4A STATE PLAYOFFS

BISHOP KELLY 35, POCATELLO 0

At Bishop Kelly, Pocatello’s strong season came to an end with a shutout loss against the bigger Knights.

“Their size got to us,” Pocatello coach Dave Spillett said. “We had a hard time with their guys up front on the defensive line, it was a really big size difference that we were struggling with.”

The Indians trailed just 13-0 at halftime, but couldn’t find a spark to start a comeback in the second half. Pocatello threw for 218 yards — nearly as many as Bishop Kelly’s 220 — but ran for negative-8. Ryan Payne had six catches for 74 yards for Poky.

“We’re undersized, but our guys are extremely tough,” Spillett said. “I’m so proud of our guys, to take the steps we’ve taken from where we were a few years ago, to a 6-3 season. I think we’ve put the state on notice that Poky football is back. I’m extremely proud of what our guys have done this year.”

Pocatello finished 6-3, losing its last two games of the season.

BLACKFOOT 42, VALLIVUE 12

At Blackfoot, Broncos quarterback Jace Grimmett threw four touchdowns, all to Javonte King, to help the hosts pull away and avoid a first-round upset.

Blackfoot led just 14-12 at halftime, but scored 28 unanswered points in the second half.

Blackfoot (8-1) will play at No. 2 Emmett next week.

3A STATE PLAYOFFS

SOUTH FREMONT 27, AMERICAN FALLS 23 (SAT.)

American Falls fell to South Fremont Saturday by a 27-23 score.

It was a back-and-forth battle where the Beavers’ tried using up the clock to keep the Cougars’ offense off the field.

“That was a grind of a game,” South Fremont head coach Chad Hill said. “It seemed like we couldn’t get them off of the field. They executed their game plan pretty well but our kids came up with a huge stop in the fourth quarter.”

South Fremont scored first on an eight-yard Rylan Miller run. After American Falls orchestrated a clock-chewing drive the teams went into halftime tied at 7-7.

Kaimen Peebles hit wide receiver Dallin Orme for a 45-yard touchdown early in the third to put the Cougars back on top. American Falls answered with another long drive and a two-point conversion.

After another score and two-point conversion, American Falls tried an onside kick that South Fremont ran back about 25 yards. Play’s later, Miller ran in another score just slipping over the pylon as a defender rode him out of bounds.

“On defense we make some adjustments and we bring pressure and they’ve stepped up and made big plays all year they did that again tonight,” Hill said.

American Falls season ended with a record of 3-6. South Fremont will play in the second round of the playoffs next week for the first time since 2016. The Cougars will host Gooding at yet to be determined time and location.

2A STATE PLAYOFFS

SODA SPRINGS 32, ABERDEEN 12

At Aberdeen, Soda Springs sprung the upset to record its first playoff win since 2007.

“Our kids are on cloud nine,” Soda Springs coach Colter Evans said. “They believe in themselves. It’s been a long time since we got this feeling and it’s awesome to see the boys get to enjoy their hard work.”

It was the Cardinals’ fourth win in a row, and Aberdeen’s fourth loss in a row to close the season.

The game was close early, but Tug Kapp had a pick-six to give Soda Springs the lead going into halftime, giving the Cardinals an opportunity to grind the clock with their run game in the second half.

“It was a hard-fought game in the trenches,” Evans said. “Aberdeen does a great job of running the ball. We were able to run the ball in the second half and eat up a lot of clock and put the game away. Our offensive line played great.”

Soda Springs’ last playoff win was also against Aberdeen, a 21-20 triumph in 2007.

The Cardinals (5-3) will likely play at No. 2 North Fremont when the 2A teams are reseeded heading into the quarterfinals next week.

Aberdeen’s season ended with a 4-5 record.

BEAR LAKE 36, WEST JEFFERSON 22

At Bear Lake, West Jefferson’s unorthodox double-wing offense did what it was supposed to, confusing the Bears — but not for long.

“It took our defense a little bit to figure out that double wing,” Bear Lake coach Ryan Messerly said. “But we did, and we got ahead by enough.”

Once the Bears took the lead, they stifled West Jefferson’s offense, which isn’t built to throw the ball and make comebacks.

Owen Teuscher threw for 360 yards and three touchdowns for Bear Lake, adding another touchdown on the ground.

“We didn’t know how West Jefferson was going to play,” Messerly said. “I think we executed on offense. We had a gameplan and we made little adjustments as we went, and our defense stepped up when we needed them to.”

Bear Lake (5-4) advances to the quarterfinals next week. With Firth and Soda Springs winning, the Bears will likely travel to No. 3 Firth next week.

FIRTH 40, MALAD 0

At Firth, some early hope turned to disappointment for Malad as the Dragons ended their season with a loss to heavily-favored Firth.

“I felt we had a pretty good shot, a pretty good gameplan going in,” Malad coach Kory Kay said. “We marched the ball down on our first drive, no issues, and we fumbled inside their 20. From there it was a lot of catchup ball. I was pleased with how we started off and even how we finished the game out, but everything in between was not part of the plan.”

Malad finished the season with a 2-7 record.

GRACE 58, CLEARWATER VALLEY 42 (SAT.)

Last week, Grace coach Brandon Sanchez put a scare into his team. He huddled them up for a postgame speech, trying to reel in their emotions after the Grizzlies’ devastating loss to Butte that cost them the district title.

“We have a slim shot, guys,” Sanchez told them about their state playoff hopes.

He knew that was a lie. Grace went into the Butte game ranked eighth. Because of the Grizzlies’ fantastic strength of schedule, Sanchez knew his team would make the playoffs. He just didn’t want them to know that.

“I didn’t tell them we had a shot at playoffs,” he said. “They had to feel that pain a little and I think they didn’t want to feel that pain again.”

It worked. In a big upset, Grace knocked off Clearwater Valley 58-42 on Saturday.

The Grizzlies got off to a great start, as they usually had done this season. Then they blew the big lead, as they had usually done this season. But unlike most of its previous contests this season, Grace responded from adversity, rattling off 18 unanswered points to nab the first-round victory.

“In past, we tend to fall hard when (bad) things happen,” Sanchez said. “I’ve told my guys that we are the most dangerous lower seed.”

That notion will be put to the test next week. Grace (4-4) will travel to Prairie (6-0), the No. 1 seed in 1A DI.

1A DII STATE PLAYOFFS

NORTH GEM 55, COUNCIL 0

At North Gem, the Cowboys opened the playoffs with an encouraging blowout.

“(Council) was a team full of big kids and we were able to handle them,” North Gem coach Corry Hatch said. “I don’t know if they had a drive longer than 40 yards. The team was wired up. For the first time this year, we put together a really complete game. I don’t want to say it surprised them, but they were generally impressed with themselves for the way they responded.”

Bridger Hatch ran for 174 yards and three touchdowns and threw for three more touchdowns and 91 yards on just pass attempts. Chayce Low had 122 total yards and three touchdowns for the Cowboys.

North Gem had lost in the first round of the playoffs each of the previous four years.

“There was a lot of talk, especially from the seniors, that we’re tired of going out in this first game,” Hatch said. “So you could tell it was important to them, especially the seniors. We probably put some teams on notice. The guys feel like nobody’s taken them serious. After today, we’re not going to be an afterthought in the playoffs.”

North Gem (4-5) plays at Dietrich next week.

CAREY 88, ROCKLAND 12 (THURS.)

At Carey, Rockland couldn’t hang with the No. 1-ranked team in the classification on Thursday, ending the Bulldogs’ season.

It was a clobbering from the start, with Carey leading 34-0 after the first quarter and 74-6 at halftime.

{p class=”p1”}“We just struggled right out the get-go,” Rockland coach Gerry Hunter said. “We threw four interceptions. We had a fumble. And none of the bounces went our way. The boys didn’t give up, though, they kept fighting.

{p class=”p2”}“Carey has a really good program. They have for a long time. I think they’ll have a really good run through the playoffs.”

Rockland finished its season with a 4-6 record.

The Standard Journal’s Koster Kennard contributed to this report.