Idaho High School Football Season Reaches Semifinals with Defending Champs Still Alive

Rigby (6A), Hillcrest (5A), Sugar-Salem (4A), West Side (3A) take field Friday looking to keep repeat title hopes intact

Rigby meets Rocky Mountain in one 6A semifinal this weekend. / Dave Argyle SBLive

The race to the Milk Bowl has one stop left, with the semifinals this weekend in the Idaho high school football playoffs, and High School on SI Idaho will have all the scores you need to keep tabs.

Here is a quick glance at the semifinal matchups in Class 6A, 5A, 4A and 3A.

Class 6A

No. 4 Rocky Mountain (10-1) vs. No. 2 Rigby (9-1), Friday

It’s a rematch of last year’s semifinals, in which the Trojans won 21-18 en route to winning the state title. These are two of the elite teams in Idaho, with the Trojans owning a 3-1 record over the Grizzlies en route to winning titles in 2019, 2021, 2022 and last year. Rocky Mountain’s only win in the series was in the 2020 state final.

No. 10 Coeur d’Alene (7-3) vs. No. 3 Timberline (9-1), Friday

The Vikings have proven themselves to be the best team in North Idaho and boast 6A’s top scoring defense (14 ppg) thanks in large part to forcing the most turnovers (25) of any 6A team. Meanwhile, the Wolves are enjoying the best season in program history because of its ball security — just seven turnovers, the fewest in 6A — but could be without QB Jack Brant after he suffered a knee injury in last week’s win over Middleton.

Class 5A

No. 8 Skyline (9-2) vs. No. 1 Bishop Kelly (11-0), Friday

Can the Grizzlies create mismatches for senior WR Zyon Crockett, last year’s MaxPreps player of the year who has 1,542 total yards and 21 touchdowns in leading Skyline to the semifinals for the fifth straight year? Or will the Knights flash their explosiveness (45.2 ppg) behind senior QB Ben Avella (2,272 passing yards, 32 TDs)?

No. 12 Twin Falls (9-2) vs. No. 5 Hillcrest (10-1), Friday

This is a rematch from a month ago, when the Knights won 49-28 thanks to a bravura performance from senior QB Tyson Sweetwood, who threw for 224 yards and two scores and ran for 79 yards and four touchdowns. Any hopes that the Bruins have of reversing that outcome and returning to the final for the first time since winning the 2004 title rest on finding a way to slow Sweetwood, who also led Hillcrest to the title last year.

Class 4A

No. 13 Kimberly (7-3) vs. No. 6 Fruitland (10-0), Friday

These teams met in the season opener, with the Grizzlies romping to a 49-13 victory as they opened the season with 10 straight wins for the first time since the 2017 team went unbeaten in winning the 3A state title. Junior QB Titus Vidlak had 365 total yards and accounted for four touchdowns in the win and has 3,270 total yards, 32 passing touchdowns and 11 rushing scores this year.

No. 9 Homedale (9-1) vs. No. 7 Sugar-Salem (8-1), Friday

This is another matchup of familiar playoff foes, with the Diggers owning most of the pleasant memories, having won six of their past seven postseason meetings — including last year’s 28-14 victory in the state final. Each team features an all-state candidate at quarterback in Trojans senior Xavier Uranga (1,694 yards, 21 TDs) and Sugar-Salem junior Frank Fillmore (1,672 total yards, 25 TDs).

Class 3A

Ririe 14, Aberdeen 8, Thursday

The Tigers (7-4) denied Ririe star running back Kolter Lewis a 27th rushing touchdown, but senior QB Breylon Moon ran for one touchdown and threw for another on Ririe’s first pass of the game — a 43-yarder to Lewis midway through the third quarter — to lift the Bulldogs (11-0) into the championship game, looking for the program’s first state title.

Nampa Christian (7-2) vs. West Side (7-1), Friday

The Pirates’ quest for a three-peat and a sixth title in seven years rests on stopping a passing attack directed by Trojans senior QB Pete Dice that accounted for 290 yards and three touchdowns in a 30-14 win over North Fremont that led Nampa Christian to its first semifinal berth in 10 seasons. 

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