Hill proves his worth as Highland topples Lake City in quarterfinal

POCATELLO, Idaho – Van Troxel sighed, shook his head and trudged toward Lake City’s locker room Friday at Pocatello’s Holt Arena.

The coach had seen his football team execute its offense to near perfection, gaining 442 yards and holding the ball for more than half the game.

But no matter what the undersized Timberwolves tried, they couldn’t contain Highland senior quarterback Taysom Hill. They didn’t even come close to doing so, really.

The Stanford-bound Hill ran for 270 yards, threw for 147 more and scored five touchdowns as Highland handed Lake City a season-ending 42-28 loss in the Idaho 5A state quarterfinals.

“Taysom’s a Division I prospect. That’s why he’s going to Stanford,” Troxel said. “He’s big, he’s strong, he’s athletic and he’s smart. That makes a pretty good package.”

Hill accounted for all but 26 of the Rams’ yards, his only blemish an underthrown pass in the third quarter that junior Austin Kiefer intercepted in Lake City’s end zone.

Hill completed 14 of 25 attempts for the pass-heavy Rams, whom the Timberwolves defeated 35-6 in the 5A state title game two years ago.

Lake City senior quarterback Adam Fenenbock threw for a better percentage and more yards than Hill, finishing 15 of 24 for 175 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown pass to senior Julian Burgess.

But even the whole of the Timberwolves’ multifaceted running attack couldn’t match Hill’s total. Senior Tanner Sanders led the LC ground attack with 76 yards on five carries. Junior Justin Bryant added 56 yards, Fenenbock another 55, and senior Jared Heston ran for 52 yards and two touchdowns that gave Lake City (4-6) an early 13-0 lead.

“We wanted to attack them,” Fenenbock said. “Just do what we do best.”

Yet Hill did the same.

He led the Rams on back-to-back scoring drives in the second quarter that gave Highland (7-2) a 14-13 lead, briefly stealing the lead before Burgess’ touchdown and an ensuing two-point conversion sent the Timberwolves into the break up by a score.

Eventually Hill took over. In the fourth quarter, he ran for three scores and threw for another.

Lewiston 40, Idaho Falls 7: Justin Podrabsky tossed four touchdown passes and ran for another score as the second-ranked Bengals (10-0) cruised to a home playoff win. Joey Walton, Ryan Young, Kyler Nilsson and Devon Brown each caught TD passes. Podrabsky passed for 376 yards on 13 completions.

Lewiston will face No. 1 Eagle, which eliminated Vallivue 37-16, in the State 5A semifinals.