Game of the Week encore: 6A champ Rigby tops 5A champ Hillcrest
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This game report was originally published on Oct. 18, following the matchup of eventual champions — Rigby in 6A and Hillcrest in 5A. It has been selected as an encore for Game of the Week.
AMMON — Hillcrest had avoided defeat on its newly minted home turf nearly the entire season.
But Friday night, the Knights, previously 3-0 at home, were handed their first-ever loss on the brand new Westmark Stadium turf when the Rigby Trojans beat Hillcrest 49-39 in a high scoring offensive battle.
For both teams, the game really didn’t carry much weight, and it certainly didn’t carry any playoff bearings. But that had no effect on how either team showed up to the field for Hillcrest’s senior night.
Playoff implications and district titles aside, both Rigby and Hillcrest showed almost all the playcards they had in their offensive books. Or, more aptly, showed gaps in their defensive books.
Hillcrest opened the game with a flea flicker that resulted in no yards but answered minutes later when Knights quarterback Tyson Sweetwood ran for a 26-yard touchdown.
Rigby has already been crowned the 6A District 5-6 champions and walked into Friday night’s game sitting at a crisp 6-1, winning its last six games. The Trojans were coming off back-to-back wins over previously unbeaten 6A opponents, Highland and Madison. A Rigby victory seemed like it might have been a sure thing.
That’s what the Rigby crowd, which filled the entire visitor’s stands and poured onto the sidelines, felt. But a quick seven points on the board to open the game for Hillcrest shifted the tension in the air. The win wasn’t a sure thing. The Trojans were going to have to work to add one to the win column.
For Rigby head coach Armando Gonzalez, this game was all about moving forward.
“I don’t think it came down to taking it seriously,” Gonzalez said after the game. “It comes down to, every game, we have to get better, to gain some momentum and prepare ourselves to play good football in October, November and for the playoffs.”
Hillcrest led the game at half, 31-28. The Knights capitalized on an undisciplined Trojan defenseon their final drive of the second quarter. Rigby had quick back-to-back penalties that put the Knights offense on the Trojan 13-yard line. Sweetwood finished the drive running in for a five-yard touchdown to secure the lead at half.
Rigby had no trouble finding the endzone. But they weren’t making any stops either.
Gonzalez said the fancy high-scoring offense means nothing if they can’t improve their holes on defense.
“Defensively, we were not very sound,” Gonzalez said. “We made enough mistakes where they capitalized on it, and they did a good job. They did a good job getting the ball to their best players.
“We needed to just settle in. We were making way too many mistakes.”
Gonzalez said, so much of the game came down to the “big plays.” Eliminating the one-off, breakthrough plays that give teams a grip on victory will be the key to Trojan success in the postseason.
Sweetwood led the Knights with several breakthrough plays that Gonzalez mentioned. He ended the game passing for 225 yards and rushing for 104. He threw for two touchdowns and ran in three himself.
After the game, Sweetwood said that he was proud of his team’s performance against a bigger, deeper Rigby squad, noting that a close loss to a highly ranked 6A opponent is “no the end of the world.”
“I’m proud of our guys,” he said. “We fought all night, just came up a little short.”
Rigby quarterback Jacob Flowers passed for 76 yards, ran for 107 and walked away with three rushing touchdowns. The Rigby offense found most of its success on the ground, with 60 rushing yards from running back Jerzey Duenes.
Wide receiver Owen Golding helped the Trojans get jumpstarted, returning a kickoff nearly 100 yards for a score after Hillcrest took the early 7-0 lead.
“If we want to continue to play, we are going to have to fix a lot of the things that went wrong this game,” Gonzalez said. “We still have a long way to go to be a really good football team.”
Hillcrest will finish its regular season next week at Idaho Falls. Rigby will be at Thunder Ridge.