Lightning struck at 6A football state title game. It could only delay Rigby’s comeback
Mother Nature provided the lightning Saturday. But Rigby brought the thunder.
The Trojans pummeled Eagle on the ground for a 41-21 victory in the 6A state championship, flipping the momentum after lightning delayed the game for 35 minutes.
Eagle nursed a one-point lead before the weather delay between the third and fourth quarters. But Rigby rallied with 21 unanswered points after the break to run away with its fourth title in the past six years.
“It’s really hard to go through when it’s cold, raining and you have to go in there in the fourth quarter,” Rigby senior running back Jerzey Duenes said. “But we knew what we needed to do.
“... We are built for this. This is our thing.”
The Trojans (11-1) racked up 335 of their 425 yards on the ground, averaging 8.4 yards per carry for another championship on Boise State’s blue turf. But Rigby took it up a notch in the fourth quarter, wearing down the Mustangs’ defensive front and running for 107 yards in that quarter alone.
Parker Graham started the comeback with a 25-yard touchdown catch three plays after the game resumed. Rigby then turned the game over to Duenes and junior Amani Morel, its thunder-and-thunder duo in the backfield.
Duenes ran 190 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, and junior Amani Morel added 116 yards and two scores on 11 carries. Both ripped off more and more yardage with their physical styles as the game wore on and Eagle’s defense tired.
Duenes said he initially worried about his own playing time when Morel transferred to Rigby. But he said he matured and eventually embraced the first-team All-Idaho pick from Skyline, and the duo proved unstoppable throughout the playoffs.
“I just knew the longer this game went, the more it was going to tilt in our favor,” Rigby coach Armando Gonzalez said. “Because this is what we do all year round.”
Rigby threatened to turn the championship game into a blowout early. The Trojans took the opening possession and mounted a six-play, 79-yard drive capped by Kasyn Thomas’ 4-yard touchdown catch.
Rigby’s defense then forced a three-and-out, Tayden Outhenthapanya blocked the Eagle punt, and Quinn Bennett scooped up the loose ball and returned it 5 yards for the score and a 13-0 lead less than 7 minutes into the game.
Eagle eventually settled in though, battling back to a 13-7 halftime deficit when Austin Ramsey dropped a rainbow into Gavin Crawford’s hands for a 27-yard touchdown. The Mustangs took their first lead when Aaron Zrno returned the opening kickoff of the third quarter 92 yards to the house, setting the stage for a second half that saw four lead changes.
Eagle held the advantage heading into the fourth quarter before officials spotted lightning in the area, forcing the delay. The Mustangs never looked the same after returning to the field.
“Anytime you get something like that, you get a momentum switcher,” Eagle coach James Cluphf said. “That definitely happened there. You see it in a lot of games. I think it happened with the Super Bowl one year. That definitely changed the momentum we had going, for sure.”
EAGLE TAKES HOME SECOND-PLACE TROPHY
The Mustangs grimaced through the trophy ceremony, accepting the second-place award as Rigby celebrated with its fans. The award left few happy Saturday, but it still marked Eagle’s best finish since 2011.
Junior running back Noah Burnham paced the Mustangs’ offensively, running for 140 of the team’s 263 total yards and one touchdown. Chance Jones led the defense with seven tackles and two fourth-down stops, including a tackle-for-loss and a diving pass breakup in the second quarter. Jack Giannini also made 11 tackles.
Despite the loss, Cluphf said the program is on the right trajectory.
“We could have folded up after losing the district championship the way we did,” he said, recalling a 38-0 loss to Rocky Mountain in the 6A SIC title game four weeks ago. “But these kids are extremely resilient. I’m really proud of the efforts that they had going forward.”
5A: HILLCREST 31, SKYLINE 8
Ryan Mecham intercepted two passes and added a sack to lead a dominant defensive effort from the Knights, who forced three turnovers to claim their first state title since 2018 and third overall, the Post Register reported.
The Knights (10-3) led 10-8 at halftime Friday but finished the game with 21 unanswered points, holding the 5A classification’s top offense scoreless the rest of the night inside the ICCU Dome in Pocatello.
Hillcrest quarterback Tyson Sweetwood ran for 60 yards and two TDs, and went 9-for-13 for 75 yards and another score. Zyan Crockett led Skyline (10-3) with 186 total yards and a touchdown.
4A: SUGAR-SALEM 28, HOMEDALE 14
The Diggers scored 14 points in the fourth quarter Saturday at Middleton High to break a tie and capture their sixth state title in the past seven years.
Sugar-Salem (9-2) took the lead for good when Latrell Markle recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. The Diggers then put the game away with Dawson McInelley’s third touchdown of the afternoon.
McInelly finished with 149 rushing yards on 25 carries. Homedale (10-2) quarterback Xavier Uranga went 18-for-28 for 222 yards and two TDs.
“They’ve continued to blaze a trail. They’ve continued to set the expectations and the standard for our program,” Homedale coach Matt Holtry said. “They were able to make it to the championship game, and they proved to all the younger kids that are right behind them that it can be done. I think that’s something that they can be proud of, that they made it to the championship game.
“Kids dream their whole lives of playing in that game, and they represented us well.”
3A: WEST SIDE 27, DECLO 6
Crew Sage ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, leading the Pirates (11-1) to back-to-back state titles and their fifth championships in six years Friday, the Idaho State Journal reported.
West Side made a goal line stand in the second quarter and scored 20 unanswered points to run away with their 10th state championship, tied for the second most in IHSAA history.
2A: KENDRICK 50, BUTTE COUNTY 14
Sophomore quarterback Maddox Kirkland finished 13-for-20 for 393 yards and six touchdowns Friday to lead the Tigers to their fourth straight state championship at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, the Lewiston Tribune reported.
Kendrick (11-1) moved up a classification this season and continued to win, putting the Tigers in rarefied air as the third Idaho to win four or more championships in a row. The others were Mackay, which won six in a row from 1996 to 2001, and Snake River, which won five in a row from 1998 to 2002.
1A: CAREY 44, DIETRICH 30
The top-seeded Panthers rallied from a 12-point deficit at halftime, outscoring their conference rival 30-6 in the second half Thursday for the eighth state title in program history, the Times-News reported.
Carey (11-1) quarterback Preston Wood racked up 316 total yards and four touchdowns in a battle of prolific playcallers. Dietrich (10-2) quarterback Connor Perkins finished 361 total yards and five touchdowns.
This story was originally published November 23, 2024 at 7:39 PM.
