Holbrook, linemates keep Timberlake on the move

Anyone who’s watched a Timberlake High football game this season has to be amazed with the sheer speed of the undefeated Tigers’ rushing attack.

The 1-2 punch of running backs Nick Puckett and Cody Jones, is impressive.

So on the eve of Timberlake’s first foray into the 3A state semifinals, here’s some ink for the unsung heroes – the grunts up front – who help make all of it happen.

Senior offensive guard Scott Holbrook, the Intermountain League lineman of the year who coincidentally possesses “exceptional quickness” of his own, according to head coach Roy Albertson, fits the bill perfectly.

“I’ve never been here before. I’ve never got to play this far,” said Holbrook, who also earns rave reviews from Albertson for his play on the D-line. “When it was snowing the other day, I felt like I was in the NFL, kind of.

“I’ve never played this far before, and I probably never will again … it’s all or nothing.”

Listening to Holbrook, one gets the impression his team’s talent is rivaled only by its confidence.

“We keep it in our minds that we can do it,” said Holbrook, whose vibe, like the rest of his team, is more one of humility than braggadocio. “That’s one of the big things, because, like last year, we were really good, but we were young.

“This year, we don’t have that – this year we can do it. We have probably one of the better teams in all of Idaho.”

Holbrook admits that the same confidence that’s carried the Tigers this far almost cost them Saturday in the second half against Declo.

“We scored 35 points in the first half – we scored on the first play of the game,” he said. “In the second half, we didn’t come out with that mentality that, ‘We can still lose, we are not invincible,’ and in the second half we didn’t score anything.

“One person asked me, ‘Do you think they were better than us?’ and I said, ‘No, we thought we had it done, and we almost didn’t make it,’ and we can’t roll over like that, because we won’t get a second chance like that again.”

No, it isn’t the NFL, and Saturday’s high-noon showdown with Fruitland doesn’t decide who goes to the Super Bowl, but you’d have a hard time convincing the population of Spirit Lake.

“It’s not just the school, it’s the whole community,” Holbrook said. “I go to the gas station with my jacket on and somebody will come up to me and say, ‘Good luck.’ “