Owyhee let one lead slip away. It refused to let a second escape in chaotic overtime win
Nearly everything went wrong for the Owyhee football team in the final nine minutes Friday.
The Storm blew a 14-point lead. Boise stole all the momentum. And overtime loomed on the road at Dona Larsen Park.
But Owyhee rebounded in the extra period and held on during a chaotic final play to knock off Boise 28-21 for the first playoff win in the program’s three-year history.
“That was just a heavyweight battle,” Owyhee coach Jason Burton said. “And we got the last punch.”
Owyhee (8-2) opened the overtime with an 11-yard touchdown catch from Aidan Joye, his second of the game. He fumbled the ball as he crossed the goal line, but the officials ruled he broke the plane first and the score stood.
[Related: Idaho state playoff bracket, scores]
Boise (7-3) quarterback Trevor Schoolfield looked to cruise for a 10-yard touchdown run on the Brave’s first play of overtime. But Owyhee junior linebacker Gage Haws leveled him at the 1-yard line, and the Storm stuffed three straight Boise attempts from the 1 to secure their first playoff win.
“It’s what our defense is for. Our defense is there to win games,” Haws said. “Defenses win championships, right? We’ve all heard that one.
“It’s our turn to win it. We gave it up at the end. We can’t do it twice.”
The Storm defense gave up that 14-point, fourth-quarter lead Haws referred to. Schoolfield hit Will Gebert for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 7:01 left. And then Cooper Smith powered a 1-yard touchdown run up the gut on fourth-and-goal to tie the game at 21 with 57 seconds remaining.
No. 5-ranked Boise even got the ball back one last time in regulation. Smith returned a punt 28 yards to the Owyhee 34, allowing Harrison Hatten to attempt a game-winning, 52-yard field goal with 1 second left. But his kick fell short, sending it to overtime.
Boise held all the momentum entering the extra period. But Owyhee got the ball first, took the early lead and hung on as all hell broke loose on the final play.
Boise faced another fourth-and-goal from the 1. The Brave spread the field, setting up running lanes for Schoolfield on a quarterback draw. But the sophomore bobbled a low snap, and Smith kicked the ball as he ran by on a fake jet sweep.
Smith reached down to pick it up and salvage the do-or-die play. But Owyhee’s Lucas Skinner knocked Smith off his path, and Logan Haustveit jumped on the loose ball to allow his teammates to storm the field.
“We knew they were going to try to get people moving in opposite directions, kind of mess with our eyes a little bit,” Haws said. “But everybody stuck to their job, and it ended up going the right way.”
The Storm’s fifth straight victory marks another milestone for the program. Picked to finish ninth out of 13 teams in the 5A SIC preseason coaches’ poll, Owyhee hits the road to Highland (8-1) next week for the first quarterfinal game in program history.
“That’s been the goal this whole season,” Burton said. “This whole season, we said we need to prepare as a playoff team, and that’s what happens. When you prepare like that, you win games in the playoffs.”
BOISE’S BEST SEASON IN DECADES
The heartbreaking loss capped a historic season for Boise. The Brave qualified for the state playoffs for the first time since 2002. They won seven games for the first time since 1992. And they finished with a .700 winning percentage, the program’s best since 1988.
Boise spent 2020 and ‘21 competing as an independent program, avoiding the 5A SIC’s traditional powers to escape injuries and allowing the program time to rebuild. So it was no surprise when Boise finished dead last in the 5A SIC’s preseason coaches’ poll in August.
But the Brave surprised opponents all season long, throttling traditional power Mountain View, rising as high as No. 2 in the state media poll and earning the right to host a playoff game.
“It hurts to lose this way,” Boise coach Mike Altieri said. “But like we said in there, this is a stepping stone in the right direction for us, for the future of the program.
“... They’ve accomplished more than anybody ever expected. They exceeded our expectations, their expectations, the fans’, other teams’. I think going forward teams are going to have to take us seriously. And I hope they do, because our program is trending in the right direction.”
Schoolfield led Boise, going 15-for-18 for 164 yards and a touchdown. Smith ran and threw for a touchdown, but Owyhee limited him to 22 total yards on 10 offensive touches. And Gebert hauled in four passes for 68 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown.
This story was originally published October 27, 2023 at 11:57 PM.
