Speedy receiver Duarte gets off to hot start as Eagle clinches 5A SIC River Division title
The Eagle High School football team’s offense gathers around a flat-screen TV that sits behind the Mustangs’ bench after each drive to critique the possession.
Eagle senior Ian Duarte gave his teammates plenty of highlights to watch on Friday night.
Duarte scored touchdowns on Eagle’s first two plays of the game — an 85-yard reception and a 55-yard run — and the Mustangs never trailed in a 28-19 win over Mountain View.
“That definitely set the tone for the offense,” Duarte said. “We executed everything we worked on this week in practice, and we had a great game plan.”
The win clinched the Mustangs (5-2, 5-0) the 5A Southern Idaho Conference River Division title, a spot in the league title game and an automatic berth in the state quarterfinals.
Eagle will play at Meridian for the league title in two weeks.
Eagle coach John Hartz credited the Mustangs’ many doubters for motivating his team to play harder as the season has gone on.
“I think everybody has been picking against us, which is great,” Hartz said. “This group has a confidence about it, and we know we just have to stay the course.”
Duarte was a major part of the Mustangs’ game plan on Friday. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound senior hauled in three passes for 109 yards, carried the ball five times for 65 yards and even attempted a pass, which sailed over the head of an open receiver.
“We’re always looking for ways to get him the ball,” Hartz said. “Ian takes the heat off of everybody offensively. Without him, it would be tough to do anything because he draws so much attention.”
Duarte is a three-star recruit and the No. 4-ranked high school prospect in Idaho, according to 247Sports. He has scholarship offers from Arizona, Fresno State, San Jose State, Bryant, Idaho and Portland State. He also has a preferred walk-on offer from Washington State.
Duarte doesn’t have a scholarship offer from Boise State, but the Broncos have been recruiting him for a while and he was on the sideline in Albertsons Stadium for last weekend’s 35-13 win over San Diego State.
Duarte is hoping he did enough against Mountain View to earn the offer he’s been waiting for, but he knows what the Mustangs did on Friday will resonate through the 5A SIC.
“I think we made a statement to the whole league tonight,” said Duarte, who has now caught 33 passes for 440 yards and four touchdowns this season. “People have been picking against us, and that just lit a fire under us.”
Eagle quarterback Jake Longson took advantage of the Mavericks keying on Duarte in the second half on Friday. He also entertained his teammates with a few highlights of his own.
After Eagle went into halftime leading 21-19, Longson broke a 65-yard run on the Mustangs’ first drive of the third quarter, setting up a 10-yard touchdown run by Roy Hull.
Longson, a senior, racked up more than 100 yards on just three carries in the third quarter and finished the game with 146 rushing yards. He also completed 4-of-5 passes for 109 yards.
“Jake is a good football player because he’s so competitive,” Hartz said. “The things he does well really compliment what Ian does well, and they’re a nightmare for defenses.”
Hull’s first rushing touchdown of the night covered six yards and gave the Mustangs a 21-13 lead in the second quarter. The senior finished the game with 59 yards on 11 carries, while freshman running back Noah Burnham added 83 yards on eight carries.
As dominant as Eagle’s offense looked on Friday, the unit got bailed out by the defense on multiple occasions in the first half.
Mountain View (4-3, 4-1) opened two drives in Mustang territory in the first quarter thanks to fumbles by Hull. The Mavericks also drove inside Eagle’s 10-yard line twice before halftime.
Mountain View had to settle for field goals each time.
Mavericks kicker Martin Connington was 4-for-4 on first-half field goals, including two from 42 yards. He missed one from 47 yards with the Mavericks trailing 28-19 early in the fourth quarter.
Mountain View drove inside the Mustangs’ 10-yard line again late in the fourth quarter, but Eagle senior Carter Davis’ third sack of the game forced the Mavericks to settle for another field goal attempt. Connington’s sixth kick of the night doinked off the right upright with 3 minutes to play, preserving Eagle’s 28-19 lead.
Davis leads Idaho’s 5A classification with 16.5 sacks this season.
“Things were there and we’ve got to make plays,” Mountain View head coach Bryan Compton said. “We certainly didn’t finish tonight the way we needed to.”
Mountain View scored its only touchdown of the game on a three-yard run by Justin McGee in the first quarter.
McGee opened the season as a wide receiver and played quarterback last week because starter Dawson Wahl was injured. McGee led the Mavericks’ rushing attack on Friday, finishing with 113 yards on 26 carries. He also caught four passes for 50 yards.
Wahl was back in the lineup for the Mavericks and completed 17-of-31 passes for 252 yards.
This story was originally published October 7, 2022 at 11:59 PM.
