Wednesday, November 8, 2006

One more clash for Carey and Mackay

Panthers, Miners meet Friday in state grid semi-final


By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer

Camas County senior Andrew Olson finds a gap in the Mackay Miners line during Friday?s State 1A Division 2 quarterfinal game won by host Mackay 46-26. Photo by David N. Seelig

They'll be playing for a berth in the State 1A Division 2 championship football game Friday, Nov. 10 when the Carey Panthers and Mackay Miners square off for the second time this season, this time indoors at Holt Arena on the Idaho State University campus.

Carey earned its first state semi-final berth in eight years with a resounding 46-0 mercy-rule home win over Dietrich Saturday, a day after Mackay ousted stubborn Camas County of Fairfield 46-26, in Mackay.

“Chase Lee, Camas County senior, makes the catch defended by Mackay sophomore Scott Smyer during Friday’s quarterfinal playoff game in Mackay.
Opening kickoff is Friday at 2 p.m. in Pocatello for the rematch between #2-ranked Carey (9-1) and #3-ranked defending state champion Mackay (9-1). Carey nipped Mackay 34-28 Sept. 29 on the Carey gridiron, but Mackay is the state champion until somebody takes the crown away.

Carey coach Lane Kirkland said, "Mackay is outstanding on defense and a big threat on offense. But we've been motivated all season to play on the green turf at Holt. The kids have risen to the task and got their opportunity. They've certainly earned it."

Friday's Carey-Mackay matinee will be the first game of a Holt Arena playoff tripleheader to be followed by Firth-Malad and Pocatello-Blackfoot.

“Mackay 6-0, 175-pound senior running back Josh Hannah (right) gets wrapped up by Ben McLam (#21) of Camas County and teammate C.W. Stewart in Friday’s football game.
In the other semi-final game of the eight-team playoffs, Salmon River (7-3) meets Mullan (5-3) Saturday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. in Wallace.

The fact that Salmon River and Mullan are in the semi-final game is astounding.

Mullan, for instance, dropped 48-12 and 50-0 decisions to #5-ranked Kootenai before upsetting host Kootenai (6-3) Friday night in the quarterfinal. And Salmon River had lost 59-12 at home Oct. 6 to top-ranked Notus (9-1, 48.8 ppg) before Salmon River shocked host Notus 46-28 Saturday.

The winners of Carey-Mackay and Salmon River-Mullan clash for the championship over the Nov. 17-18 weekend. And the outcome of Salmon River-Mullan is critical to the determination of where the title game will be played.

If Mullan wins, the championship game will be held at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow. If Salmon River wins, the championship game will be staged at Holt Arena, Pocatello.

Carey won the second of its two eight-man championships in 1998 at Holt Arena, a year before Salmon River won its only 1A state grid title. Mullan last won state football in 1983-84 as an 11-man program, and eight-time state king Mackay captured six straight 11-man championships from 1996-2001.

In Friday's tussle, any statistical advantage probably goes to Carey's defense, which has allowed only 13.8 ppg while Mackay's defense has yielded 24.2 ppg, up nearly five points compared to last year.

Both teams are potent on offense, Carey averaging 46.9 ppg and Mackay 43.2 ppg. But the green turf has its way of leveling out the distinctions and giving the edge to the team that commits the fewest turnovers and comes ready to play.

Carey's defense was the difference in Saturday's 46-0 trouncing of Dietrich (4-6) at Derrick Parke Memorial Field, where Carey was 6-0 this fall. The 45-point mercy rule came into effect when Carey scored its seventh touchdown midway through the third. Only 31 of the 48 minutes were played.

Kirkland said after the game, "That's the hardest our defense has hit all year. Today we really made the tackles. We wrapped up (Devils stud Anthony) Pitman well."

Carey's eighth consecutive win, and fifth mercy-rule triumph, was a lopsided affair from the beginning.

The Panthers had great field position all game, mainly because their gang-tackling defense limited Dietrich to 64 rushing yards and 198 yards in total offense. Pitman, who rushed for 144 yards in Carey's 46-24 win at Dietrich Sept. 22, got 52 on the ground this time.

Carey (490 yards offense) turned two Dietrich fumbles into touchdowns, added a safety and got another strong outing from junior quarterback D.J. Simpson (9-for-17 for 259 yards and a season-best 5 TDs).

Tailbacks Connor Rivera (70 yards, 2 TD) and Blake Whitby (68 yards) spearheaded the 168-yard Panther rushing attack.

Senior wide receiver James Carlson enjoyed a season-best day with three TD receptions.

Cody Baird, out for six weeks with a broken arm, returned on defense and made an instant impact with nine tackles. Senior Baird's first appearance on offense two minutes into Saturday's game was as a receiver decoy—on the play when Brad Hunt caught a 39-yard TD pass from Simpson on fourth-and-11.

Hunt, playing only his second game after being sidelined for a month with a wrist injury, bruised his shoulder late in the first quarter against Dietrich but is expected to play in Friday's game against Mackay.

Baird and senior Hunt missed the previous Carey game against Mackay. "We should have a full squad this time," coach Kirkland said.

Mackay ousts Mushers 46-26

The defending State 1A Division 2 champion Mackay Miners (9-1, 30-2 three years) got a scare from the surging Camas County Mushers (5-5) Friday afternoon at Mackay.

Coach Randy Jewett's Mushers scored first and built leads of 14-8 and 20-14, but Mackay's defense rose to the occasion in the fourth quarter when the Miners outscored Camas 18-0. And Mackay prevailed 46-26.

Mackay captured its fourth straight victory since its 34-28 loss at Carey Sept. 29 that snapped the two-season, 16-game winning streak for coach Jack McKelvey's Miners.

And the Miners moved into this weekend's state semi-final against Carey with a head of steam. Statistically, Mackay isn't as strong on offense or defense as last season, when they outscored foes 52-20 on the average. This year's it's 43-24.

But Mackay is dangerous, as the home team showed Friday.

It was a game filled with plenty of offense.

Mackay rushed for 297 yards behind senior Josh Hannah (17 carries, 149 yards, 3 TD) and 6-6 senior QB Kelvin Krosch (13 carries, 137 yards, 2 TD). Krosch also completed 9 of 19 passes for 133 yards—87 yards on passes to younger brother Kole Krosch (4-87, 1 TD), a talented ninth-grader.

"Kelvin Krosch is a good runner and he can throw some rockets," said coach Kirkland.

Camas had a good game on offense as well, rushing for 201 yards and adding 241 more passing. Ben McLam (15 carries, 86 yards, 2 TD) and Andy Olson (6 carries, 70 yards) led the ground game. QB Trevor Dalin (7-for-16, 241 yards) tossed two touchdown passes.

But the Mushers couldn't recover from the loss of junior linebacker Camron Lee, briefly knocked unconscious in the third with Mackay nursing a 28-26 lead. Lee didn't return, and Mackay scored three unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter for its second win this season over Camas.

It was the final game for Camas County seniors Dalin, Logan Ivie, Chase Lee, Olson and C.W. Stewart.

Check the Nov. 22 Local Life section for more photos of the Camas County-Mackay game.

2006 CAREY FOOTBALL COMPOSITE

TOTAL SCORING

Opponents 36 46 28 28 138 (13.8)

Carey 147 138 104 80 469 (46.9)

RESULTS (9-1 overall, 6-0 home, 3-1 away, 7-0 Sawtooth Conference)

SCORING TD CONV/KICKS PTS.

Connor Rivera 14 5 94

Brad Hunt 9 2/1 59

James Carlson 8 4/1 59

Blake Whitby 9 2 58

Cody Baird 9 1 56

Allen Peck 4 6 36

D.J. Simpson 5 2 34

Heith Adamson 3 1 20

Scott Ellsworth 2 2 16

Trevor Peck 2 0 12

Gonzalo Zarate 1 3 12

Jared Cenarrusa 1 0 6

Kade Peterson 0 1 2

Kyle Brooks 0 1 2

Wulf Lebrecht 0 0 2

Nathan Lichuk 0 0/1 1

Note: James Carlson's total includes a safety, as does Wulf Lebrecht's.

Touchdown passes—D.J. Simpson 27, Trevor Peck 1. Conversion passes—D.J. Simpson 17, Trevor Peck 1. Notes—Carey has scored in 34 of 38 quarters....Carey has successfully made 33 of 62 conversions (53% success rate)....Carey has scored 67 TDs—34 on runs from scrimmage, 28 on passes, 2 punt returns, 1 kickoff return, 1 interception return, 1 fumble return.




 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.