‘The Weatherman’ accurately predicts Rocky Mountain win with early fumble return
Teammates call Parker Weatherly “the Weatherman” largely because of his last name.
But the senior defensive lineman certainly knows how to forecast a Rocky Mountain win.
Just 42 seconds into the Grizzlies’ first round 5A state playoff game, Weatherly scored on a 29-yard fumble return, serving as the perfect prequel to a 51-10, mercy-rule victory over Kuna on Friday night at Rocky Mountain High School.
“It’s cool just being able to bring the team together in a way and set the tone for how the rest of the game will go,” Weatherly said. “It’s a surreal feeling to get that kind of play the second play of the game and just set the tone for everybody. Everybody was just in a good mood and we kept rolling.”
Second-ranked Rocky Mountain (9-1) now travels to Post Falls (7-2) next week for a state quarterfinal matchup. A kickoff time and date were not available Friday night.
“We know we’ve just got to keep getting better,” Rocky Mountain coach Chris Culig said. “Because as we keep going down this road, teams are better and better and better, so we’ve gotta keep getting better and better.”
While Weatherly was the beneficiary of teammate Parker Simmonsen’s forced fumble, Weatherly forced punts on Kuna’s next two drives with a pair of sacks on third-and-long.
Then the Rocky Mountain offense got rolling.
On the fourth play of their second drive of the game, senior quarterback Tegan Sweaney connected on a 20-yard touchdown pass with junior Seva Mironov. It was the first of three TD passes for Sweaney, who finished 9-for-13 passing for 209 yards without an interception.
Sweaney completed passes to seven different receivers, with senior Luke Luchini leading the way with three catches for 105 yards.
Senior running back Art Williams — who also starts at linebacker — paced the Grizzlies on the ground with 13 carries for 110 yards and one touchdown. Seven different players reached the end zone for Rocky Mountain, and backup quarterback Gunnar Thompson also threw a touchdown.
“(Offensive coordinator Scott) Criner likes to spread the ball around, but he also likes to hand off the ball,” Sweaney said. “It’s usually just the playcalling, and Criner has a great offense.”
Kuna avoided the shutout a week after a dramatic win over Middleton with a Jason Monroe 32-yard field goal in the second quarter and a 1-yard TD run by quarterback Cole Luekenga in the third quarter.
But Rocky Mountain’s final touchdown in the fourth quarter still invoked the 40-point mercy rule, which meant the clock kept running for the final 3:19 of the game. The Grizzlies limited Kuna to 149 total yards, including just 10 on the ground.
“Right now we just need to keep the chemistry going,” Sweaney said. “And go up north and just perform and show what we have to offer, just ball out.”
