District 5 boys soccer roundup: Century, Preston emerge as title contenders

EASTERN IDAHO — With just two weeks left in the boys’ soccer regular season, Century and Preston have distinguished themselves as state championship contenders, while several other District 5 teams also have legitimate aspirations to make their own run.

The Diamondbacks (7-3-2, 7-2-2) are coming off a week in which they beat conference opponents Hillcrest, Shelley, Pocatello and Blackfoot, securing a strong hold on the No. 2 spot in the 5A High Country Conference — behind Idaho Falls. Preston (10-3-1, 6-1) is currently tied for the 4A East Idaho Conference lead with American Falls (7-8, 6-1) — though the Beavers handed Preston one of its losses last week.

6A

While Highland’s overall record won’t inspire much intrigue on the surface, the current surge they are riding has catapulted the Rams (6-6-2, 4-2) into conference and state title conversations.

Highland has not suffered a loss since Sept. 3, going 6-0-1 since starting the season 0-5-1.

Last week, the Rams posted three clean sheets, outscoring Canyon Ridge, Thunder Ridge and Pocatello 8-0 for a 3-0 record.

The Rams will round out their regular season with a visit from Rigby (3-10, 1-5) on Thursday and a trip to Madison (5-8, 3-2) on Saturday.

5A

Century capped a 4-0 week with a 5-2 victory over reigning state consolation champion Blackfoot (4-6-2, 4-5-2), after beating Pocatello (5-4-4, 4-3-4) 1-0 on Thursday, Shelley (2-9-2, 2-7-2) 3-0 on Tuesday and Hillcrest (2-7-4, 2-5-4) on Monday.

The Diamondbacks are currently 13th among 5A teams in the MaxPreps rankings, and trail only Idaho Falls (12-1, 10-1) in the conference standings.

Battling to stay in the top half of the High Country Conference standings, the Thunder have lost their last two games, against Century and Highland.

Both Century and Pocatello have three conference games scheduled this week to round out their regular seasons.

4A

Though Preston did not have an especially dominant week, going 1-1-1, they did enough to stay tied with American Falls at the top of the South East Idaho Conference standings. The two have already played twice this season, splitting the games — including a 2-1 victory for the Beavers on Sept. 21 — leaving much to be decided over the season’s final week.

Preston, MaxPreps’ No. 10 4A squad, will finish its season with games at Snake River (2-8-1, 1-6) on Wednesday and at home against Sugar-Salem (9-1-2, 3-1) on Thursday.

American Falls will be at home against Marsh Valley (7-8, 6-1) on Wednesday, having already beaten Aberdeen (1-11, 1-6) on Monday.