POCATELLO — No matter what's happened this season, through the heartbreaking losses and season-ending injuries to key players, Pocatello coach Dave Spillett has continued to tout his team as a special one.

Maybe he's right. One more win, and Spillett's Indians are in the 4A state playoffs, a berth that would end a seven-year postseason drought.

Pocatello rode quarterback Jadyn Downs and a ball-swarming defense to beat Preston 42-26 at Holt Arena on Friday in a game Poky had to win to stay alive in the hunt for the playoffs. Downs passed for two touchdowns and ran in four more, while the defense created four turnovers. The offense capitalized on each one, pushing Preston further and further behind.

"All week, they just preached that we're in control of our own destiny," Downs said. "It was all on us. If we wanted to win, we had to do it ourselves, and it was going to happen eventually."

PHOTOS: Pocatello-Preston football

Poky (4-4, 1-2 4A District 4-5 East Pod) led by 24 points three different times, including a 42-18 margin in the final minute of the fourth quarter. Preston couldn't keep Poky's offense off the field and had just two fourth-quarter drives — both led by backup sophomore quarterback Brecker Knapp, who replaced injured senior starter Ty Hyde.

Preston (5-3, 2-2 4A District 4-5 East Pod) entered the game looking to create a three-way tie for first place in the pod. Instead, with no conference games remaining and multiple teams still vying for playoff berths, Preston now has to hope the chips fall in its favor.

If they don't, the best Preston can do is clinch the district's at-large berth over the fourth-place team from 4A District 6.

"It's beautiful game for a reason," Preston coach Eric Thorson said. "Pocatello played great. We struggled on both sides of the ball just a little bit too much. I'd call it a rough night."

Downs and Pocatello's offense started hot, scoring touchdowns on 3 of 4 first-quarter possessions and 5 of 7 in the first half. The second non-scoring drive of the half ended with a quarterback kneel to take the game into halftime with Poky up 30-12.

The breakout was aided by three Preston turnovers — two fumbles and an interception that happened in a span of eight plays. Poky scored immediately after the first fumble when Downs hit Casey Bruner for a 19-yard touchdown, and Downs finished drives with short touchdown runs after the next two takeaways.

After Preston's final turnover, a third-quarter fumble, Pocatello needed just two plays to get back in the end zone. Downs and Zach Park connected for 43 yards, and Downs finished it on the next play with a 1-yard TD run.

Preston committed 17 turnovers through its first seven games and was doomed by four more on Friday.

"Any time you can get a turnover, you sure up your chances at winning," Spillett said. "But when you get a turnover and then go finish a drive and put points on the board, that really puts the opposing team in a tough spot."

Preston's uptempo offense got rolling a few times. It faced a total of two third downs on its four scoring drives, and one of the third downs went for a touchdown.

Hyde slung the ball to six receivers and completed 14 of 22 passes before leaving the game with an injury. He didn't play in the fourth quarter and was wearing an ice pack on his right shoulder after the game.

Knapp performed admirably in relief, completing 7 of 10 passes for 75 yards and a last-minute touchdown to Garrett Ward.

But the margin was too big and there wasn't enough time for Knapp to lead a heroic comeback. Thorson said after the game that he hopes to have Hyde back for the playoffs, if Preston makes it.

"Ty is the obvious leader of our team, but we don't run leadership like a pyramid. We have a lot of leaders," Thorson said. "When he goes out and Brecker comes in, everyone supported him. We were able to get the ball down and score a touchdown. That's promising looking forward."

Hyde passed for 178 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, Andrew Iverson led Preston's rushing attack with 45 yards and a score, and Ward led pass-catches with eight receptions, 85 yards and a touchdown.

Downs' monster game included 388 yards on 25-of-35 passing, two TD passes to Bruner, 30 yards rushing and for touchdown runs. Bruner led Poky's receivers with four grabs for 133 yards and two scores.

Downs, the senior first-year starting quarterback, also played cornerback and kicked extra points Friday — Poky's senior night. He didn't make any PATs, though, a stat Spillett made sure to point out.

"That will be the one thing that I'll remind him of, just to prevent his head from getting too big," Spillett joked. "He's fantastic, a great leader. He played for us in all three phases, and that's really hard to do as a quarterback."

Discounting a 34-0 loss to Highland, Pocatello has lost by margins of one, two and six points this season, falling a play or two short each time. But Spillett's message has stuck — this group doesn't quit — and there was no doubt in Friday's do-or-die win.

"We're going to enjoy this one tonight," Spillett said, "then move onto Burley and get in the playoffs and try to make some noise."

Up next:

Pocatello plays Friday at Burley. Preston plays Friday at Snake River.

POCATELLO 42, PRESTON 26

Preston 6 6 6 8 — 26

Pocatello 18 12 6 6 — 42

Scoring summary

First quarter

Poky — Bruner 40 pass from Downs (kick failed), 10:00

Poky — Jones 18 run (run failed), 5:46

Preston — Iverson 5 run (kick failed), 2:23

Poky — Bruner 19 pass from Downs (pass failed), 0:02

Second quarter

Poky — Downs 5 run (kick failed), 8:09

Poky — Downs 1 run (pass failed), 3:09

Preston — Smith 25 pass from Hyde (pass failed), 0:28

Third quarter

Poky — Downs 1 run (run failed), 5:21

Preston — Davis 12 pass from Hyde (run failed), 2:31

Fourth quarter

Poky — Downs 6 run (kick failed), 3:29

Preston — Ward 5 pass from B. Knapp (Iverson pass from Knapp), 0:54

Individual stats

Passing — Preston: Hyde 14-22-178-2-1, B. Knapp 7-10-75-1-0. Pocatello: Downs 25-35-388-2-0.

Rushing — Preston: Iverson 12-45-1, Ward 1-(-2), Hyde 6-32, Wright 1-3, Davis 3-21, B. Knapp 1-(-17). Pocatello: Payne 4-(-2), Jones 3-22-1, Downs 16-30-4, Park 1-1.

Receiving — Preston: Inglet 1-1, Ward 8-85-1, Harris 4-63, Iverson 4-51, Smith 3-41-1, Davis 1-12-1. Pocatello: Payne 2-35, Park 7-76, Bruner 4-133-2, Ney 6-85, Williams 5-37, Jones 1-22.

HIGHLIGHTS: Pocatello-Preston football