On Friday, Nov. 15th, the Rocky Mountain football team matched up against the Rigby Trojans. Rigby traveled all the way from Eastern Idaho to take on the Grizzlies. Rocky came into the game with an undefeated 10-0 record whereas Rigby entered with a 9-1 record losing only to Moses Lake (WA).
Rocky set the tone early on, with a 70-yard touchdown run from RB Taeshaun Reese. Rigby responded with a touchdown of their own to bring the game to a standstill at 7-7. Senior, Justin Hall said, “I knew it was going to be a close game, but [Rigby] came to play.” This summed up the rest of the game with Rigby hammering the run game through Rocky Mountain’s defense.
Up until the fourth quarter, Rocky struggled to move the ball and score points until Reese scored his second touchdown of the night. Rocky went for a two-point conversion and was successful bringing the score to 21-18 with Rigby in the lead. Rigby got the ball back and fought it down to the Grizzlies’ one yard line but couldn’t manage to find an opening into the endzone. With two minutes left in the state semifinal, Rocky got the ball back. Spectator, Nic Gerratt said, “The crowd was alive and there was so much emotion going into that last drive.” Three straight incompletions called for a big fourth down that would decide the game, and Rocky was shut down. Rigby took a kneel to close out the game, ending Rocky’s perfect season.
After the game, senior Max Barton said he was, “Pretty sad because I thought that we could win the game, but it just didn’t turn out as we hoped.” The game was a shootout, with lots of action throughout, but the Grizzlies ended up coming short. Both teams have had great seasons, and Rigby went on to beat Eagle in the state championship game at Boise State on November 23rd.
