Butte County, West Side play for back-to-back titles; Sugar-Salem on hunt for three-peat
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EASTERN IDAHO — Football’s final weekend has arrived, and five of six games will feature at least one team from the District 5-6 region
Rigby will look to return to the summit of the 6A Division (formerly 5A) for the fourth time in the past six years.
Crosstown rivals Skyline and Hillcrest will battle it out for the 5A crown Friday night at Idaho State University’s ICCU Dome. Skyline is in search of a fourth banner in five years — and sixth under current head coach Scott Berger.
Sugar-Salem, which has won the last two championships plays for its third consecutive championship, and sixth in seven years.
Conference rivals Declo and West Side will decide who brings home the 3A title. The Pirates have owned what prior to this year was the 2A Division, winning the title last year and four times the past five years.
Reigning champs Butte County look to follow up the first football championship in school history by making in back-to-back.
1A: Dietrich @ Carey; Thursday, 7 p.m., at ISU’s ICCU Dome
Finals weekend begins Thursday, with a pair of District 4 rivals battling it out of the 1A banner.
The two teams met once this season, on Oct. 11. Carey (10-1) won that meeting 54-6, and have outscored opponents 534 to 42 since a Sept. 6 loss to Butte County.
Dietrich (10-1) has scored 197 points in three playoff games this season, giving up 58.
2A: Kendrick @ Butte County; Friday, 4 p.m., at University of Idaho’s Kibbie Dome
The Pirates (9-1) rumbled their way to a 50-22 victory over Hagerman in the semifinals, behind the three-headed running attack of Razor Duke, Rawson Twitchell and Keaton Archibald.
Archibald, who scored on a pair of long touchdown runs in the first half, suffered a leg injury against Hagerman and was hobbled the rest of the game.
The victory over Hagerman avenged Butte County’s lone regular season loss.
Kendrick (10-1) avenged its only regular season loss, to Logos, in its semifinal victory.
Butte County topped Logos, 36-24, to open their season on Aug. 24.
This is a rematch of the 2023 2A title game, which West Side dominated, 41-13.
3A: West Side @ Declo; Friday, 5:30 p.m., at ISU’s ICCU Dome
Declo (10-1) won the hotly contested 3A South East Idaho Conference via tiebreaker.
The Hornets’ lone loss came at Aberdeen on Sept. 6, in an 8-0 defensive battle.
West Side (10-1) suffered its only defeat, 6-0, at Declo on Sept. 27.
Both teams rely on stingy defenses, but have the offensive firepower to put up points in bunches.
The Pirates will need big games from running backs Crew and Drake Sage, who led the way to West Side’s 29-0 semifinal victory over Aberdeen.
Wide Receiver Gavin Rasmussen has been a key component to Declo’s success since he was a sophomore and will look to post one more big performance in his final game with the squad.
4A: Homedale @ Sugar-Salem, Saturday, 1 p.m., at Middleton High School
Sugar-Salem (8-2) has dominated the 4A Division (formerly 3A) under head coach Tyler Richins.
This season, the Diggers suffered back-to-back September losses, to Star Valley (WY) — who last week won its third-straight Wyoming state championship — and Kimberly. Since, they have won five straight, scoring 225 points while giving up just 46. One of those victories, the state semifinals, was a revenge victory over Kimberly, which Sugar-Salem claimed, 27-0, behind an overpowering run game and stifling defense.
Homedale (10-1) fell short of its chance to challenge the Diggers last season, falling 49-42 to Teton in the semifinals.
The Trojans get their chance at the champs this week, but have their work cut out for them with Kooper Mace, Jackson Gardner and Dawson McInelly able to take the game over on a moment’s notice.
Continuing with the theme, Homedale avenged their only regular season loss with a 27-7 victory over Weiser last week.
5A: Hillcrest @ Skyline; Friday, 8:15 p.m., at ISU’s ICCU Dome
Hillcrest (9-3) suffered just one loss to a 5A opponent. That came on Sept. 20 at Skyline (10-2), 28-16.
This is the game that many local football fans have been looking forward to all season — featuring a pair of perennial powers.
The Knights, led by junior quarterback Tyson Sweetwood, average more than 35 points per game, and boast a defense that has the capability of locking down any opponent — just looks at last week, when Lakeland scored just seven points in the second half, and that came following a Hillcrest turnover.
Hillcrest’s defensive uprising helped Sweetwood and the offense complete a comeback that began with the Knights trailing 21-6 and finished with them winning the semifinal showdown, 42-28.
Skyline and quarterback CarMyne Garcia are just as capable of putting up points in bunches. They have scored 35 or more points seven times this season.
Despite this matchup boasting what may be two of the five best quarterbacks in the state, it will likely come down to the supporting casts.
Look for Titan Larsen and Jace Judy to put up big numbers in the dome for Hillcrest, matched by Skyline’s Zyan Crockett and Trey Kirkham.
It is unlikely 28 points will be enough to win this rematch, as it was when the two teams met early in the season.
6A: Eagle @ Rigby; Saturday, 2 p.m., at Boise State University’s Albertsons Stadium
Rigby (10-1) got its season off to a rough start at Coeur d’Alene in the form of a 24-14 loss to the Vikings.
Since though, they have demolished everything that has been put in front of them. Only twice on their current 10-game winning streak have the Trojans been held to a single-digit advantage — on Sept. 20 at West (UT), 35-33, and last week at No. 1-ranked Rocky Mountain, 21-18.
Junior Jake Flowers has proven to be an elite dual-threat quarterback, capable of killing the opposition with his legs or arm. But he is far from the only person making up an incredibly scary offensive backfield.
The only thing that has slowed running backs Jerzey Duenes and Amani Morel this season is the carries the other gets.
Eagle (9-2) has remained in the media poll’s top-five all season.
The Mustangs have enjoyed several huge wins this season, including a 22-16 first-round victory over Madison, and a 28-14 win at Coeur d’Alene last week.
One measuring stick that does not play into Eagle’s favor is Rocky Mountain. The team Rigby beat en route to this title berth walloped the Mustangs, 38-0, in the Southern Idaho Conference Championship game on Oct. 25.