Led by solid defensive effort, Highland wins 16th straight Black and Blue Bowl game

POCATELLO — For the second time in two weeks, the Highland Rams took the opening kickoff to the house for an immediate advantage.

Sixteen seconds into the game, the Rams (3-3, 0-0) led the rival Pocatello Thunder (1-5, 0-4) 7-0 on a Kellan Tingey 90-yard kick-return touchdown. Highland led by the same 7-0 score 40 minutes later, though, before both offenses finally built some momentum in the fourth quarter.

It was Highland, however, that did more with its offense, winning the Black and Blue Bowl 17-8. The Rams have now won 16 consecutive matchups with their crosstown rival, and own a 56-15 all-time record against Pocatello.

After the game, Highland head coach Nick Sorrell said that, regardless of record or expectation, the Highland-Pocatello rivalry always stokes the best, most physical effort from both teams.

“These kids battled,” Sorrell told EastIdahoSports.com. “It’s the Black and Blue Bowl, no matter what you do, whatever it looks like on paper, you’d better show up and strap it on — there were some big-time hits tonight.”

Sorrell talked about the jolt his team got from Tingey’s opening kickoff return, just like the one it got from Easton Almond’s return score against Lake City two weeks ago. But, he admitted, it does throw a wrench in the offensive game plan, not being able to run the first-drive script.

“It’s a huge shot in the arm for us,” the coach said. “Our special teams has been fantastic all year long, and I like the energy that it gives us. … But it does get us a little bit out of rhythm. But it was more that we didn’t execute very well — especially up front.”

Highland leaned heavily on its defense through the first three quarters, with quarterback Jacob Vincent and the offense not able to get anything going.

Defensive end Jaxson Collard said his defense was up for the challenge because of what Black and Blue week means to everyone in a Rams jersey.

“For us, it means that we’ve got to practice hard all week and dominate all week,” he said. “We know (Pocatello’s) gonna come out hot, and we know they’re going to come out with a chip on their shoulder.”

Collard powered a Highland pass rush that sped up Pocatello quarterback Rhev Stucki all night. The senior was credited with three of Highland’s four sacks, to go with several tackles for loss.

He was also part of a unique play in the second half, when he tried to bat down a Stucki pass in the backfield. Rather than hitting Collard’s hand, the ball hit his helmet and caromed straight up.

Stucki hauled in the pass himself, getting back to the line of scrimmage before Collard dragged him down.

Collard said he felt the ball hit him and tried to box out Stucki, thinking the ball had gone forward. He thought one of his teammates would be able to intercept it.

“I was waiting for someone else to get, then I turned around, and he was running,” Collard said.

Highland finally did find the scoreboard again with just over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, when junior kicker Bridger Hanks connected from 36 yards out.

After forcing a turnover on downs, Highland needed just over three minutes to march 88 yards. Star running back Cedric Mitchell capped the drive with a four-yard touchdown run, pushing the Rams’ lead to 17-0.

Led by Stucki, Pocatello finally mustered an offensive answer, driving 81 yards to the end zone. Stucki hit senior wide receiver Graham Farnsworth for a 13-yard score with just 19 seconds left on the clock.

Collard, who wasn’t on the field during Pocatello’s final drive, said he would have liked to finish a shutout. But, he added, he is happy with the way his defense played.

“We held them all game — we did our job right up to the very end,” he said.

Sorrell expressed a similar sentiment, saying that it was slightly disheartening seeing the shutout come to an end in the closing seconds.

“But credit to (Pocatello), they didn’t quit. We play 48 minutes for a reason — we’ve got to stop them, we’ve got to keep them out (of the end zone),” he said.

Stucki accounted for 82 of the Thunder’s 85 yards on that final scoring drive. After a sluggish first half, he finished the game completing 20 of 35 pass attempts for 188 yards and a touchdown. He added 56 rushing yards on 13 carries.

Tingey added 36 receiving yards on three catches to his 90-yard kick-return touchdown. Mitchell finished the game with 83 yards and a score on 16 carries.

The Rams, who started the season with three straight losses, are now riding a three-game winning streak heading into their conference schedule. Up next is a road game against the Madison Bobcats (5-1, 0-0).

Sorrell said that he has been proud of the way his Rams have stayed together as they recover from the slow start.

“Our motto all year long has been ‘We’ve gotta climb the hill.’ Our hill became a little bit steeper after those first three games,” he said.

Collard said that he and his teams know now what they need to do to keep winning.

“We’re on a roll, so if we keep practicing the way we’ve been practicing, we’ve got a good shot at (winning) this next game.”

Up next for Pocatello is a road conference game against the Shelley Russets (2-4, 1-3).