PREP FOOTBALL: Priest River routs Kellogg 64-26 for sixth straight win
On a second down and 35, Priest River High senior Skyler Simcox hauls in a 35-yard reception while being closely defended by Kellogg High sophomore Evan Vandasius during the Spartans' 64-26 win over the Wildcats on Friday.
Photo by Jason Duchow Photography
Priest River 64, Kellogg 26
PRIEST RIVER — With a potential trip to the 3A state playoffs on the line, the Spartans rushed for 493 yards, eight rushing touchdowns and senior Sawyer Staudt broke the Priest River all-time rushing touchdown record in a 64-26 3A Central Idaho League win over Kellogg on Friday at Priest River High.
Everything went the Spartans' way from the very beginning. After a five minute, 58 second opening yard touchdown drive capped off by a Nate Fegert 5-yard run, freshman Jacob Best intercepted a tipped pass on the Wildcats' opening play from scrimmage. Fegert, who had 246 rushing yards on 12 carries in the contest, ran for a 36-yard touchdown shortly after the takeaway to put the Spartans on top 16-0.
Early in the second quarter, Staudt, who rushed 24 times for 180 yards on the night, scored on a 28-yard run to keep Priest River rolling. However, Kellogg's Chevy Ward recovered a fumble and returned it 35 yards to bring the Wildcats within 24-14. Momentum seemed to be in Kellogg's favor until, on a second down and 35 yards to go on Priest River's next drive, junior quarterback Lucas Mathews connected with senior Skyler Simcox for a 35-yard reception to keep the drive alive. To top it all off, Kellogg was called for defensive pass interference on the play.
"It was super clutch," Priest River High head coach Alex Zepeda said of Simcox's catch. "He had excellent concentration on the ball and was able to come down with it. I felt like that was a huge turning point in the game even though we already had a lead."
Staudt finished off the drive with an 8-yard rushing touchdown and by halftime, Priest River maintained a healthy 32-20 lead after Kellogg converted a touchdown with just five seconds remaining.
The Wildcats looked to trim the lead some more on the opening drive of the third quarter, but junior Gavin Griesemer forced a fumble and junior Brady Hatten was there to recover it for the Spartans. Priest River then marched down the field and extended their lead to 20 points with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Staudt — that touchdown marked his 20th rushing touchdown of the year, breaking the Priest River all-time rushing touchdown record of 19 set by Zack Mack in 2000.
"To get that record is awesome, especially since he hadn't played football since the eighth grade," Zepeda said. "I was able to convince him to come out in the springtime and of course, I'm really happy that it's all worked out."
In the fourth quarter, Staudt rushed for a 2-yard score, Fegert an 80-yard score, and senior Gunnar Eversole a 2-yard score as Priest River cruised to their third straight CIL win and sixth straight overall win to finish second behind Grangeville in the regular season league standings.
"We started off the season 0-2 and I think it's easy for a lot of teams to let that effect the rest of the year," Zepeda said. "These boys persevered through that and have got better every week. I'm super proud of these kids and they deserve to go to state. It was a great win and great way to finish the regular season."
Priest River (6-2) is currently ranked No. 12 in the 3A MaxPreps state rankings, and unless that changes, the Spartans are looking towards a 3A state playoff game next week at a location and against an opponent yet to be determined.
Kellogg 6 14 0 6 — 26
Priest River 16 16 8 24 — 64
1st quarter
PR — Fegert 5 run (Staudt conversion), 6:02
PR — Fegert 36 run (Staudt Conversion, 4:43
KLG — Unknown 3 pass (conversion failed), 3:01
2nd quarter
PR — Staudt 28 run (Staudt conversion), 9:27
KLG — Ward 35 fumble recovery (conversion good), 7:56
PR — Staudt 8 run (Staudt conversion), 1:39
KLG — A. Lewis 7 pass from P. Lewis (conversion failed), 0:05
3rd quarter
PR — Staudt 1 run (Staudt conversion), 7:38
4th quarter
PR — Staudt 2 run (Staudt conversion), 10:07
KLG — Storey 67 kickoff return (conversion failed), 9:55
PR — Fegert 80 run (Staudt conversion), 8:58
PR — Eversole 2 run (S. Simcox from Mathews conversion), 3:17
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: PR — Fegert 12-246, Staudt 24-180, Kuprienko 7-48, Eversole 3-19. KLG — N/A.
PASSING: PR — Mathews 2-5-0-63. KLG — N/A.
RECEIVING: PR — S. Simcox 1-35, Staudt 1-28. KLG — N/A.