REXBURG – When Marsh Valley was invited to participate in the Rocky Mountain Rumble this year, they gladly accepted.

When they were offered the game against Beaver, UT, they again gladly accepted, even though at the time, the Beavers had a 26 game winning streak and had won back-to-back state titles in Utah.

That streak reached 28 straight games before Friday’s kick off as Beaver had already played a pair of games this season and had a bit of an experience edge over Marsh Valley.

“We won’t shy away from anybody and you can look at our schedule for this year and see that,” Marsh valley coach Doug Armstrong said. “We start the year with Beaver and follow it up with Teton, West Side and Sugar-Salem. There are some tough teams on that list.”

When the teams took the field for the opening kickoff, a decided advantage seemed to lie with Beaver as their bench almost out numbered Marsh Valley by a 20-1 margin. Marsh Valley only had 23 players in uniform.

“We will be challenged this year with our depth,” Armstrong said. “It won’t matter as we have three or four players here that can play at the next level if someone will give them the chance. We have a lot of kids that are ready to play both ways and compete and that is what you want in a football player.”

The Eagles took the opening kick-off and drove the ball down the field, getting seven-consecutive first downs. Power running back Michael Belnap would punch it in from the two-yard line and Marsh Valley was in business, leading the game early on by a 7-0 score.

Not to be outdone, the Beavers marched down the field on their own, eating up chunks of time off the clock and on the final play of the first quarter, Beaver was able to score, but the extra point was not good and at the end of the first period, the score was 7-6 in favor of Marsh Valley.

It looked like that would change early in the third, when Roche took the ball over the left side and streaked down the sideline – eventually ending up in the end zone, only to have the play called back for holding in what became a very penalty plagued contest the rest of the way.

Beaver would catch a break moments later, when Tyten Fails completed a pass to Gage Edwards for the score and with the two-point conversion. Beaver took the lead 14-7.

A quick turnaround gave the Beavers the ball once again and they could smell pay dirt as they drove the ball down the field. At the 2:49 mark of the third period, Fails was at it again, this time going 14 yards with a pass to Kutlur Matheson for another score and with the extra point to push the lead to 14.

Marsh Valley came back with a vengeance with Hunter Roche leading the way. He completed a 36-yard pass play to Payton Howe and the Eagles were on the Beavers 16-yard line. Four plays later, Marsh Valley was still outside the end zone and the Beavers took over once again .

The Eagles were not finished, though, forcing a punt and with 38 seconds left in the game.

Roche completed one more long pass to Payton Howe that resulted in a touchdown and an obligatory time out was called.

The Eagles contemplated whether to go for one point or two on the conversion.

The choice was made to go for two and as Roche skirted the right side, looking for a receiver, he was flushed out.

In desperation, Roche flung the ball towards his favorite receiver and the ball was tipped and bounced around in the air before one of the Beavers defenders grabbed it and tucked it away, preserving the one point Beavers win at 21-20.