Owyhee used not one, not two, but three defensive TDs to top Boise in battle of unbeatens
On the second play of the third quarter, Owyhee linebacker Mason Rasmussen jumped a passing route and picked off Boise quarterback Cooper Smith, returning it 25 yards for a touchdown.
It was the first of three second-half interceptions returned for scores and one of six turnovers Owyhee forced to cruise to a 45-16 victory over Boise on Friday at Dona Larsen Park.
“It was huge. Anytime you can get a turnover, that automatically gets things going in your favor,” Owyhee coach Sherm Blaser said. “ ... Our defense was playing lights out.”
After a 1-8 inaugural season in 2021, the Storm are now 3-0 in their second season and 1-0 in the 5A SIC River Division. Their win denied Boise (2-1, 0-1) the chance to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 1988.
“Everyone was making fun of us (last year). They didn’t think we had what it takes,” Owyhee defensive lineman Beau Jaques said. “... Everyone was asking, ‘Is our football team going to be good this year?’ A lot of our guys play different sports, and we were successful there. So we took a lot of that success and put it together for the football team.
“But I would say the biggest thing is we had that chip on our shoulder of everyone saying, ‘Oh, they’re 1-8.’ We wanted to prove that we could do a lot better than that.”
Owyhee won state championships last season in both boys basketball and baseball. Many of those players are also on the football team, and they brought a new attitude to the football field in 2022.
“We’re starting a winning tradition for our team,” Rasmussen said. “We need to just keep working on it. The 3-0 just feels amazing to have after a 1-8 season.”
Defense has been a particular point of emphasis for the Storm this season, as they have allowed a combined seven points in the second half of their past two games. That included none Friday with the help of those three pick-sixes and a fourth interception that killed another Boise drive.
“That’s a once-in-a-blue-moon game,” Jaques said. “But we’re hoping to have a few of those this year.”
Owyhee scored first Friday night when quarterback Matt Irwin connected on an 8-yard touchdown pass with Gabe Alvarado.
But the Brave answered on the ensuing kickoff as Elias Webb broke free for an 98-yard return. Boise scored again on a 30-yard interception return by Luke Britt, and it added a safety to take a 16-10 halftime lead.
That safety with 51 seconds left before the break would be the end of Boise’s good fortune. The Storm forced Smith out of the pocket consistently in the second half and limited the Brave to just 42 total yards on the ground all night.
While Rasmussen sparked Owyhee’s second-half rally, teammates Lucas Skinner and Kaden Newman followed his lead with interception returns of 49 and 25 yards, respectively.
Irwin added a second TD pass to Carson Hamilton on a 29-yarder with 6:59 left in the third quarter, and backup running back Rylan Harper scored on a 4-yard touchdown run in the closing minutes to account for the final margin.
Irwin finished 17-for-27 for 152 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and Alvarado hauled in a team-leading five receptions for 53 yards.
“They are excited, but we’re working on keeping them focused, because we’ve got some really good teams coming up in our schedule,” Blaser said. “We believe that we can beat them, so we’ve got to make sure that we continue to work every day and that we’re trying to get better.”
Owyhee hosts Mountain View next Friday, while Boise welcomes Nampa to Dona Larsen Park. Both games kick off at 7 p.m.
This story was originally published September 3, 2022 at 12:57 AM.
