Rocky night for Vikings
MERIDIAN — It was billed as a showdown of 5A high school football powerhouses, but Friday’s state semifinal quickly turned into a one-sided affair.
Star tailback Nick Romano ran for 205 yards and three touchdowns, while Rocky Mountain’s vaunted defense shut down Coeur d’Alene’s high-powered offense by forcing three turnovers in a 42-14 victory.
Rocky Mountain (11-0) advances to the 5A championship game, where it will face Highland (10-1) of Pocatello next Saturday at Albertsons Stadium in Boise. Coeur d’Alene finishes the season 9-1.
“You have to give Rocky Mountain credit,” Coeur d’Alene coach Shawn Amos said. “They kept chipping away at us and making plays, and they were a better football team than us tonight.”
The first half was a competitive, copycat affair. Coeur d’Alene got the ball first and quickly marched to the end zone, with Shilo Morgan’s 10-yard run giving the Vikings a 7-0 lead.
Rocky Mountain 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 out of the wildcat formation to tie it, 7-7.
After trading punts, the teams swapped momentum-shifting turnovers. Rocky Mountain drove deep into Vikings territory, only to have Ethan Garitone snag an incredible one-handed interception at the 3.
On the very next play, the Grizzlies grabbed a takeaway of their own, with Jarell Lucas pouncing on a fumble at the 2. Romano punched it in from there as Rocky Mountain took a 14-7 lead.
Coeur d’Alene answered right back, with quarterback Kale Edwards passing the Vikings down the field before leaping in from the 1 to re-tie the score, 14-14.
But Rocky Mountain would have 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 would never surrender 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.”
Coeur d’Alene’s passing attack never got it going after halftime, with Rocky Mountain ending two drives on downs and two more with interceptions.
“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,” Amos said. “Those were hard to overcome, but creating turnovers is one of the things they do a very good job of.”
A Rocky Mountain interception by Jaxson Pabst 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.
“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.”
Edwards threw for 242 yards to lead Coeur d’Alene, but he was held without a passing touchdown for the first time this season. Morgan had 55 yards rushing and 27 more receiving, with Colbey Nosworthy adding 82 receiving yards and Garrett Hagel chipping in 78 through the air.
Coeur d’Alene 7 7 0 0 — 14
Rocky Mountain 7 14 7 14 — 42
First Quarter
Cd’A — Shilo Morgan 10 run (Gabe Nazemi kick)
RM — Conner Croft 3 run (Steven Stoddard kick)
Second Quarter
RM — Nick Romano 2 run (Stoddard kick)
Cd’A — Kale Edwards 1 run (Nazemi kick)
RM — Kaden Birch 19 pass from Colby Jackson (Stoddard kick)
Third Quarter
RM — Romano 10 run (Stoddard kick)
Fourth Quarter
RM — Birch 11 pass from Jackson (Stoddard kick)
RM — Romano 5 run (Stoddard kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Cd’A, Morgan 11-55, Edwards 11-34. RM, Romano 25-205, Jordan Erickson 5-28, Jackson 1-5, Conner Croft 2-5, Maxwell Lehman 5-6.
PASSING — Cd’A, Edwards 22-36-2-242, Morgan 0-1-0-0. RM, Jackson 11-18-1-151.
RECEIVING — Cd’A Morgan 5-27, Colbey Nosworthy 6-82, Brennan Crawford 1-6, Garrett Hagel 7-78, Carter Friesz 2-39, Jake Brown 1-10. RM, Birch 2-30, Brayden Hamilton 6-75, Croft 2-38, Romano 1-8.