Rigby dominates Highland, but coach Armando Gonzalez says there are improvements to make

POCATELLO — In front of a capacity home crowd, in what has become one of the biggest annual regular-season games in Idaho high school football, the Highland Rams won the coin toss and elected to defer until the second half. The Rigby Trojans won just about everything else, earning a huge 33-3 victory and the top spot in the state’s toughest conference.

Despite the win though, head coach Armando Gonzalez was not happy with his team’s performance.

Offensively, Gonzalez said after the game, his team “was not clean” and left multiple touchdowns on the field. In this rivalry, he added, with so much on the line, it is important to “find a way to win.”

“I think the best is still yet to come. That actually makes me feel good, it’s just hard in the moment,” Gonzalez said. … “It isn’t satisfying when you don’t play a clean football game.”

Gonzalez was critical of his quarterback, junior Jake Flowers, who overthrew several open receivers — at least three of which would have been massive gains and possible touchdowns.

Still, Flowers provided a productive performance, completing 11 of 17 pass attempts for 120 yards, while adding another 85 rushing yards and one score on eight carries.

Always looking forward, though, Gonzalez said that his Trojans (5-1 overall, 1-0 in conference) — specifically his quarterback — will have to perform better if this team is to win another state title.

“Those are the things we’ve got to clean up,” the coach said of Flowers’ missed receivers. “If we want to play championship football in October and November, we can’t do those things.”

Highland’s defense, which has been among the best in the state through six games, forced Trojans into a three-and-out to open the game. But Rigby returned the favor, forcing a quick punt from the Rams (6-1, 1-1).

From there, stops were few and far between for the worn-down and beat-up Highland defense, which lost another key player, lineman Tihoti Tavui, to an apparent leg injury early in the game.

The Trojans took their second possession 76 yards to the house, finishing on a punishing 14-yard touchdown run from junior Amani Morel — which would prove to be the winning score.

Morel finished his night carrying the ball eight times for 47 yards and two scores. The second half of Rigby’s thunder-and-lighting backfield, Jerzey Duenes, turned his eight carries into 86 yards and one touchdown.

Highland found a little rhythm on its second possession, moving the ball into Trojan territory before Rams quarterback Keaton Belnap was picked off at the Rigby 31.

Sixty-nine yards later, Rigby found the endzone a second time, this time on a six-yard keeper from Flowers.

While he was adamant there are things to fix on the offensive end — and a missed extra point on Rigby’s first touchdown of night will no doubt be mentioned at practice — Gonzalez was thrilled with the way his defense played.

Highland’s offense, Gonzalez said, employs a lot of pre-snap “window dressing,” with different personnel packages and motions. The Rams even switched things up early Friday, widening their gaps on the offensive line in hopes of creating more running lanes. But the Rigby defense worked hard to prepare for what Highland was doing.

“The kids, all week, did a good job with that, and it showed,” Gonzalez said.

Save for a for one drive, led by Belnap who shed multiple tacklers for a big 16-yard gain, Highland never worked its way into a real scoring opportunity. And even that one drive was stuffed by the Trojans. It did produce the Rams’ only points of the night, albeit on a 51-yard field goal from senior kicker Paxten Johnson.

Johnson, who said after the game that it was his longest career make in-game, said head coach Nick Sorrell did not hesitate to send him out there, trailing 13-0, with less than a minute remaining in the first half.

“Coach was confident in me,” he said. … “As soon as it came off my foot, I knew I had it.”

That was the extent of the scoring for Highland.

Belnap, who found himself quickly under pressure nearly every time he had the ball, completed six of his 13 pass attempts for 55 yards, and ran the ball 12 times for 75 yards. He was hit nearly every time he threw the ball, and was sacked three times.

The Trojans defense intercepted two of Belnap’s passes, and forced him to fumble the ball away in the fourth quarter as Highland was searching for a final hope.

The Rams offense, looking to ignite something, called for a flea flicker in the second quarter, and the Rigby defense bit on the run fake but reacted in time to bat what would have been a touchdown catch way from senior wideout Lana Alvarico.

Gonzalez said his team discussed Highland’s decision to run a gadget play on the sideline, saying they were being forced to “reach into their bag of tricks.”

“When they can’t move the football, they’ve got to try something,” he said.

Gonzalez said he knew, going in, that his defense was able capable of being “physically dominant” against this Rams offensive line.

Even frustrated with certain aspects of his team’s performance, Gonzalez said that the job they came to do was accomplished.

“I think, right now, we’ve asserted ourselves in east Idaho again,” he said. … “Now, we turn our attention to that team up north.”

Rigby will be at home next week, hosting another undefeated 6A High Country Conference team in Madison, who had a bye this week.

Highland will use its own bye week to heal up before going on the road to face Skyline on Oct. 18.