Maybe the ball was slick, or maybe it froze in these frigid Idaho temperatures, or maybe the Thunder were in the right spots at the right time, or maybe their defenders developed the skills to rip it out — or maybe we should credit something else entirely for the Lakeland fumbles that led to Pocatello’s 20-14 playoff win Friday night.

All that was certain in the aftermath of this game, which the Thunder used to secure a date with top-seeded Bishop Kelly in next weekend’s 4A second round, was that Pocatello pulled a magic trick. Down two scores in the second quarter, the Thunder scored a touchdown, recovered an onside kick, scored again, then secured a key stop right before halftime, which was about all the momentum they needed to hang on for their finest victory this fall.

They needed one more thing, though: One more stop. Threatening to balloon their lead from one score to two in the final three minutes, Poky fumbled on the exchange from quarterback Hunter May to running back Ryken Echo Hawk, setting Lakeland up with a chance to drive down the field and win the game.

This is where Poky coach Dave Spillett’s message to his secondary came in handy: Don’t get bored. To that point, the Hawks had thrown the ball just six times all game. The Thunder knew their guests would run the ball a thousand times if they had the time. Heck, Lakeland totaled nearly 300 rushing yards. So knowing the Hawks had to pass, on one play, Krue Hales nearly picked off a dropped ball.

On another, linebacker Devin Rodriguez applied pressure that forced Lakeland quarterback Cason Loutzenhiser to short-hop an open screen pass. On the final one, Loutzenhiser airmailed a pass over the middle, all but ending the game.

“This is playoff football. There’s gonna be some highs and lows,” Spillett said. “I talked to the kids at halftime and said the second half is for sure gonna be a roller coaster. We’re gonna have some good moments, we’re gonna have some bad moments. And boy did we.”

Call Spillett a soothsayer, or call him a high school football coach who’s been around the block. Either way, he was spot on.

Somehow, the Thunder found ways to stare down a 14-3 deficit and come all the way back — thanks to quarterback Hunter May, who completed 12 of 18 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown plus nine carries for 61 yards; thanks to Echo Hawk, who carded 16 carries for 49 yards and a score; thanks to Hales, who hauled in a 25-yard touchdown pass to take the lead in the second frame; thanks to a cadre of defenders who combined ripping skills with the great fortune to fall on the fumbles they forced, pitching a second-half shutout.

Take a deep breath, because the Thunder rarely had time to. After falling behind by two touchdowns — credit Lakeland running back John Cornish, who supplied 198 rushing yards, and Loutzenhiser, who threw just 10 passes in this one — May began to find a rhythm, and Echo Hawk punctuated their team’s next drive with a seven-yard touchdown rush. Then junior Garrett Keller unsheathed a perfect onside kick and the Thunder recovered it. Then, two plays later, May flung a pass over the middle to Hales, who leaped and hauled it in, a 25-yard touchdown pass that handed Pocatello a 17-14 lead in the last two minutes of the first half.

But May’s best play — the one that better illustrates his development as Poky’s fill-in quarterback — may have come an hour later. Up six with roughly three minutes left, the Thunder faced a fourth-and-1 deep in Hawk territory, forcing Spillett to make a decision: Kick a field goal and potentially go up nine, likely putting the game out reach, or secure a first down and really put it out of reach. In the huddle where that decision was made, May looked at his head coach. “Give me the ball,” he said. “I got this.”

“And talking with our O-linemen, Parker Smith, Tyson Beckles, Ryken Echo Hawk,” Spillett said, “they just said, ‘We’ll move a mountain. Get behind us.’ And they did. So that’s a big deal. I’ve got a ton of confidence in our offense.”

Everyone in the navy and red laundry should. May lined up in the shotgun, took the snap and ran off his right tackle. He needed one yard. He collected three. Moments later, he did jumble a critical fumble in this playoff game, but to Spillett and coaches, it’s his guys’ confidence — their aggressiveness — in that moment that said something.

“He’s such a tough kid. He’s a great runner,” Spillett said of May. “And extremely confident.”

Whether the Thunder can parlay confidence into another victory remains to be seen. Next, they get to travel to the Treasure Valley to play Bishop Kelly, this tournament’s top seed, the 10-0 club that throttled Canyon Ridge 70-0 in its playoff opener. The Knights may not fumble as much in that game. But they will make sure the Thunder’s secondary stays engaged. Don’t get bored.

POCATELLO 20, LAKELAND 14

Scoring summary

First quarter

P — Keller 22 field goal, 6:09

Second quarter

L — Loutzenhiser 4 rush (PAT good), 10:50

L — Cornish 17 rush (PAT good), 5:25

P — Echo Hawk 7 rush (PAT good), 2:06

P — Hales 25 pass from May (PAT good), 1:29

Third quarter

P — Keller 18 field goal, 5:06

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Lakeland: Cornish 23-198, Benson 2-3, Calder 10-59, Loutzenhiser 6-31. Pocatello: Echo Hawk 16-49, Beckles 5-37, May 9-61.

PASSING — Lakeland: Loutzenhiser 3-10-0 53. Pocatello: May 12-18-1 130.

RECEIVING — Lakeland: Benson 2-39, Cornish 1-14. Pocatello: Winn 2-18, Hales 4-44, Echo Hawk 1-3, Smith 4-44, Stucki 1-21.