Middleton Stymies Bf, Gains Semis

Prep football

The Bonners Ferry High School football team ran out of miracle finishes Saturday afternoon.

Middleton took advantage of several Bonners Ferry mistakes as the visiting Vikings held off the Badgers 34-17 in a State A-2 playoff opener at Ken Mendenhall Stadium at Bonners Ferry.

Middleton’s Vikings (8-2 overall) will meet Snake River Valley league champ and rival Bishop Kelly (10-0) in the semifinals next week. BK used big plays to shut out St. Maries 35-0 in Boise.

Intermountain League champ Bonners Ferry ends its season at 5-5 while St. Maries, which earned a playoff berth by surviving a three-way Kansas tiebreaker on Tuesday, finishes 6-4.

Middleton 34, Bonners Ferry 17

It was thought that, if the Badgers could stay close until the fourth quarter, the magic that’s carried them all season would take over.

Problem was Bonners Ferry trailed 26-3 after three quarters - largely because of its own miscues.

And not even the Badgers, who rallied for three of their five wins in the final quarter, could add another storybook ending to their unlikely season. Bonners Ferry had been picked to finish next to last in league.

The Badgers used a 35-yard field goal by Matt Clark to take the lead with 1:10 left in the first quarter.

Moments later, Bonners Ferry appeared to have its hands firmly attached to the momentum when the Badgers sacked Middleton quarterback Steve Jaszkowiak for an 8-yard loss. That set up third-and-19 from the Vikings’ 38-yard line.

But the Vikings picked up 58 yards on a well-executed screen pass from Jaszkowiak to running back Jason Roorda, who rambled to the BF 4. He scored on the next play to put Middleton ahead to stay, 6-3, with 10:15 left in the second quarter.

The Badgers threatened to answer on the ensuing possession. But running back Adam Hiatt fumbled at the Vikings 15 and Middleton’s Jason Pannell recovered.

Bonners Ferry compounded that blown opportunity by giving Middleton extra life on the next series, when the Badgers were called for roughing the punter. Middleton promptly took advantage as Roorda dashed 41 yards to extend the Viks’ lead to 12-3 at the 4:04 mark.

The Badgers, who moved the ball well at times, marched back into scoring position on their final possession of the first half. They moved to the Viks 15 before a sack and two incomplete passes allowed Middleton to take over on downs 38 seconds before halftime.

As if the hole wasn’t deep enough, the Badgers handed Middleton prime scoring chances in the opening moments of the second half.

On BF’s second play, quarterback Todd Van Gundy was in shotgun formation. The ball was snapped between Van Gundy and Hiatt and Middleton’s Joe Atkinson recovered the ball at the Badgers 10. Roorda scored two plays later from a yard out.

Two minutes later, Van Gundy dropped back on a screen play. But his pass was intercepted by lineman Justin Edwards, giving Middleton possession at the BF 33.

Proving opportunistic once again, Middleton widened its lead to 26-3 when Pannell scored on a 3-yard plunge.

Back-to-back BF touchdowns trimmed the deficit to 26-17 with 6:32 remaining. Hiatt scored on a 7-yard scamper for BF’s final score. A two-point conversion would have pulled the Badgers within a TD, but Van Gundy’s pass sailed over Jesse Ross’s head.

Middleton secured the win after a failed onside kick and a personal foul penalty put the Viks at the Bonners Ferry 35. Roorda took a pitchout and lofted a pass to Marty Short, who was all by himself behind the secondary for a TD that provided the final margin.

“We just ran into a better football team,” said first-year Bonners Ferry coach Ted Reynolds, who frequently wiped away tears. “Turnovers hurt us at times, but I’ll tell you, I’ll never get down on this group of kids. They were overachievers all year.

“There was no quit in this team. That’s why it hurt so bad that they lost.”

Hiatt, who finished with a game-high 113 yards on 24 carries, said the Badgers surprised him all season.

“I never expected us to win more than two games,” Hiatt said. “Wallace and Priest River (were the two) I thought. But I thought after the Sandpoint game (a 42-21 season-opening loss) we could beat some teams.”

Bishop Kelly 35, St. Maries 0

The score definitely is not indicative of the play.

The Knights didn’t dominate the Lumberjacks. BK scored on big plays, but St. Maries marched right up and down the field with second-ranked Bishop Kelly.

However, St. Maries couldn’t get into the end zone.

Five times the Lumberjacks failed to score or earn a first down on fourth-down situations. Each of the drives ended in BK territory - at the 1-, 5-, 12-, 16- and 47-yard-lines. Two other possessions were stopped by interceptions. St. Maries punted just once.

BK had a 21-0 lead at halftime, and two second-half TDs by running back Jon Aramburu, on runs of 4 and 56 yards, put the score out of reach. Aramburu rushed five only times, but gained 124 yards.

St. Maries wide receiver Jeromy Craner and quarterback Skyler Willard hooked up 18 times for 234 yards. Willard completed 25 of 40 passes for 330 yards.

, DataTimes