Idaho 5A State football: Rocky Mountain rolls past Coeur d’Alene in semifinals

MERIDIAN, Idaho – An outstanding season ended in disappointment for the Coeur d’Alene Vikings.

Playing top-ranked Rocky Mountain on the road, the second-ranked Vikings had no answers for tailback Nick Romano and a swarming, purple-clad defense as the Grizzlies handed Coeur d’Alene its only loss of the year, 42-14.

Romano ran for 205 yards with three touchdowns and Rocky Mountain forced three turnovers while pitching a second-half shutout. The Grizzlies (11-0) advance to the 5A State championship game, where they will face Highland next weekend at Albertsons Stadium in Boise. Coeur d’Alene finishes 9-1.

“When you’re playing a team as good as they are, you can’t turn the ball over and you can’t have many mistakes,” CdA coach Shawn Amos said. “Those were hard to overcome, but creating turnovers is one of the things they do a very good job of.”

Two of the turnovers led directly to touchdowns for Rocky Mountain, which has seven takeaways in two state playoff games this month.

“The number of turnovers we’ve forced this year is insane,” Rocky Mountain coach Chris Culig said. “That makes a big difference, especially in big games like these.”

The first half was a back-and-forth affair. CdA got the ball first and marched to the end zone, with Shilo Morgan’s 10-yard run giving the Vikings a 7-0 lead.

Rocky Mountain quickly responded, with Romano ripping off a 40-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. Conner Croft capped the drive with a 3-yard run to tie it at 7.

After trading punts, the teams swapped momentum-shifting turnovers. Rocky Mountain drove deep into Vikings territory, only to have Ethan Garitone snag a highlight-worthy, one-handed interception at the 3.

The Grizzlies took the ball back on the next play, with Jarell Lucas pouncing on a fumble at the 2. Romano punched it in from there as Rocky Mountain took a 14-7 lead.

CdA answered right back, with quarterback Kale Edwards passing the Vikings down the field before leaping in from the 1 to tie the score at 14.

But Rocky Mountain had the last word in the half, scoring on a 19-yard strike from Colby Jackson to Kaden Birch just 1:14 before the break.

The Grizzlies never surrendered their advantage. Romano raced 70 yards on the first play of the second half, finishing it off with a 10-yard touchdown run two plays later to make it 28-14.

“We wanted to take it to them coming out of halftime,” Romano said. “This was a statement game for us, and that was big for us to come out and put points on the board right away for our defense.”

CdA’s high-powered offense never got it going after halftime, with Rocky Mountain ending two drives on downs and two more with interceptions.

“You have to give Rocky Mountain credit,” Amos said. “They kept chipping away at us and making plays, and they were a better football team than us tonight. But I’m proud of our kids. They battled, they fought to the end, and they did all the things a coach could ask for.”

Rocky Mountain’s second interception led to an 11-yard scoring pass from Jackson to Birch, and Romano capped the scoring with a 5-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.

Edwards threw for 242 yards to lead CdA, including 82 to Colbey Nosworthy and 78 to Gunner Giulio. Morgan added 55 yards rushing and 27 more receiving.