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1. Cooper Miller (Wallace)
The Miners' sophomore sensation was top star with seven touchdowns last week. On Friday, he had a hand in nine scores (6 passing, 2 rushing, 1 receiving) and 529 yards of total offense in a wild win over Genesee in the 1A quarterfinals.
2. Gavin Draper (Grace)
The senior continues to push for a possible Player of the Year award, throwing for 326 yards and 5 touchdowns against a strong Prairie team in the 2A quarterfinals. He also had six tackles on defense.
3. Eli Noah (Tri-Valley)
The Titans' senior continued his strong play, rushing for 209 yards and five touchdowns in a 1A quarterfinal win over Deary. The two-way standout also contributed ten tackles on defense.
Honorable Mention
Stockton Sears (Carey)
Jon Denke (Coeur du Christ)
Bryson Evans (Council)
Jacob Mechling (Deary)
Tyler Rowland (Garden Valley)
Noah Bollman (Genesee)
Will Mavencamp (Hagerman)
Lawson Landmark (Kamiah)
Maddox Kirkland (Kendrick)
Baxter Covington (Logos)
Derrick Huter (Notus)
Levi Gehring (Prairie)
McCoy Spencer (Raft River)
Preview Of Coming Attractions
During Council's 46-8 win over rival Garden Valley in the 1A quarterfinals, the Lumberjacks' coaching staff made what could be considered a dangerous decision - the staff limited the playing time for two-way star Owen Hatfield. Hatfield dressed and played in certain situations, but rather than exposing him to four quarters of wear and tear against the physical Wolverine defense, sophomore Jim Tucker took most of the snaps at quarterback. And, with Tucker at quarterback, sophomore Brody Davis took extra reps at Tucker's usual spot at running back. The plan worked - Hatfield got additional rest ahead of next week's semifinal matchup against powerhouse Carey. Tucker rushed for nearly 200 yards and three touchdowns, and the rest of the 1A classification got a sneak peek at what Council could look like in 2026 with Tucker and Davis lined up behind what could be the classification's best offensive line: Remington Crowell, Wyatt Hatfield, and James Yoakum, each of whom will return next fall.
Key 'D"
Wallace's wild 1A quarterfinal win over Genesee is hard to boil down to one paragraph. It was an incredibly entertaining game from two terrific offenses. The Miners scored the dramatic 68-66 win in overtime thanks to - of all things - a defensive stop. Wallace tied the game to force overtime in the closing seconds and then took the lead with an OT touchdown run from super-sophomore Cooper Miller. A successful two-point conversion gave the Miners an 8-point lead before Genesee answered with a touchdown run from Noah Bollman to pull back within two. That's when junior Marley Pearce, who played much of the contest despite an injury, made a huge play for Walllace. Pearce stopped Genesee quarterback Jackson Banks short of the goal line on the two-point conversion attempt to end a game that will be talked about for a long time in Wallace.
Young Gun
A lot of heads were turned during the offseason when reigning state champion Kendrick hired 19-year-old Ty Koepp, a former state Player of the Year for the Tigers, ad the program's head coach. So we figured it was a good time to check in on how Koepp is doing in his first season. The Tigers are 10-0 headed into their semifinal matchup against Grace. In those ten games, the Tigers have scored 757 points - over 75 per game - and allowed just 60. Only one game, October 17 against Logos (a 48-24 win), was decided by fewer than 54 points. Kendrick moves down to the 1A classification next fall and loses a ton of talent to graduation following this season. However, Koepp and his staff will still have QB Maddox Kirkland, RB/LBs Orion Stewart and Blake Morgan, WR/DB Jerry Anderson, OL/DL Keegan Anderson, OL/DL Nathan Kimberling, and WR/DE Hudson Kirkland, among others.
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