Homedale bullies its way back to 3A state football title game. ‘The job is not finished’
Sigmund Goode didn’t mince words.
The Homedale senior knows the Trojans sit in rarefied air after routing Weiser 35-7 on Saturday in the 3A state semifinals. The win sends Homedale to the state championship game for the fourth time in five years, a feat many programs would brag about. But after finishing second in the three previous tries, he knows just making the finals is not the goal.
“The job is not finished,” Goode said. “”We’ve got to go get it. We’re gonna go get it this year.”
Homedale (10-1) will face Sugar-Salem (10-0) for the state title at 1 p.m. Saturday at Middleton. The championship matchup gives Homedale another chance at payback. Sugar-Salem ended Homedale’s season each of the past four years, including three in a row in the state finals from 2018 to ‘20, and then again in last year’s semifinals.
So Homedale coach Matt Holtry said he’s excited to face the Diggers again.
“Absolutely, 100%,” Holtry said. “We want a chance to get them. They’re a phenomenal team. They’re well coached. They’ve got a great program.
“And, yeah, if we’re going to win the whole thing, we want it to be sweet.”
Homedale senior running back Trenton Fisher carried the Trojans on Saturday, rushing for 201 yards and four touchdowns. And because it was apparent Weiser (10-2) had no answer for him, the Trojans gave him 32 carries to ice the game.
The powerful runner helped Homedale dominate the time of possession. The Trojans held the ball for 29 minutes, 32 seconds and racked up 22 first downs. Weiser had the ball for just 12 minutes, 50 seconds and got just seven first downs.
“He’s just, he’s an animal,” Goode said. “Pregame, he’s going 110%. You could tell by his energy that today’s gonna be the one. He’s not messing around.”
Fisher and Goode led a late charge as Homedale ran away with its 26th straight victory over a conference opponent. A seven-point lead turned into a 21-point lead in just 33 seconds as Fisher plowed in for a 1-yard TD run, Goode intercepted a pass on the next play from scrimmage, and then Fisher broke loose for a 26-yard score on the following play to make it 28-7.
Fisher also recovered a fumble three plays later, setting up his fourth and final touchdown run after a clock-killing 12-play drive.
“Those are big plays,” Weiser coach Tom Harrison said. “Those are back-breakers.”
While Fisher ran at will, Homedale bottled up Weiser’s potent ground game. The Wolverines finished the afternoon with 171 total yards, including 51 yards on the final drive against Homedale’s backups.
Weiser scored its only touchdown in the first quarter after Homedale failed to convert on fourth down from its own 31-yard line. Brock Spencer took advantage of the short field with a 3-yard touchdown run. But that was the end of Weiser’s offensive highlights.
“These kids, they take that to heart,” Holtry said. “They talk about the fact they’ve never lost an SRV game. They’re not about to let that happen.”
WEISER’S RUN ENDS IN SEMIS
The defending state champs lost only two games all season. Both came against Homedale, the five-time reigning SRV conference champ.
“We feel good about the season,” Harrison said. “We got to play 12 football games.
“... This is a good team, and Homedale’s a little bit better than us. They’re too fast, and we didn’t block them like we needed to. We practiced blocking them. But blocking (our) guys and then blocking these guys, it’s a little bit hard to simulate.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2022 at 7:36 PM.
