for the title. A date, time and location have not been set yet.
“We read stuff on social media all the time. ‘The Diggers are not looking good this year,’ and all this stuff,” Sugar-Salem senior Boyd Sorensen said. “People were not giving us the respect that we deserve. But I think we’ve really shown up and opened their eyes here today.”
Sugar-Salem even fell out of the state media poll for three weeks, ultimately finishing the regular season ranked No. 4. It received the same slot in the MaxPreps computer rankings Idaho uses to seed the 3A state playoffs, sending the Diggers to Homedale (10-1) for Saturday’s semifinal.
The Trojans hadn’t lost on their home field since 2016. But that didn’t matter to Sugar-Salem, which dashed Homedale’s state title dreams for the fourth consecutive season. The Diggers beat Homedale in the championship game each of the past three years.
“Our ultimate goal, no matter what — whether it’s at the beginning of the season, the middle or the end — is to win a state championship,” Sugar-Salem coach Tyler Richins said. “We know the rankings are what they are. There are people that are in favor of them, and people that aren’t in favor of them.
“I’m of the mentality that you play the games that are in front of you, and you let the chips fall where they fall at the end.”
Homedale struck first Saturday, scoring on the game’s opening drive when Jaxon Dines found Mason Strong for a 20-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-2.
But Sugar-Salem pitched a shutout the rest of the way, holding Homedale to season lows in points (7), rushing yards (81) and total yards (260). The Trojans entered Saturday averaging 41.9 points, 307.6 rushing yards and 413.5 total yards per game.
Crucial to that defensive dominance was keeping Homedale senior running back Hayden Kincheloe in check. The reigning 3A All-Idaho Player of the Year finished the afternoon with 18 carries for 86 yards. But Sugar-Salem kept him out of the end zone and from breaking any big plays.
Richins said the Diggers spent all season preparing to stop Kincheloe in this one game.
“He is an absolute stud,” Richins said. “He deserves every recognition and every pat on the back that he’s gotten over the last few years here at Homedale.
“We talked about him a lot. We talked about him when we’re playing Teton, and we talked about him when we’re playing South (Fremont), just because we know he is the back of the state. And if we want to be able to tackle him and get after him, then we’ve got to be better in Week 1, 2 and 3 so that we’re ready for this game.”
Wyatt Harris put Sugar-Salem on the scoreboard with a 10-yard touchdown run to open the second quarter. And the Diggers took a 13-7 lead when quarterback Daniel Neal plowed in on a 1-yard sneak with 1:28 left in the first half.
Kyle Brunson added a 20-yard field goal with 2:19 left in the fourth quarter to make it a two-score game and end any hopes of a Homedale comeback.
Sugar-Salem didn’t set any offensive records either, finishing with 260 yards as well. But the Diggers held the ball for 30 minutes, 23 seconds, keeping Homedale’s high-powered offense on the sideline.
The Trojans had the ball for nearly half the amount, 17:37.
“We hit on a couple plays down the field, which was good,” Homedale coach Matt Holtry said. “We missed out on a couple plays down the field, which hurt. What it comes down to in big games is sustaining drives. And we weren’t able to sustain the drives we needed to sustain, and they were.”
The loss leaves Homedale short of a state title again. But Holtry pointed out this year’s senior class finished with four straight Snake River Valley titles, in addition to three state runner-up trophies and a third-place trophy.
Idaho awards a third-place trophy to both semifinal losers.
“This senior group has put in a lot,” Holtry said. “We’re super proud of the legacy that they’ve left. Four conference championships in a row is something that they need to be very proud of, and they should be very proud of.”
Meanwhile, Sugar-Salem turns its attention to Weiser and a potential fourth straight state title. No Idaho team has won four consecutive championships at any level since Snake River won five in a row from 1998 to 2002. Its coach, Tom Harrison, now leads Weiser.
Sugar-Salem beat Weiser 34-8 in the first round of last year’s playoffs.
“We’re ready to take it to Weiser,” Sorensen said. “We know they’re a hard-hitting team. But last year, we blew them out. And we’re gonna do it again.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2021 at 6:53 PM.
