The second season has arrived for Idaho 1A Division 2 eight-man football teams with the first round of Sawtooth Conference elimination games occurring this week to help settle the eight-team field for the Nov. 8 quarterfinal round.
Sawtooth West Division runner-up Carey (7-1) will host the Mackay Miners (3-5) Thursday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. at Derrick Parke Memorial Field.
Other first-round games:
Sawtooth West champion Lighthouse Christian (8-0) hosting Clark County of Dubois (3-4) Thursday; Sawtooth East winner Rockland (7-1) entertaining Dietrich (5-3) Thursday; and North Gem of Bancroft (3-4) playing Castleford (5-3) Friday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. in Carey.
Waiting in the quarterfinals are Council (7-1), Wilder (6-1), Deary (6-2) and Kendrick (6-2).
Carey head coach Lane Kirkland said his Panthers didn’t spend too much time thinking about last Friday’s 28-22 home loss to Lighthouse Christian in the Sawtooth West championship contest at Derrick Parke Memorial Field.
The Panthers refocused after the loss on their playoff opponent Mackay and were determined “to get rolling again,” said Kirkland.
He said, “We learned a lot about ourselves in a tough run of three games at the end of our season (54-8 and 52-6 road wins over Dietrich and Castleford, the loss to Lighthouse). We gained a lot of confidence and know what our potential is.”
Senior quarterback Nate Adamson had another monster game against Lighthouse with two touchdown runs, 425 all-purpose yards including 141 rushing and 232 passing, and a team-high 10 tackles/3 assists.
But Lighthouse also showed its mettle rallying from a 22-6 halftime deficit and holding Carey’s potent 52.0 ppg offense scoreless after the half.
A 22-yard touchdown pass from junior Josh Fadness to senior Gage Silva was not only the first TD allowed by Carey in the fourth quarter, it turned out to be the winning score.
“It was a tale of two halves, a great battle, fun to coach and a great test for us,” said Kirkland. “The kids played and tackled real well, but just got a little tired when Lighthouse began to pound it out. Lighthouse had a great second half.”
“We had a great first half and secured all the things we wanted to do (taking the 22-6 lead). We stopped them cold, three-and-out, on their first drive of the second half.
“But after we drove 95 yards to their 3-yard-line and couldn’t score on fourth down, things began to turn on us. Lighthouse put together a six-minute scoring drive that took a lot of the wind out of us.”
Kirkland said Lighthouse, playing without two-time All-State Adam Taylor (broken arm), elected to put Fadness at quarterback in the second half instead of sophomore Connor Bosma. Fadness was “stronger, quicker, smarter and older,” than his counterpart, and he marched the Lions with 201 rushing yards and 58 passing.
“If we play them (Lighthouse) again, we’ll beat them,” said Kirkland. The way the playoffs are set up, that couldn’t happen until the championship game Nov. 21.
See the Nov. 5 Local Life edition for more photos from Friday’s “Senior Night.”
CAREY Line Score
Lighthouse Christian 28, Carey 22
LIGHTHOUSE.............................. 6..... 0.... 14.... 8 28
CArey......................................... 8.... 14.... 0..... 0 22
1st half
Carey—Collin Whitby, 29-yard pass from Nate Adamson (Joe Parke, pass from Adamson); (8-0 C).
Lighthouse—Gage Silva, 41-yard pass from Connor Bosma (run failed); (8-6 C).
Carey—Nate Adamson, 5-yard run (Adamson run); (16-6 C).
Carey—Nate Adamson, 11-yard run (pass failed); (22-6 C).
2nd half
Lighthouse—Josh Fadness, 35-yard run (run failed); (22-12 C).
Lighthouse—Josh Fadness, 53-yard run (Eric Silva, pass from Josh Fadness); (22-20 C).
Lighthouse—Gage Silva, 22-yard pass from Josh Fadness (Spencer Griffith run); (28-22 Light).
KEY STATS................... LIGHTHOUSE......................... CAREY
1st downs, rush............................................... 5............................................................ 11
1st downs, pass............................................... 2............................................................ 8
1st downs, penalty........................................ 0............................................................ 3
1st downs, total.............................................. 7........................................................... 19
Rushes, yards............................................ 28, 193............................................ 42, 195
Yards per carry............................................. 6.9....................................................... 4.6
Fumbles lost.................................................... 1.............................................................. 1
Completions, passes................................. 5, 12................................................ 16, 30
Completion percentage.......................... 42%.................................................. 53%
Passing yards................................................ 101...................................................... 232
Yards per completion............................... 20.2.................................................... 14.5
Intercepted by................................................ 1.............................................................. 1
Sacks by, yards............................................. 2, 6................................................... 3, 22
Returns, yards............................................. 5, 73................................................... 4, 61
Total yards gained...................................... 345..................................................... 482
Third down efficiency........................... 2 for 9.......................................... 4 for 16
Fourth down efficiency......................... 1 for 1............................................. 5 for 5
Penalties....................................................... 4, 39.................................................. 5, 45
Punts, yardage........................................... 3, 140................................................ 3, 68
Yards per punt............................................. 46.7.................................................... 22.7
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS—Carey
Rushing—Nate Adamson 23-141 (6.1 yards per carry), 2 TD, 1 conv.; Toby Whitworth 14-49; Matt Whitworth 4-3; Collin Whitby 1-2.
Passing—Nate Adamson 16-29, 232 yards, 1 TD, 1 conv., 1 interception.
Receiving—Toby Whitworth 10-124; Joe Parke 4-58, 1 conv.; Collin Whitby 1-29, 1 TD; Matt Whitworth 1-21.
Kickoff returns—Nate Adamson 2-52; Collin Whitby 1-0.
All-purpose yardage—Nate Adamson 425.
Fumble recoveries (1)—Chris Peck 1.
Interceptions (1)—Toby Whitworth 1 with a 9-yard return.
Sacks (3)—Derrick Baird 1, Parker Gamino 1, Collin Whitby 1.
Tackles/assists—Nate Adamson 10/3, Collin Whitby 4/3, Joe Parke 6/0, Parker Gamino 4/0, Derrick Baird 2/1, Dallin Dilworth 1/2, Chris Peck 2/0, Corban Johnson 1/0, Toby Whitworth 1-0, Matt Whitworth 1/0.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS—Lighthouse Christian
Rushing—Josh Fadness 18-201, 2 TD; Spencer Griffith 5-2, 1 conv.; Gage Silva 1-2.
Passing—Josh Fadness 3-4, 58 yards, 1 TD, 1 conv.; Connor Bosma 2-7, 43 yards, 1 interception.
Receiving—Gage Silva 3-87, 2 TD; Spencer Griffith 1-12; Josh Fadness 1-2.
Kickoff returns—Josh Fadness 1-32; Tyler Andreasen 1-7.
Punt returns—Eric Silva 1-34.
All-purpose yardage—Josh Fadness 293.
Fumble recoveries (1)—Eric Silva 1.
Interceptions (1)—Eric Silva 1.
Sacks (2)—Gage Silva 1, Cody Holloway 1.
Tackle leaders—Ty Giardina 10, Eric Silva 8, Josh Fadness 8, Spencer Griffith 7, Gage Silva 5, Tyler Andreasen 5, Cody Holloway 5, Gage Fairbanks 4, Spencer Stephens 3, Connor Bosma 1.
HEADLINE:Carey Football Composite 2014
TOTAL SCORING
Opponents................................... 26........ 14........ 36......... 8..... 84 (10.5)
Carey........................................... 130...... 192....... 44........ 50... 416 (52.0)
RESULTS (7-1 overall, 3-1 home, 4-0 away, 4-1 Sawtooth Conference West, 2nd place)
Aug. 29 (Home)............................................................ Carey 38, Notus 6
Sept. 5 (Away)...................................................... Carey 60, North Gem 6
Sept. 12 (Home).................................................... Carey 68, Rockland 24
Sept. 19 (Away)........................................................ Carey 60, Richfield 0
Sept. 26 (Home).............................................. Carey 62, Camas County 6
Oct. 10 (Away)........................................................... Carey 54, Dietrich 8
Oct. 17 (Away)....................................................... Carey 52, Castleford 6
Oct. 24 (Home).................................................... Lighthouse 28, Carey 22
Oct. 30 (1A Div. 2 state play-in)......................................... Carey, Mackay
SCORING.......................................... TD............ CONV................. PTS.
Nate Adamson.................................... 25................. 7....................... 164
Joe Parke............................................ 8................. 5......................... 58
Matt Whitworth..................................... 5................. 7......................... 44
Zach Olsen.......................................... 4................. 5......................... 34
Parker Gamino..................................... 4................. 2......................... 28
Toby Whitworth.................................... 4................. 2......................... 28
Corban Johnson................................... 3................. 3......................... 26
Collin Whitby....................................... 2................. 1......................... 14
Dallin Dilworth...................................... 1................. 0.......................... 6
Derrick Baird........................................ 0................. 3.......................... 6
Chris Peck.......................................... 0................. 1.......................... 4
Alex Durtschi....................................... 0................. 1.......................... 2
Houston Hennefer................................ 0................. 1.......................... 2
Safeties: Corban Johnson, Chris Peck.
Touchdown passes—Nate Adamson 12, Toby Whitworth 1. Conversion passes—Nate Adamson 13. Notes—Carey has scored in 25 of 30 quarters....Carey has successfully made 38 of 55 conversions (69% success rate)....Carey has scored 56 TD—39 on runs from scrimmage, 13 on passes, 3 on defense, 1 on kickoff or punt returns.