Playoff football recap: Eagle rallies in second half. BK falls in 3 OTs. Homedale rolls
After bursting through a hole the size of a school bus, Noah Burnham finished off a 44-yard touchdown run by leaping into the end zone from the 5-yard line as a Madison defender made one last try at tackling him.
There was simply no stopping the 5-foot-9, 170-pound Eagle running back in the second half.
Burnham finished with 175 rushing yards and two touchdowns as the Mustangs rallied for a 22-16 victory over Madison in the 6A state quarterfinals Friday night at Eagle High School.
“I think he’s been told his whole life he’s too small to play running back, and he takes that to heart,” Eagle coach James Cluphf said. “He proves that he’s the most physical back in the state, regardless if he weighs under 170 pounds. He’s a kid that knows how to accelerate before contact, and it’s fun to watch.”
Burnham was limited to 27 yards in the first half, but he played like a Mack Truck over the final 24 minutes, often initiating contact as he ran over would-be defenders.
“He’s great. He’s not small mentally. He’s bigger than anybody,” Eagle receiver Gavin Crawford said of Burnham. “I mean, he shows that. He got hit. Early in the game they were stuffing the run. As soon as it pops, he’s gone.”
[Related: 6A to 1A playoff brackets]
While Eagle (8-2) received a first-round playoff bye, Madison (9-2) arrived at Thunder Stadium riding the momentum of a 42-7 victory over Capital last week.
And the Bobcats, who featured the 6A classification’s leading rusher in senior Bryce Dredge, punched first, with Dredge scoring on a 4-yard run with 9:57 left in the second quarter. Junior Cache Summers followed with a 1-yard TD run on the Bobcats’ next drive, giving Madison a 13-0 lead with 4:12 until halftime.
“We talked all week about how physical this game was going to be,” Cluphf said. “We heard all about how physical Madison is. They definitely showed that. They were a really excellent opponent in the quarterfinals.”
Just when it appeared Madison would go into the break with a two-touchdown lead, a seemingly innocuous holding penalty on fourth-and-10 from the 37-yard line in the closing seconds of the first half shifted the momentum in Eagle’s favor.
The Mustangs cashed in on the untimed down, as Crawford caught a 26-yard strike from quarterback Austin Ramsey and extended over the goal line with the football in his right hand to cut Madison’s lead to 13-7 at halftime.
“That completely jump-started us into the second half,” Burnham said. “Then we came out hot in the second half.”
The Eagle defense held Madison to a 39-yard field goal in the second half, and Burnham took care of business on the offensive end. He scored his first touchdown with 3:43 left in the third quarter to bring the Mustangs within 16-14. And his go-ahead, 9-yard TD run with 5:12 to go in the fourth quarter cemented Eagle’s comeback.
The Mustangs will travel to Coeur d’Alene (8-2) next week for a semifinal matchup with the Vikings, who ousted Eagle from the state playoffs last year with a 7-6 semifinal win.
Eagle hopes to return the favor.
“They left a bitter taste in our mouth last year, especially at home,” Eagle junior defensive back Zayah Wright said. “We had to say goodbye to a lot of seniors. This year, we don’t really want that. Roles are reversed, we’ve gotta go to them. So we’ve gotta make the other thing happen. We gotta go beat them this time around.”
COEUR D’ALENE 35, MIDDLETON 21
Caden Symons completed 30-of-40 passes for 459 yards and four touchdowns as the Vikings (8-2) cruised to a 6A state quarterfinal win on their home field.
Kai Wheeler stood as Symons’ top target, hauling in 11 catches for 151 yards and three touchdowns. Dylan Sutich also caught an 84-yard touchdown strike from Symons to give Coeur d’Alene a 35-7 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Drew Holman did most of the damage for Middleton (6-5). He ran for a team-high 44 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown. He also went 19-for-30 through the air for 155 yards and the game’s final score.
LAKELAND 28, VALLIVUE 21
Kage Lovie Weil led the Hawks into the 5A state semifinals with 175 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
All three of Weil’s touchdowns came in the first half as Lakeland (9-2) raced out to leads of 14-0 and 21-7 over the Falcons (7-3).
Quarterback Isaac Moore paced Vallivue. He ran for 159 yards and a 60-yard touchdown in the second quarter. He also completed 11-of-18 passes for 170 yards and two TDs, including 76-yard strike to Austin Belnap to pull Vallivue within seven points with 5:55 left in the fourth quarter.
MINICO 41, BISHOP KELLY 35 (3OT)
Senior running back Preston Cranney-Sonner scored on a 2-yard run as the Spartans took down the defending state champion Knights in triple overtime.
Bishop Kelly trailed as much as 20-0 before mounting a comeback to force overtime. Quarterback Ben Avella completed a 9-yard TD pass to Enzi Myricks as time expired in the fourth quarter, and Nik Ciovacco nailed the extra point to knot the game at 20-all.
Minico (9-2) limited BK (9-2) to just 10 rushing yards to avenge a 20-8 loss to the Knights on Sept. 6.
Avella finished 26-for-44 passing for 261 yards and four touchdowns. Dom Wolthuis caught seven passes for a team-leading 127 receiving yards and three TDs.
HOMEDALE 35, BUHL 9
The second-seeded Trojans rolled into the 4A state semifinals for the seventh straight season with a home win over the Indians.
Homedale (9-1) will face the winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal game between Weiser and American Falls.
The Trojans scored five unanswered touchdowns to build an insurmountable lead Friday against Buhl (7-3). Quarterback Xavier Uranga completed 86.7 percent of his passes, going 13-for-15 for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Kade Hall led Homedale’s ground attack with seven carries for 25 yards and a pair of scores.
KIMBERLY 27, FRUITLAND 26 (OT)
The Bulldogs’ gamble paid off.
Quarterback MaCraye Bruning’s two-point conversion pass to tight end Mason Jensen gave Kimberly an overtime win over Fruitland in the 4A state quarterfinals.
Fruitland (8-3) forced overtime thanks to Austin Tesnohlidek’s 6-yard touchdown run with 6:05 left in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Titus Vidlak then put the Grizzlies up 26-19 in OT on a 1-yard run before Kimberly (7-3) answered with a touchdown of its own and the walk-off, two-point conversion.
Vidlak passed for 209 yards and a touchdown, and he also rushed for 35 yards and a score.
WEISER 47, AMERICAN FALLS 0
The Wolverines’ defense started the game with a safety and never let up, holding American Falls (6-5) to 114 total yards to post the shutout.
Kash Cobb did the bulk of the damage offensively for Weiser (8-2), running for 142 yards and four touchdowns on 28 carries. Kolin Cook completed 7-of-12 passes for 164 yards and two TDs. And Xander Gray stood as his top target, turning four catches into 106 yards and a touchdown.
Third-seeded Weiser travels to face second-seeded Homedale in the semifinals next week. Weiser beat Homedale earlier this year and won the SRV league title. But Homedale finished with a higher seed in the final regular-season MaxPreps rankings, earning it the right to host.
This story was originally published November 8, 2024 at 6:45 PM.
