District 5 Week 4 recap: Highland scores first win in shutout fashion; Soda Springs, Malad win second in as many weeks

EASTERN IDAHO — The Rockland Bulldogs stayed perfect on the season, improving to 4-0 with a four-score victory over Garden Valley Friday.

Rockland (4-0, 0-0) is joined by the West Side Pirates (4-0, 0-0) as the only two undefeated District 5 teams. On the other side of the ledger, the Sho-Ban Chiefs (0-3, 0-1), Marsh Valley Eagles (0-5, 0-1) and Snake River Panthers (0-5, 0-0) stayed winless with Week 4 losses.

Still perfect

The Bulldogs, for the first time this season, allowed a team to score more than eight points. But that did not keep Rockland from claiming another one-sided victory, beating Garden Valley 62-30.

Senior Xavier Parrish led the way for the Bulldogs, completing 21 of 31 passes for 262 yards and five touchdowns. He also intercepted two passes from his safety position. Zach Permann kept his explosive season rolling with 88 yards and two scores rushing to go with 88 yards and another score through the air.

Rockland will visit the Sho-Ban Chiefs Friday, looking for another victory.

The Chiefs suffered a third consecutive loss Friday, falling 48-16 at Carey High School to the Carey JV squad.

Righting the ship

The Grace Grizzlies (2-3, 0-0) bounced back from three straight losses with a 66-32 Friday road win over county neighbor North Gem.

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Grace was led to victory by sophomore running back Tate Stoddard, whose 233 rushing yards and three touchdowns were enough to counter 318 yards and five scores from Cowboy sophomore Clay Johnson.

Highland got a 98-yard kick return touchdown from senior Easton Almond, to go with two receiving touchdowns from senior Kellan Tingey and 161 yards and a score from senior running back Cedric Mitchell, helping the Rams (1-3, 0-0) earn win No. 1 on the year.

Defensively, Malakai Mitchell recorded a team-high 10 tackles to lead the Rams in a 36-0 shutout victory over Lake City (3-2).

The American Falls Beavers (3-2, 0-0) used a pair of touchdowns from senior Onyx Kunsaitis, including an 87-yard sprint early in the third quarter, to beat Filer (0-4) 21-7, ending what had been a two-game slide.

Staying hot

The Malad Dragons (2-2, 0-0), Soda Springs Cardinals (2-2, 0-0) and Aberdeen Tigers (3-2, 1-0) all won their second consecutive games.

Malad beat the Firth Cougars (0-4, 0-0) 26-7 at Firth High School, setting up a conference showdown with Soda Springs this Friday.

The Cardinals, who had won just one game across the last three seasons, earned their second victory in as many weeks, beating the North Fremont Huskies (2-3, 0-0) 28-7 at North Fremont High School.

Aberdeen avenged its 2025 state tournament semifinals loss, beating the Ririe Bulldogs (1-4, 0-0) 36-24 at Ririe High School.

The struggles continue

Snake River, with a 12-0 home loss to the South Fremont Cougars (4-1, 0-0), and Marsh Valley, with a 35-7 home loss to Declo (5-0), joined Sho-Ban in remaining winless on the year.

Both the Pocatello Thunder (1-3, 0-3) and Century Diamondbacks (1-3, 0-3) remained winless in conference play, though each has a single victory this season.

Pocatello fell 35-18 to the Tigers (2-2, 1-1) at Idaho Falls High School, while Century was dropped by the Knights (4-0, 3-0) at Hillcrest High School.