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Written by: Paul Kingsbury
Follow IdahoSports.com on Twitter: @idahosports
5A
Rocky Mountain (10-1) vs Highland (10-0) 6:00pm @ Holt Arena
Rocky Mountain came in to the 2013 season starting all four members of the 2012 5A State Track Championship 400m relay team, two all-state players in Kahlil Oliver (committed to BSU) and Kekoa Nawahine plus a host of other seasoned varsity veterans.
While many pundits predicted early on that Rocky Mountain would finish well, no one expected them to finish quite THIS well. At 10-1, their only loss came during week 5 to Capital, 42-26. It has been smooth sailing the rest of the way since then as they beat every one they faced an average of 49-25.
Highland grabbed the #1 spot in the Media Polls in week two and never gave it up the rest of the year. The Rams are probably one of the most balanced teams we’ve seen in Idaho high school football in recent memory. They can obliterate teams with their power-run game led by Thad Hansen or out-gun them with their passing game behind QB Tommy Jewell.
The onus is completely on the Rocky Mountain defense Friday night. The Grizzly offense has proven they can put up big numbers week to week, but their defense has under-performed this year, allowing mediocre offenses to get two or three touchdowns on them almost every game. How they play against what is arguably the best offense in the state will be the difference between playing in the championship game next week or getting ready for basketball or wrestling practice.
Anything can happen, but I just don’t see this Highland Ram team losing this year.
Capital (10-1) @ Coeur d’Alene (7-3) 7:00pm(p)
CDA is without a doubt the best 7-3 team in the state of Idaho. Starting the season 1-3 is not how Coach Amos drew it up on the chalkboard over the summer, but take a look at who they lost to: Bothell, WA 44-43, Skyline, Wa 38-23, Highland (ID), 24-21.
Notice that last one. They only lost to Highland 24-21 in a game that became an instant classic. A game which, by the way, was broadcast live on IdahoSports.com.
Riding a wave of success, they beat everyone else on their schedule on average of 48-11. Confidence was high among the Viking faithful for their 4th straight trip to the state championship game and 3rd title in that same time frame. Then, last week senior quarterback Gunnar Amos broke his right ankle in two places in the first half of last Friday's 52-9 victory over Timberline in the quarter-finals. Sophomore QB Austin Lee has some mighty big shoes to fill and a lot of hopes riding on his throwing arm this Friday night.
Capital coasted through the bulk of their schedule with relative ease, beating teams like Rocky Mountain and Mountain View without really breaking much of a sweat. The last two games of the regular season, however, the Eagles nearly lost to 3-6 Centennial (38-35) and DID lose to 7-3 Eagle (31-28). Like I said in my preview last week, the key to this game will be the play of QB Conner Poulsen and how well the Viking defense can get past the Capital line to pressure him. If you give him time, he’ll make the throw. If you pressure him but give him a gap, he’ll bust loose on you for big yards.
If the Viking defense can keep the Capital offense in check, and if their offensive line can keep their young QB from getting pounded too many times, it could be interesting. If either of those things doesn’t happen, Capital will walk away with another win and a trip to the championship game.
4A
Jerome @ Skyview, 7:00pm, Friday
Besides the first couple of weeks of the Media Poll, when is seems everyone in the state gets a vote, Jerome did not make another appearance the rest of the year. Not even any love from the Magic Valley voters. Regardless, the Tigers ended up with the 2nd seed in the Great Basin behind All-State QB Zach Thibault, 2nd Team All-State OL Damon Zamora and DB Tyler Frisbey. Now, here they sit two games away from winning their first state championship since 1987. Half of the people reading this weren’t even alive the last time Jerome won a state football title.
Because of graduation, Coach Young of the Skyview Hawks had the unenviable task of rebuilding both his offensive and defensive lines. Luckily he had a lot of good pieces coming back and moving up from JV. Whatever he and his coaching staff did, it worked and the Hawks come in to Friday night’s game a solid 9-1 team with their only loss coming to Bishop Kelly 14-10 opening night.
To have any chance of winning, Jerome will have to stop a Skyview offense that averaged 47 points a game after that opening week loss. The Tigers have not proven they can stop a good offensive team yet this season. Sorry Scott Burton, your home-town Tigers end their season Friday night at Skyview.
Bishop Kelly vs Century, 8:30pm, Friday @ Holt Arena
This is a game I wish I was going to be watching in person. I said in my preview of the CDA vs Capital game that CDA is the best 7-3 team in the state. I should probably throw an asterisk by that and note that I meant besides Century they were the best 7-3 team in the state.
In Century’s three losses, the total number of points they lost by was 7. And that includes their loss during their opener to Highland 27-23. After the month of September, they didn’t lose another game and out-scored their opponents 255-56, holding every team but Blackfoot to 8 points or less.
Bishop Kelly is one of the few unbeaten teams in the state. While they were a near unanimous #1 in the rankings all year, I can’t help thinking that, while they are definitely a very good football team, they played in a very down 4A SIC conference. They played two good teams (Skyview and Kuna) the entire regular season and both of those games were the only close games they played all year. Last week they trounced Kuna 49-6, but the Kavemen were a very understandably distracted team after losing teammate Boone Bartlome in the first quarter with a broken neck.
Ever since Century won back to back state titles (and I picked against them every game they played) I have had this little thing with the Diamondback coaches where I am their good luck charm by picking against them every week. If they played Oaksdale, Wa, I would still pick against Century.
I think it is time to do away with tradition and let the Diamondbacks prove they can win without the magical powers of my picks. You heard it here first: Century will beat Bishop Kelly and play for the chance to win their first state championship title in over a decade. This one’s for you Ferg.
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