‘We get guys that play with broken bones.’ Borah, Capital don’t hold back in rivalry game
The music was blasting when Borah football coach JQ Kenyon walked into the locker room and received a dousing of water from his players.
There was ample reason to celebrate.
The Lions took down crosstown rival Capital 38-21 on Thursday night at Dona Larsen Park for their fourth straight win in the series and sixth victory in the past seven tries.
“We get guys that play with broken bones, and we’ve kind of used those stories over the last five years,” Kenyon said. “People want to play in the Capital game. They’ll do whatever they can to play in that game. It means a lot, because they know it means a lot to the community.
“When Borah football is on top, the community comes out, and everybody loves it when Borah football is good.”
For many years, Capital owned the series, winning 14 straight games before the Lions broke through with a 49-42 victory in 2015. Since then, Borah has won seven of 11 against the Eagles.
“I looked into our record books, and the last time we won four in a row against Capital was from 1985 to 1988,” Kenyon said. “That was before I was born. They get to etch themselves into the history books.”
Kenyon credits much of Borah’s recent success against Capital to a stellar senior class. The Lions have 33 seniors this season. For comparison, they had just 13 last year.
One of those seniors is quarterback Dylan Luekenga. The 6-foot-5, 200-pounder had to sit out last season after transferring from Kuna, but he’s settling into the Lions’ offense nicely through three starts.
Luekenga completed 21-of-29 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns with one interception against Capital after totaling 468 yards and four TDs last week in a 35-14 rout of Vallivue.
“It feels amazing. This is only my first year playing football with these Borah guys, but the culture is different,” Luekenga said. “I absolutely love it. We made history tonight.”
The Lions (2-1) scored on their opening drive on an 8-yard strike from Luekenga to senior receiver Karden Halpin. Borah put points on the board its first three drives and didn’t punt until the fourth quarter.
The game was tied at 7-all after the first quarter before the Lions pushed their lead to 21-7 thanks to a 1-yard touchdown run from sophomore Hendrix Castro and then a 35-yard interception return from junior middle linebacker Colton Poste.
Senior kicker Mo Hodzic added a 27-yard field goal just before halftime, giving the Lions a 24-14 lead at the break.
Capital (0-3) cut Borah’s lead to 24-21 when senior running back Marcellus Clay ran for a 7-yard TD with 8:07 to play in the third quarter. Clay finished with seven carries for 64 yards and also caught four passes for 22 yards.
But the Lions quickly closed the door on Capital’s comeback hopes, getting a 2-yard TD run from Castro on their next drive and a 10-yard touchdown reception from senior Ryan Lopez at the start of the fourth quarter.
“Most of these guys were on the team last year,” Kenyon said. “They know it’s gonna be a different guy every game that can make a play for us.”
This story was originally published September 12, 2024 at 11:44 PM.
