It wasn't the Tom Brady- Peyton Manning show, but opposing quarterbacks Tyler Cook of Carey and Marshall Hall of North Gem put on quite a show themselves during an eventful and intense football game Saturday at Carey's Derrick Parke Memorial Field.
Bigger and more physical, North Gem (7-2) rallied from an early 16-6 deficit and established dominance at the scrimmage line in the first half, then the Cowboys behind the second-half rushing and passing of Hall built a seemingly insurmountable 42-22 lead in the State 1A Division 2 eight-man quarterfinal contest.
That's when Carey stormed back on the strong arm of senior Cook, who ran for one touchdown and tossed two TD passes in the 22-point Panther fourth-quarter rally. Only an interception by Hall with a minute left kept Carey (8-2) from completing a terrific comeback.
North Gem, rushing for 367 yards and collecting four turnovers, held off Carey 48-44 and advanced to the State 1A Division 2 semi-final Friday at Pocatello's Holt Arena against undefeated and #1-ranked Mackay (9-0), a 62-12 winner over Camas County Friday.
It was a long, two-and-a-half hour battle in which both teams left everything on the field. After a scoreless first quarter they scored 92 points on 13 touchdowns, combined to run 175 offensive plays and amassed 1,157 yards. Carey lost three key players to injury, but North Gem stayed intact.
Two senior leaders excelled.
Cook (282 all-purpose yards) completed 21 of 36 passes for 225 yards and four touchdowns. Hall of North Gem (421 all-purpose yards) rushed 32 times for 254 yards and completed 10 of 16 passes for 157 additional yards. Hall rushed for four TDs and threw for two more scores.
It came down to the final Carey drive and North Gem ultimately prevailed, which the Cowboys hadn't been able to do in a 34-28 home loss to Camas County earlier this season, and also in a 34-28 home loss to Carey last fall at Bancroft.
Tired but happy, 5-10, 170-pound Hall said after the game, "It feels great to be able to close out a close game. We haven't been able to do that before."
Carey defensive coordinator Lee Cook said, "North Gem wore us down, but we fought back valiantly. Marshall Hall had great determination and a will to win."
Head coach Lane Kirkland of Carey added, "Nobody was going to stop Marshall Hall in the second half. North Gem was big and physical and did not seem to tire. But our kids played with a lot of heart and never gave up. Tyler Cook has been a great leader for three years and like Hall he commanded his troops well."
North Gem coach Kevin Carey told the Idaho State Journal, "Boy, that Carey football team is a tough team. They were never going to quit. Hats off to them for being a class act and a good football team."
Carey battled adversity in the form of injuries and two called-back touchdowns.
In a match-up where the undersized Panthers needed every last ounce, they lost their biggest starter, 220-pound senior center Luke Harmon (knee injury), on the seventh play. They lost their top defensive players—senior Devin Simpson (broken arm) and junior Cody Baird (pulled neck muscle and bruised clavicle)—in the second and fourth quarters.
Carey led 16-14 when Baird's 90-yard TD kickoff return was nullified by a blocking-in-the-back penalty right before halftime. A North Gem interception and a Hall 52-yard TD run with 13 seconds left gave the Cowboys a 22-16 halftime lead.
Hall was unstoppable on the tide-turning TD run, bouncing off Panther tacklers and turning on the jets. He said, "I like to find some open field and use my speed to make something happen. Our offensive line was pushing them back."
And North Gem was making its breaks, scoring three of its seven TDs after turnovers.
"Of anything that happened, that kickoff took most of the wind out of us," said Kirkland. "We had a good halftime discussion because I felt we weren't playing to our ability in the first half. We needed to establish a sense of urgency." Unfortunately the urgency didn't come until the fourth.
One more giveaway occurred in the third quarter after the Cowboys had marched downfield on three Hall passes to Aaron Hatch (5 catches, 95 yards, 2 TD) for a 34-22 lead.
Quarterback Cook came right back, leading a strong Panther drive that ended with an apparent 36-yard TD pass to wide-open Connor Rivera. But an ineligible receiver downfield penalty nullified the six points and North Gem's Orrin Christensen stripped the ball from Cook on the next play.
Instead of Carey closing its gap to 34-28, North Gem went ahead 42-22 on its longest drive of the game, an eight-play, 66-yard attack that ended with a 24-yard Hall-to-Hatch pass.
Carey checked its tank and started operating on fumes.
A 29-yard Bryan Hill kickoff return set the stage for an eight-play TD drive ended by Cook's one-yard plunge and converted by a Cook pass to Baird for a 42-30 deficit.
That's when the unimaginable occurred—Cody Baird (15 tackles) leaving the game after making another hard tackle on Hall. But Carey's stalwart defense stepped up and forced North Gem to punt, twice.
Helped by two pass interference calls against the Cowboys, Carey drove 81 yards in 12 plays and made it 42-38 on a 10-yard TD pass from Cook to Hill (6 catches, 65 yards) and a Cook conversion pass to Rivera.
It crossed Kirkland's mind to boot the next kickoff deep, but Carey elected to go for the onsides kick, which Reed Crandall of North Gem recovered. There was nothing subtle about the Cowboy strategy—letting Hall run through Carey's injury-weakened left side from the shotgun set-up.
Hall rushed seven times for 64 yards on the game-winning TD drive giving North Gem a 48-38 lead with 2:19 remaining.
In the second half alone Hall rushed for 155 yards and threw for 127 of his 157 yards. Carey coach Kirkland felt North Gem after dominating the first half with a 16-8 time-of-possession advantage, was almost saving Hall for the second half.
"The right side of North Gem's line was strong, and they were going to run Hall right to where we weren't," said Kirkland, who had been trying to plug holes in his defense since the critical losses of Harmon, Simpson and Baird. "As soon as those (injured) guys went out, you could tell where the ball was going."
It didn't seem likely that Carey had anything left in the tank, but Cook wasn't about to quit. He completed four passes for 61 yards—two to Hill and two to Allen Peck—and Carey sliced the Cowboy lead to 48-44 on a great five-yard catch by Hill with 1:14 left.
Coach Kirkland said, "Bryan Hill stepped up tremendously in place of Brad (leading Panther receiver Hunt, lost to injury against Mackay). Bryan had another gear out there, and he really helped us."
Amazingly, Peck recovered the onsides kick and Carey took over, 47 yards away from an improbable victory. But Hall was in the right place at the right time on Cook's first aerial, and he intercepted the ball to send the 'Pokes to Holt.
Indoors on the turf North Gem will try to avenge its 66-36 loss at Mackay Oct. 21. With all the injuries to Carey's players, the Cowboys might be the best team to challenge a motivated Miners squad that is 19-1 the past two campaigns but lost last year's state title game to Horseshoe Bend 42-14 at Holt.
But the loss was still tough to swallow for Carey. "No banner, no trophy, just 8-2, a successful season but disappointing," said Kirkland. "Our kids really wanted to play on the green turf in the dome."
PANTHER NOTES—Carey's 2005 squad (50.8 ppg) became the first Panther team to average over 50 points per game for an entire season. With 508 points in 10 games, they came up a little shy of the 524 points scored by the 11-0 and 12-0 Panther state championship teams of 1998 and 1994. Those teams averaged 47.6 ppg and 43.7 ppg......The Cowboys maintain an 12-10 advantage in the grid series since 1985....The intensity of Saturday's game brought back memories of two Carey-North Gem meetings 10 years ago, in 1995, both won by eventual state runner-up Carey at home 24-20 and 24-6 (in a state playoff). The 24-20 game was one of the all-time best thrillers and it ended with Carey's Luke Rathke fighting North Gem's Date Yost, and Cowboy coach Date Yost joining the fray.
CAREY Line Score
North Gem 48, Carey 44
NORTH GEM 0 22 20 6 48
CAREY. 0 16 6 22 44
SCORING
1st half
NORTH GEM—Marshall Hall, 1-yard run (run failed); 9:17 2nd (6-0 NG)
CAREY—Cody Baird, 11-yard pass from Tyler Cook (Baird, pass from Cook); 7:00 2nd (8-6 C)
CAREY—Connor Rivera, 23-yard run (Cody Baird run); 5:54 2nd (16-6 C)
NORTH GEM—Aaron Hatch, 18-yard run (T.J. Archibald, pass from Hall); 1:21 2nd (16-14 C)
NORTH GEM—Marshall Hall, 52-yard run (Orrin Christensen run); 0:13 2nd (22-16 NG)
2nd half
NORTH GEM—Marshall Hall, 67-yard run (run failed); 11:41 3rd (28-16 NG)
CAREY—Connor Rivera, 13-yard pass from Tyler Cook (pass failed); 9:08 3rd (28-22 NG)
NORTH GEM—Aaron Hatch, 5-yard pass from Marshall Hall (run failed); 6:49 3rd (34-22 NG)
NORTH GEM—Aaron Hatch, 24-yard pass from Marshall Hall (T.J. Archibald run); 1:05 3rd (42-22 NG)
CAREY—Tyler Cook, 1-yard run (Cody Baird, pass from Cook); 11:11 4th (42-30 NG)
CAREY—Bryan Hill, 10-yard pass from Tyler Cook (Connor Rivera, pass from Cook); 5:10 4th (42-38 NG)
NORTH GEM—Marshall Hall, 13-yard run (kick failed); 2:19 4th (48-38 NG)
CAREY—Bryan Hill, 5-yard pass from Tyler Cook (run failed); 1:14 4th (48-44 NG)
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KEY STATS
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NORTH GEM
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CAREY
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|
Offensive plays
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92
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83
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Time of possession
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28:30
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19:30
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|
1st downs, rush
|
12
|
8
|
|
1st downs, pass
|
4
|
8
|
|
1st downs, penalty
|
0
|
3
|
|
1st downs, total
|
16
|
19
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|
Rushes, yards
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62-367
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35-193
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Yards per carry
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5.9
|
5.5
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|
Fumbles lost
|
1
|
2
|
|
Completions, passes
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10-16
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21-36
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Completion percentage
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63%
|
58%
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Passing yards
|
157
|
225
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Yards per completion
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15.7
|
9.0
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Intercepted by
|
2
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0
|
|
Sacks by, yards
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0-0
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1-8
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Returns, yards
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4-36
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10-187
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Total yards gained
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552
|
605
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Penalties
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13-145
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6-40
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|
Punts, yardage
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4-113
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1-37
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Yards per punt
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28.3
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37.0
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INDIVIDUAL LEADERS—Carey
Rushing—Connor Rivera 15-101 (6.7 per carry), 4 1sts, 1 TD; Tyler Cook 11-57, 1 1st, 1 TD; Cody Baird 9-35, 3 1sts, 1 conv.
Passing—Tyler Cook 21-36, 225 yards, 8 1sts, 4 TD, 3 conv., 2 interceptions.
Receiving—Bryan Hill 6-65, 2 1sts, 2 TD; Cody Baird 6-46, 1 1st, 1 TD, 2 conv.; Connor Rivera 4-28, 1 1st, 1 TD, 1 conv.; Tadd Green 3-51, 2 1sts; Allen Peck 2-35, 2 1sts.
Fumble recoveries (1)—Allen Peck 1.
Sacks (1)—Allen Peck 1-8.
Kickoff returns—Bryan Hill 3-68; Cody Baird 1-21; Connor Rivera 1-16; Heith Adamson 1-16.
Punt returns—Bryan Hill 3-32; Cody Baird 1-34.
All-purpose yardage—Tyler Cook 282, Connor Rivera 145, Cody Baird 136, Bryan Hill 133.
Tackles (94)—Cody Baird 15, Allen Peck 13, Bryan Hill 13, Tadd Green 11, Tyler Cook 9, Devin Simpson 8, Connor Rivera 6, Nathan Foster 6, Jesus Ocampo 3, Ben Neilson 3, Daniel Wilson 3, Blake Whitby 3, Luke Harmon 1.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS—North Gem
Rushing—Marshall Hall 32-254 (7.9 per carry), 7 1sts, 4 TD; T.J. Archibald 12-56, 2 1sts, 1 conv.; Orrin Christensen 13-34, 2 1sts; Aaron Hatch 1-18, 1 TD; Houston Crossley 3-2; Mason Askew 1-3, 1 1st.
Passing—Marshall Hall 10-16, 157 yards, 4 1sts, 2 TD, 1 conv.
Receiving—Aaron Hatch 5-95, 3 1sts, 2 TD; Josh White 1-40, 1 1st; T.J. Archibald 3-17, 1 conv.; Reed Crandall 1-5.
Fumble recoveries (2)—Orrin Christensen 2.
Interceptions (2)—Aaron Hatch 1 with a 12-uard return; Marshall Hall 1.
Kickoff returns—Marshall Hall 1-10; Aaron Hatch 1-7; Mason Askew 1-7.
All-purpose yardage—Marshall Hall 421; Aaron Hatch 132.
Tackles (60)—Orrin Christensen 11, T.J. Archibald 9, Aaron Hatch 8, Reed Crandall 7, Josh White 7, Marshall Hall 6, Collen Christensen 5, Dallin Hatch 3, Houston Crossley 2, Mason Askew 1, Mitchel Hall 1.
2005 CAREY FOOTBALL COMPOSITE
TOTAL SCORING
Opponents 50 60 72 24 206 (20.6)
Carey 164 168 94 82 508 (50.8)
RESULTS
(8-2 overall, 4-1 home, 4-1 away, 4-0 Sawtooth Conference West)
Aug. 26 (Away) Carey 50, Hagerman 22
Sept. 9 (Home) Carey 54, Shoshone 6
Sept. 16 (Home) Carey 58, Sho-Ban 12
Sept. 23 (Away) Carey 60, Camas County 32
Sept. 30 (Away) Carey 50, Richfield 0
Oct. 5 (Away) Mackay 50, Carey 14
Oct. 14 (Home) Carey 62, Murtaugh 12
Oct. 21 (Home) Carey 62, Dietrich 16
Oct. 28 (Away, Twin Falls) Carey 54, Lighthouse Christian 8
Nov. 5 (Home, State 1A Division 2) North Gem 48, Carey 44
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SCORING
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TD
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CONV
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PTS.
|
|
Cody Baird
|
17
|
8
|
118
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Tyler Cook
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12
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5
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82
|
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Connor Rivera
|
11
|
7
|
80
|
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Brad Hunt
|
9
|
5
|
64
|
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Tadd Green
|
7
|
7
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56
|
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Bryan Hill
|
2
|
2
|
46
|
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Allen Peck
|
3
|
1
|
20
|
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Blake Whitby
|
3
|
1
|
20
|
|
Scott Ellsworth
|
1
|
1
|
8
|
|
Devin Simpson
|
1
|
0
|
6
|
|
Jake Stewart
|
1
|
0
|
6
|
|
Heith Adamson
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0
|
1
|
2
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Touchdown passes—Tyler Cook 26, Brad Hunt 1, D.J. Simpson 1.
Conversion passes—Cook 20, D.J. Simpson 2.
Notes—Carey scored in 34 of 38 quarters....Carey successfully made 38 of 67 conversions (57% success rate)....Carey scored 72 TDs—35 on runs from scrimmage, 28 on passes, 5 on returns and 4 on defense.
Carey senior quarterback Tyler Cook goes overland through the North Gem line during Saturday's eight-man playoff game won by the Cowboys 48-44. Cook rushed for 57 yards and 1 TD and passed for 225 yards. Photo by Willy Cook
