THOMAS – The Snake River Panthers opened the season with a strong 42-14 win Friday over the visiting Kimberly Bulldogs.

The teams entered the game sharing 3A's No. 5 ranking in the preseason media poll, but Snake River surely elevated itself with the win.

“We beat a really good team tonight,” Snake River coach Jeb Harrison said. “They have some real fine ballplayers and we were very determined on both offense and defense."

The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard first, capping a long opening drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Heath Owens to Brett Bronson, although the extra point was missed, giving the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead.

It didn't take the Panthers long to get that score back, as they took the next kickoff and marched right down the field on the strength of senior running back Treyton Young and the passing of sophomore quarterback Cole Gilbert. Armando Garza ran in a score from 3 yards out to tie the score at 6-6.

Following a punt by Kimberly, the Panthers came right back down the field and scored on a 22-yard pass from Gilbert to Trey Poulter, and when Gilbert punched in the 2-point conversion, the Panthers held a 14-6 lead.

The Panthers were not done as Gilbert called his own number on a quarterback draw and scampered 62 yards for the touchdown, giving Snake River a 21-6 lead with 8:15 left until halftime.

Gilbert was filling in for the injured Mitch Lindsay, who started at QB for the Panthers last season. Gilbert completed 14 of 19 passes for 157 yards and one touchdown, adding 80 yards rushing on five carries.

"Gilbert filled in at quarterback the way we needed him to do," Harrison said.

The Bulldogs showed that they had some fight left in them and before intermission, they picked up another score. This time, it was on the strength of quarterback Heath Owens, who took it in from 55 yards out to get the Bulldogs back within seven points following the extra point, 21-14.

Back came the Panthers, who used Young to pick up yards in chunks as he powered his way down the field.

Young took the ball into the end zone from 10 yards out and with the extra point, the Panthers went back up by two touchdowns, 28-14, heading to halftime.

The second half was all Snake River. The Panthers rode Young's legs up and down the field and he responded in kind as he punched the ball into the end zone once again with 1:12 left in the third quarter to put the Panthers up 35-14.

When Young wasn't carrying the ball for first downs, he was catching the ball in the flat and with his elusive style of running, made numerous Bulldogs miss tackles to move the ball in the air as well.

Young rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns to lead a Panthers rushing attack that amassed 294 yards.

"It was nice to see Young play the way he did tonight, which is what we wanted him to do," Harrison said.

The Panthers went to a clock-eating offense in the fourth quarter and added a final tally when Chandler Coombs scored on a 4-yard run.

Up next:

Snake River (1-0) hosts West Side on Friday.

SNAKE RIVER 42, KIMBERLY 14

Kimberly 6 8 0 0 — 14

Snake River 14 14 7 7 — 42

Scoring summary

First quarter

K — Bronson 22 pass from Owens (kick failed)

SR — Garza 3 run (kick failed)

SR — Poulter 22 pass from Gilbert (Gilbert run)

Second quarter

SR — Gilbert 62 run (Trejo kick)

K — Owens 55-yard run (conversion good)

SR — Young 10 run (kick)

Third quarter

SR — Young 9 run (Trejo kick)

Fourth quarter

SR — Coombs 4 run (Trejo kick)

Individual stats

Passing — Snake River: Gilbert 14-19-157-1.

Receiving — Snake River: Wray 2-20, Young 3-37, Ranstrom 2-9, Poulter 5-69-1, Coombs 2-12.

Rushing — Snake River: Young 21-153-2, Garza 5-18-1, Gilbert 5-80-1, Ranstrom 1-2, Coombs 6-41-1.