3A Championship Rematch
They stormed through the regular season with their two closest contests being a 10 point win over eventual 4A District III Champion, Skyview and a five point win over Ontario. After that, they rolled through their opponents until they narrowly defeated Weiser last Saturday. Snake River's road to the Championship has been less likely. The Panthers started off slow out of the gate, but are now on a 5 game winning streak and are obviously playing their best football at the right time. Embracing the underdog role, they upset previously unbeaten Salmon in the quarterfinals and then avenged one of their losses earlier in the season by beating Marsh Valley 35-8. I expect this one to be competitive as Fruitland has to establish their rushing attack early against the strong line play of Snake River.
If anyone had predicted Grangeville and Firth in the 2A State Championship, you need to book a plane ticket to Las Vegas immediately. The Cougars started out the season 0-4 before turning it around and are only picking up steam as November rolls on. They won two tight contests against Malad and Declo before beating New Plymouth 26-7 last weekend. As for Grangeville, its safe to say they are the heavy favorite. After being eliminated by Nampa Christian in the playoffs the last four seasons, the Bulldogs are 11-0 this year and no team has scored over 20 points against them all season. Whats scary for the rest of the state is that they only have two seniors and are poised to win for years to come.
The 1A Championships will have Hagerman squaring off against Kendrick and Carey vs. Lighthouse Christian.
Make sure to listen to Sports 630 The Fan all week from 4-6 PM for wall to wall State Championship coverage.
