Notebook: Big games, big numbers, highlight Week 2

IDAHO FALLS — Catching up on a few notes from this past weekend’s football games.

Premier pass catchers
Perhaps overlooked in Friday’s Civil War game between Hillcrest High School and Bonneville High School was the matchup between two of the area’s top pass catchers.

Hillcrest’s Jace Judy finished with seven catches for 163 yards and three scores. That comes off a 10-catch, 102 yards, and two touchdown performance in the season opener at Madison High School.

The Bees’ Tivon Sakaguchi has 16 catches for 236 yards in three games, and at 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, presents matchup problems for smaller defenders. He’s also a big target for Brock Faulkner, who has been named the Bees’ starting quarterback going forward.

Faulkner and Eli Hamilton have each played in the first three games, but coach Shane Stephenson said Faulkner earned the job after passing for 237 yards and two touchdowns Friday against Hillcrest.

Strong start for West Jefferson High School

The Panthers are 2-0 after defeating Wendell and Cokeville (WY). Last year the team finished 1-7.

In Friday’s 27-7 victory, the Panthers had a balanced effort on offense as Tate Simmons finished 8 for 11 for 115 yards and three touchdowns and Ryker Burtenshaw ran for 102 yards and a score and Porter Robison added 111 yards and a touchdown. Rawley Calder hauled in a pair of touchdown catches.

The defense shut out Cokeville through three quarters, with Mac Hall and Isaac Hall each finishing with a team-high nine tackles. Mac Hall and Ryker Burtenshaw each had fumble recoveries.

Aberdeen shuts out Declo
Expect a shakeup in this week’s state media poll after the Tigers took down No. 2 Declo 8-0.
Aberdeen, which was ranked No. 4, improved to 2-0 with wins over American Falls and Declo, which received four first-place votes in last week’s state poll.

Toughest 6A conference?
Is the 6A District 5-6 conference now the most competitive in the state?

Highland and Rigby have ruled the conference of late, but Madison has been impressive as the Bobcats opened the season 3-0 and Thunder Ridge is off to a 2-0 start after finishing 1-8 and 2-7 the past two seasons.

The conference is 10-1 overall, with the lone loss coming in Week 0 when Rigby lost 24-14 at No. 1 Coeur d’Alene.

Rams rolling
Speaking of Highland, the Rams got another stellar performance out of junior quarterback Keaton Belnap, who passed for 233 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 28-19 win over Summit (OR). He also rushed for 65 yards and two scores as Highland improved to 3-0.