Prep football recap: Eagle ekes out win. Vallivue RB has huge night. Weiser upends No. 1
Nearly half of Noah Burnham’s rushing yards came on a single drive in the third quarter.
But when it came time to hand the football off to someone else, the 5-foot-9, 170-pound junior running back had no qualms letting a teammate take the spotlight.
Burnham accounted for 110 of Eagle’s 195 total yards of offense in a wild 7-5 victory over Owyhee on Friday at Eagle High School.
He racked up 41 of his 91 rushing yards on an eight-play, 60-yard scoring drive late in the third that was polished off by senior Roman Walker’s 1-yard touchdown run. Burnham also caught three passes for 19 yards.
“I don’t mind being the workhorse at all,” Burnham said. “I can go down, drive 99 yards and let someone else score. I don’t care. As long as our team wins, I’m perfectly fine with that. I don’t really care about the stats. I just want to win, and I’m having fun with my brothers.”
It was the fourth straight win for the Mustangs, who share the lead in the 6A Southern Idaho Conference’s River Division with Borah at 3-0 and 5-1 overall.
“It was definitely a good game,” Eagle coach James Cluphf said. “I know that it’s a rivalry that’s brewing and it’s only going to get better over the years and as they get older. Those guys are going to bring it every year, and we want to play in environments like that. That’s what we signed up for. We love close games in Thunder Stadium. Maybe not that close, but it really gave us a playoff feel, and we needed that.”
Aside from a loss to West Linn, the No. 1-ranked team in Oregon’s top classification, the Mustangs entered Friday’s game beating their opponents by an average of more than 35 points per game.
But when they found themselves down 2-0 at the half with just 73 total yards, the Mustangs found a way to win anyway.
“I love the kids’ grit,” Cluphf said. “They really dug down deep. There was that big drive for Owyhee down the stretch and they got inside the 15 and our kids really buckled up and brought it and really responded well. Not a lot phases these guys.”
After Walker scored with 1:05 on the clock in the third quarter for a 7-2 Eagle lead, Owyhee (3-3, 0-3) began a 15-play drive that ate up much of the fourth quarter.
The Storm got as far as the Eagle 7-yard line before defensive end J.W. Bryan and linebacker Connor LeBeau teamed up for a 15-yard sack of quarterback Logan Haustveit on third-and-5, forcing Owyhee to settle for a 39-yard field goal from senior kicker Lucas Ruby that made it 7-5 with 4:38 to play.
“A close game like this, I mean, it was unexpected,” LeBeau said. “Their defense was a lot better than we thought, but we came out there and took care of business. I feel like it’s gonna motivate us to not have any more close games.”
[Related: Borah, Capital win on Thursday | Middleton edges Timberline]
ROCKY MOUNTAIN 31, MERIDIAN 7
The top-ranked Grizzlies turned a 10-7 game at the half into their sixth straight win with a second-half shutout of the Warriors.
Taeshaun Reese scored twice for Rocky Mountain (6-0, 3-0 6A SIC Foothills) on runs of 10 and 2 yards and finished the night with 97 rushing yards on 14 carries. Kaiden Kimball-Turner also had a rushing TD, and quarterback Austin Rovig completed 9-of-23 passes for 124 yards and a score.
Meridian (1-5, 0-3) took a 7-3 lead in the second quarter on a 19-yard pass from Holden Coy to Zeke Martinez.
BISHOP KELLY 24, SKYVIEW 0
The top-ranked Knights earned their third straight shutout in 5A SIC action, this time on the road.
Parker Allumbaugh scored twice for Bishop Kelly (5-1, 3-0), including a 76-yard punt return in the third quarter.
Quarterback Ben Avella completed 8-of-13 through the air for 144 yards and a touchdown, while the BK defense totaled five sacks.
Mason Krahn paced the Hawks (0-6, 0-4) with 106 yards on 20 carries.
VALLIVUE 44, RIDGEVUE 7
The Falcons kept pace with Bishop Kelly atop the 5A SIC with a rout of the Warhawks.
Vallivue (4-1, 3-0) totaled 364 of its 475 yards on the ground, highlighted by running back Onix Carson’s 247 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Isaac Moore threw TD passes to Cache Hance and Austin Belnap.
Ridgevue (2-3, 0-3) scored the first touchdown of the game on a 3-yard pass from Hunter Scmittel to Enrique Cabanilla, but the Warhawks never found the end zone again.
WEISER 30, HOMEDALE 6
The Wolverines upset the 4A classification’s unanimous No. 1-ranked team in commanding fashion, forcing six turnovers to end Homedale’s 33-game winning streak against SRV opponents.
Cole Ingle scored a pair of rushing touchdowns for Weiser (4-2, 2-0), while Ty Cobb and Elvis Williams each scored on fumble recoveries. The Wolverines also picked off four Homedale (5-1, 1-1) passes.
Luke Henry scored Homedale’s only touchdown on a 4-yard pass from quarterback Xavier Uranga.
FRUITLAND 41, PAYETTE 7
The Grizzlies collected their sixth straight victory of the season with an easy win over the Pirates.
Coye Coffman led No. 2-ranked Fruitland (6-0, 2-0) with eight receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown and also returned a punt 82 yards for a score. Spencer Tracy added two rushing TDs on just three touches, and Austin Tesnohlidek and Braden Griffith also scored for the Grizzlies.
Jahzyon Sylva scored for Payette (3-3, 0-2) on a 1-yard run in the first quarter for a 7-6 lead.
NAMPA CHRISTIAN 83, PARMA 0
The Trojans lit up the scoreboard in a 3A Western Idaho Conference matchup against the Panthers.
The Nampa Christian defense limited Parma (0-6, 0-2) to just three first downs and 55 total yards, while the Trojans amassed 578 yards of their own.
Matthew Nevarez led the Trojans (3-3, 2-0) on the ground with 128 yard and two touchdowns on 11 carries. Ian Johnson also had two rushing TDs, and quarterback Pete Dice passed for 135 yards and two touchdowns.
This story was originally published October 4, 2024 at 6:45 PM.
