.png)
Don Gronning
PRIEST RIVER – The Priest River Spartans football team had it their way in a 64-26 home win over Kellogg Friday night, finishing second in the Central Idaho League behind Grangeville and securing a trip to state.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better performance to close out the regular season,” Priest River coach Alex Zepeda says. “We knew that our playoff hopes solely depended on beating Kellogg who we had not beaten since 2016.”
Nate Ferget got the first Spartan touchdown on Priest River’s first possession touchdown run, a harbinger of things to come. Ferget, who rushed for an astounding 246 yards on a dozen carries, scored three touchdowns on runs of five, 36 and 80 yards. He is the first Spartan in school history to have back-to-back 200-yard rushing games, Zepeda says.
Sawyer Staudt had a good night rushing for Priest River, rolling up 180 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries. It was his third game this season with four touchdowns.
The two runners accounted for the bulk of Priest River’s 493 yards of rushing offense.
Gunner Eversole got the Spartan’s last score of the night on a two-yard run. He had 20 yards and a TD on three carries and Colton Kuprienko gained 49 yards on seven carries. Stuadt’s one yard run in the third quarter broke the Priest River record of 19 touchdowns in a season set by Zac Mack in 2000. He went on to extend the record to 21 touchdowns with a short fourth quarter TD. Staudt also successfully carried in seven point-after runs.
Priest River didn’t need much passing to get the win, but one pass play stood out. Facing a second down and 35-yards to go for a first down, quarterback Luke Mathews threw to Skyler Simcox, who caught the 37-yard pass despite pass interference by Kellogg. Mathews completed two of five passes for 63 yards. Staudt caught the other Spartan pass for 28 yards.
On defense, the Spartan’s caused some turnovers, with Jacob Best intercepting a Kellogg pass and Brady Hatten recovering a fumble.
Ferget was also a force on defense, with five tackles, including one for a loss. Luccas Simcox had four tackles and tipped a pass. Eversole had four tackles, two tackles for loss and forced a fumble. He also had a sack and combined with Hatten for another sack.
Zepeda was stoked about the team’s win.
“People have written off Priest River for years and I do not think that’ll be the case moving forward,” he says.
Priest River next plays Aberdeen Saturday, Nov. 2, at 3 p.m. in the 3A state tournament. Aberdeen is near American Falls in southern Idaho. They play in the 3A Southeast Idaho Conference. They have 7-1 overall record and are coming off a 32-0 win over a winless Soda Springs.
