.png)
ABERDEEN – The Priest River Spartans football team saw their winning streak of six end in a loss to the Abereen Tigers, losing 42-12 in a play in game for state 3A tournament Saturday, Nov. 2. It was the Spartans first appearance at state since 2012.
“It was a tough loss,” Priest River coach Alex Zepeda says. “Aberdeen is an extremely talented team and is probably going to make it to the State Championship.”
After a close first half, he said the Spartans just ran out of gas.
“We fought hard in the first half and held our own against them before they wore us out,” Zepeda says.
Priest River’s Sawyer Staudt scored the Spartans’ two touchdowns, a rushing touchdown in the first quarter and a pass from Lucas Mathews in the fourth quarter.
The two teams played a scoreless defensive game in the first quarter. Aberdeen got on the scoreboard first with a short run in the second quarter.
Priest River answered with a Nate Ferguson fumble recovery near midfield. The Spartan offense marched down the field and Staudt capped a 47-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run. After a missed extra point, Priest River trailed by one.
Aberdeen showed why they are ranked the No. 2 3A team in the state by MaxPreps. The Tigers scored again in the second quarter on a two-yard run. With the successful extra point, Aberdeen led 14-6 at the half.
Aberdeen scored again in the third quarter on another two-yard run, adding to the 354 yards rushing the Tigers would end up with on the night.
The Tigers rolled up two more rushing TDs before Priest River got in the end zone again.
Priest River quarterback Mathews hit Staudt with a 11-yard touchdown pass. Aberdeen came back with another touchdown to get the win.
Mathews completed 11 of 19 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. Layton Goins caught one for 41 yards, Staudt caught five for 36 yards, Skyler Simcox caught one pass for 19 yards, Luccas Simcox caught one for six yards, and Ian Lamanna caught two for five yards.
Staudt ended up with 37 yards rushing on nine carries, Fergert gained 21 yards on seven carries, Goins rushed for 10 yards on one carry, and Colton Kuprienko carried three times for six yards.
While the Spartans didn’t get the win, they set several records at the game. The team broke a school record of points scored in a year, with 288, breaking a 2012 record of 284 points.
Staudt, a senior playing his first season since getting a concussion in junior high, had an outstanding season. He set a school rushing record, with 1,146 yards. He was the first running back since 2013 to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Staudt broke his own record for rushing touchdowns, with 22 on the season. He had broken Zach Mark’s 2,000 record of 19 in the previous game.
“Overall though it was an incredible season,” Zepeda says. “It was one that we can be proud of.” I am looking forward to putting in the work this off-season to become a better coach for these boys.”
Priest River finished the season with a 6-3 record. They were second in the Central Idaho League behind Grangeville.
