PHOTO GALLERY: 4 local football teams win — 3 for title game spots and 1 to retain the Train Bell Trophy

The ISU Bengals celebrate their victory over rival Weber State and retention of the Train Bell Trophy. | Kyle Riley, EastIdahoSports.com EASTERN IDAHO — Three local prep football teams won this weekend, earning spots in the Idaho High School Football State Championships title games. The Ririe Bulldogs, Hillcrest Knights and Rigby Trojans will all battle for the right to bring home banner. For Rigby and Hillcrest, this would be back-to-back championships to add to already filled rafters. Ririe, on the other hand, is after its first football state championship in program history. While the Bulldogs, Knights and Trojans won their semifinal games, other local teams bowed out of the tournament, receiving third-place trophies. The Grace Grizzlies in 2A, Aberdeen Tigers and West Side Pirates in 3A, Sugar-Salem Diggers in 4A, and Skyline Grizzlies in 5A each saw their season come to an end. Between the semifinal round and championship weekend, the Idaho State Bengals took over their home field, beating the brakes off of the rival Weber State Wildcats to retain the Train Bell Trophy. The win marked the first time since 1983-84 that ISU has beaten Weber State in back-to-back meetings. Here are some of our favorite pictures from the action-packed week of football. And remember, visit the East Idaho News – Sports public Facebook group to vote for you favorite picture in the Photo of the Week poll — vote here. Hillcrest High School senior Tyson Sweetwood takes advantage of some stellar blocking to break one of his long runs during a victory over the Twin Falls Bruins. Sweetood, with help from that blocking, ran for 280 yards and five touchdowns in the 44-20 win. | Photo courtesy Amy Ward Ririe High School senior Kolter Lewis catches a long pass from quarterback Breylon Moon, before breaking a tackle and going the rest of the way for a touchdown. The Bulldogs beat the Aberdeen Tigers, 14-8, in a physical 3A semifinal game. | Kyle Riley, EastIdahoSports.com Sugar-Salem High School junior Frank Fillmore throws on the run during the Diggers’ loss to Homedale. Fillmore finished the game with 283 total yards and three touchdowns in defeat. | Kyle Riley, EastIdahoSports.com Aberdeen High School senior Lupe Ortiz holds the third-place trophy following the Tigers’ loss to Ririe. Head coach Derek Jolley called for Ortiz to be the player who represented the team in accepting the trophy, following a solid season that ended with him limited by injury. | Kyle Riley, EastIdahoSports.com West Side High School junior Drake Sage lowers his pad level in search of extra yards against the Nampa Christian Trojans. The reigning champion Pirates lost to Nampa Christian despite a solid two-way effort from the junior. | Kyle Riley, EastIdahoSports.com The Hillcrest Knights celebrate their return to the 5A state championship game. Hillcrest will face the Bishop Kelly Knights on Monday evening at Boise State University’s Albertsons Stadium. | Photo courtesy Amy Ward ISU’s Michael Shulikov goes over the Weber State defender for a 52-yard reception during the Bengals’ win. | Kyle Riley, EastIdahoSports.com ISU’s Ian Duarte dives into the end zone. | Kyle Riley, EastIdahoSports.com ISU’s Damien Morgan shows off his agility, making a toe-tap catch on a perfectly thrown touchdown pass from Jordan Cooke. | Kyle Riley, EastIdahoSports.com The post PHOTO GALLERY: 4 local football teams win — 3 for title game spots and 1 to retain the Train Bell Trophy appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com