Justin Williams ran for 183 yards and two touchdowns as North Gem defeated Sho-Ban 48-14 in Bancroft Friday afternoon.

    The Cowboys led 22-8 at halftime and blew the game open in the early minutes of the second half.

    Williams scored on a 50-yard run on the first play. On the ensuing kick-off, the Cowboys forced a fumble and Riley Askew scored on a 40-yard run one play later.

    “Our first quarter was great,” North Gem head coach Cody Hansen said. “We struggled in the second quarter but came out aggressive in the third.”

    Caston Holbrooke threw for 62 yards and a touchdown for North Gem. He also added 44 yards on the ground.    North Gem (3-5, 2-2 1A DII) closes out its regular season at Castleford next Friday.

Bear Lake 26, Marsh Valley 22

    The Bear Lake Bears continued their amazing season as they picked up their second 3A Fifth District win with a 26-22 win over Marsh Valley in Arimo Friday night.

    Thanks to Josh Teeples effort on the ground (18 carries, 97 yards, one touchdown) and Ryan Lynch’s through the air (two receptions, 53 yards, two touchdowns) Bear Lake has earned the No. 2 seed out of its conference.

    “They definitely work hard and they believe in each other,” Bears head coach Jared Farmer said of why his team is having so much success. “Nobody is getting down on each other. They just keep fighting.”

    Bear Lake was blanked in the first quarter, but put 12 points on the board in the second. The key to the victory, however, was the play of the Bears’ defense.

    “Turnovers were the difference,” Farmer said. “Marsh fumbled the ball quite a few times. A couple of times they were threatening and turned it over. Our defense was hitting hard and getting those turnovers.”

    Bear Lake (4-4, 2-1) will play the second seed from District Six for a spot in the state playoffs next Saturday at Holt Arena. Farmer believes his team will face Teton.

Volleyball

Century 3, Blackfoot 0

Century 3, Rigby 0

    The Century Diamondbacks began their run to yet another district and state title as they defeated Blackfoot and Rigby to start 4A Fifth/Sixth District play Friday evening at Pocatello High School.

    Century beat the Broncos in straight sets 25-13, 25-15, 25-14 and the Trojans, also in straight sets, 25-18, 25-9,25-12.

    “We have been working on making our offense not so predictable,” said Diamondbacks’ head coach Pauline Thiros. “Tonight we scored extremely efficient in scoring from every position. We were pleased with that.”

    Kayla Ellis led the way with 20 kills while Ann Clappier added 17, Jennie Murillo 12, Henny Hearn 11 and Jamie Miller seven.

    Today Century faces Bonneville, the team that beat the Diamondbacks in an epic five-set match earlier this season.

    “They’re very excited,” Pauline said of her players’ attitudes heading into the rematch. “Every year we have a loss that kind of wakes us up and changes the course of our training. My team is really excited to play the Bees again and the Bees are excited to play us.”

    “We hope we can bring that same brand of play tomorrow,” Thiros said. “Tonight the machine was humming.”

    Bonneville and Century (35-3) get going at noon today at Pocatello High School. The winner will face the winner from the losers bracket, which is sheduled to begin at 4 p.m.