District 5 Game of the Week: Beaver offense floods Cardinals in shutout victory

AMERICAN FALLS — Facing a Soda Springs team led by a first-year coach and a new quarterback, the American Falls Beavers delivered a statement win at home to open their season.

Behind a dominant defensive display and a six-touchdown performance from quarterback Zak Grigg, the Beavers (1-0, 0-0) cruised to a 47-0 victory over the Cardinals (0-1,0-0).

Head coach Tim Hoppe said he was a bit nervous during the weeks leading up to Friday night’s season-opener. But for a strange reason.

“I’ve never seen a team that performed this well at practice,” he said. “It made me uncomfortable.”

His Beavers performed that well in all facets of their opening game, scoring touchdowns on seven of 10 possessions and forcing three turnovers.

Hoppe made a decision that would not come easy to most head coaches, moving Grigg from running back, where he earned an All-State selection a year ago, to quarterback, where he hadn’t played since his freshman year. That decision came with a conversation Grigg recalls occurring during track practice.

Hoppe, Grigg said, explained that a move would benefit both him and his team.

“That really gave me a boost of confidence, to know that I can still go out there and play my best football,” Grigg said.

In his first game as a varsity signal-caller, Grigg completed 11 of 24 pass attempts for 161 yards and four touchdowns. But he is still a sprinter, and the fastest player on the squad, so he added in 34 rushing yards and two more scores.

“I’ve been playing quarterback ever since I was a kid — it felt natural,” Grigg said after the game. “Being able to do that with these guys around you is just an unreal feeling.”

Grigg, whom Hoppe said during camp was equipped with the best arm talent he believes he’s ever coached, overthrew a few open receivers. But also completed several long passes, including a 22-yard third-quarter touchdown to Tripp Wagstaff.

“Being able to come out and throw some good balls, it really boosts your confidence and makes you feel good,” Grigg said, adding that he hopes he put forth a good display of quarterback play for those in attendance. “It’s a lot easier when you’ve got dudes that will jump for a diving catch or get in a sideline catch — it really helps you out.”

Grigg spread the ball around well, completing passes to five different receivers.

Fellow seniors Gavin Adamson and Kahlen Hernandez were his go-to guys, however.

Adamson finished the night with four catches for 42 yards and a score — adding 21 rushing yards — while Hernandez also hauled in four passes, for 85 yards and one score.

Armando Ledesma added an 11-yard receiving touchdown to conclude the scoring in the closing minutes of the game.

Taking over the workhorse duties Grigg held down last year was senior Brian Lopez, who pounded out 81 yards on 12 carries, which included the game’s only touchdown that was not credited to Grigg.

“When you’ve got — you see how many different guys scored touchdowns today, five different guys, we’ve got weapons everywhere. Good luck stopping us,” Hoppe said of his offense.

For all the offense that was on display, American Falls’ defensive effort may have been even more impressive.

Facing a new coach, hired from out of state, the Beavers had little to no knowledge of the gameplan they would be facing. First-year Cardinals head coach Colby Fangman also brought a new quarterback into the mix for Soda Springs, his son, junior Alexander Fangman.

With little to go on, Hoppe told EastIdahoSports.com several days before the game, that his defensive plan was to just hope his players played their best and allowed him to make adjustments on the fly.

Those adjustments came quick — and the players held up their end of the bargain.

Alexander completed his first three pass attempts, for 19 yards. From there, he was true on just seven of 25 passes for 29 yards while being intercepted twice.

The game was controlled, on both sides, by the American Falls linemen — a unit that includes a pair of standout sophomores.

Senior Fred Murillo, Hoppe said, came into the season with expectations, as an offensive linemen, defensive linemen, placekicker and punter.

But Jesus Sanchez did not. In fact, Friday was the one-year anniversary of the first football game Sanchez ever played, Hoppe said. As the starting left tackle, he was responsible for setting up the offensive attack. And at defensive tackle, Sanchez created all sorts of problems for the Cardinals.

“He had that other quarterback running for his life all night long,” Hoppe said of Sanchez.

The same can be said of Breckin Barclay, who opened fall camp with the JV squad but has since secured a starting position with the varsity team.

“Our defense is unreal,” Grigg said of the unit led by a pair of sophomores.

Soda Springs will be back on the road next weekend, facing the Ririe Bulldogs in search of Colby Fangman’s first Idaho win.

Coming off their big victory, American Falls will get ready for the Reservoir Rivalry game at Aberdeen next weekend.

The Tigers have won the last 12 regular-season matchups, including a pair of low-scoring battles the past two seasons by a combined six points.

Hoppe though, believes this high-octane Beaver offense will change the tides.

“We always want to get that dub over Aberdeen, but it hasn’t come yet,” said Hoppe, in his fourth season as head coach at American Falls. … “I think that this is the offense that we need to beat them, because that’s what’s been lacking.”