kang@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - Coach Ken Miner couldn't help but feel a little anxious as the minutes ticked off the clock in the fourth quarter of Salmon's win over Shelley on Friday at Holt Arena.

Having built a three-score lead at halftime by capitalizing on four Shelley turnovers, Salmon had to weather a second-half charge by the defending 3A state champion to pull out a 25-15 victory in the state semifinals. As it did in the first half, Salmon's defense played brilliantly at the most crucial moments of the game to hold Shelley at bay.

In advancing to the state title game against Buhl or Fruitland, Salmon also avenged a 35-14 beating it suffered at the hands of Shelley in the final game of the regular season.

"I was concerned a little bit, but I had all the faith in the world that the kids would get it done," Miner said. "Our kids just want to finish this thing off. Tonight was just fantastic."

Salmon (9-2) held an 18-0 lead at halftime, but Savages quarterback Riley Sessions threw two interceptions that Shelley (8-3) converted to touchdowns. His team's lead trimmed to three, Sessions marched the Savages right back down the field, tossing his third and final touchdown pass to Jared Shively. The Savages then forced the Russets to turn the ball over on downs on their final drive.

That was a fitting ending for a game that saw Salmon record a safety on Shelley's first possession of the game and then force turnovers on its ensuing three.

Miner attributed the strong defensive performance to a man-to-man scheme that Salmon implemented just this week in practice.

"We felt we could match up with them if we did that, and I'll tell you what, it worked beautifully," Miner said.

The first two takeaways allowed Salmon to begin drives in Shelley territory, which seemed to help Sessions settle down. Sessions missed on his first seven throws, badly overthrowing his receivers several times, but he converted the Russets' turnovers into two touchdown drives and a field goal for the comfortable halftime lead.

Sessions ended up completing 13-of-28 passes for 173 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. With the way Salmon's defense played, that proved to be enough.

"He was a little nervous. The jitters were there, but he settled down and made some nice throws," Miner said. "We had that nice drive to finish it off. It was perfect."

Salmon 25, Shelley 15

Shelley 0 0 0 15 - 15

Salmon 2 16 0 7 - 25

Scoring summary

First quarter

Sa - Safety

Second quarter

Sa - Levi Aldous 39 pass from Riley Sessions (kick blocked)

Sa - Zach Hull 8 pass from Riley Sessions (kick good)

Sa - Garrett Stahl 28 field goal

Fourth quarter

Sh - Chase Richins 4 pass from Tanner Higham (Alex Hill pass from Tanner Higham)

Sh - Tanner Higham 3 run (kick good)

Sa - Jared Shively 15 pass from Riley Session (kick good)

Individual statistics

Rushing: Shelley - Gabe Nii 4-9, Kody Fellows 7-30, Tanner Higham 14-46, Chase Richins 3-1, Cody Andersen 5-12. Salmon - Levi Aldous 17-64, Riley Sessions 2-7, Clint Gosack 10-44, Nathan Nooner 3-8.

Passing: Shelley - Tanner Higham 9-15-130-1-1, Chase Richins 3-4-39-0-0. Salmon - Riley Sessions 13-28-173-3-2.

Receiving: Shelley - Chase Richins 3-26, McCade Bono 1-15, Alex Hill 3-37, Gabe Nii 1-3, Kody Fellows 2-64, Josh Eaton 1-5, Tanner Higham 1-17. Salmon - Levi Aldous 3-56, Zach Hull 1-8, Jared Shively 4-55, Trey Infanger 3-21, Mark Hobbs 2-33.