North Gem battles past Chiefs in first football game at Sho-Ban High since 2019

FORT HALL — Coming off a rough home loss last week, the North Gem Cowboys got their get-right win at Sho-Ban High School Friday, but it was a hard-fought battle that many may not have expected to be close.

The Chiefs (0-3) were playing their third game in six years and had lost their first two games of the season by a combined score of 110-0.

Sho-Ban scored its first touchdown of the season in the second quarter and was within six points at halftime. But the Cowboys, behind freshman Clay Johnson, pulled away in the second half, earning a 36-14 victory.

North Gem head coach Corry Hatch was impressed by the Chiefs, who had not fielded a varsity football team since 2019.

“This was not the (Sho-Ban) team that played Week 1,” he said. “They played hard — a lot of credit to those guys and those coaches. But our team, we rallied. We played hard, played for each other, and Clay Johnson had himself a game.”

Johnson got the scoring started four minutes into the game, when he cashed in on a fumble from the Chiefs on the very first play of the game. On his second carry of the possession, the H-back took a sweep off the left edge and beat everyone to the endzone, giving the Cowboys a 6-0 lead.

The next time he touched the ball, Johnson took the it 39 yards right back to the house, as North Gem grabbed a 14-0 lead with 3:11 remaining in the first quarter.

Sho-Ban’s ensuing possession is one that will be discussed in the halls Monday.

Led down the field on a pair of powerful runs from junior Jayden Crow, the Chiefs marched 62 yards on 11 plays. And on the 12th play of their third possession, sophomore AJ Graves hit tight end Ben Tendore.

Tendore was able to get a hand on it and prevent Johnson from snatching his fourth interception of the season, sending the tipped ball high into the air.

As it fell to the ground, the ball found a home in the arms of a lunging Zane Tohtsoni for the Chiefs’ first varsity touchdown in six years.

Graves described the play, saying North Gem had quick pressure off the edge forcing him to get rid of it quickly to Tendore on the drag.

“When I saw that ball in the air, I was like, ‘Oh boy, I better see Zane get it,'” he said with a laugh.

“It’s pretty cool, scoring the first touchdown for the Sho-Ban Chiefs. Awesome,” Tohtsoni said after the game.

AJ Graves hits Zane Tohtsoni (and a couple other players) for Sho-Ban football's first points in six years.#idpreps #highschoolfootball #FridayNightLights pic.twitter.com/CR7wk1HXJp

— Kalama Hines (@HINESight_2020) September 13, 2025

Johnson did pick off his fourth pass of the year, in the third quarter, and took it 60 yards to the house for a pick-six — his first of the year. He said after the game that his goal is to tally four pick-sixes this year.

Tohtsoni and Graves hooked up again, cutting the score to 22-14 with just under three minutes left in the third quarter. This time, though, it was Tohtsoni throwing and Graves catching, on an 18-yard catch and run.

Johnson struck again though, returning the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown.

He finished his impressive performance with 156 yards and three scores on 12 carries, to go with his defensive and special teams scores.

“He’s a star now — he’s going to be a dang star,” Hatch said. “Dude can play offense, he can play special teams, he can play defense. And he’s a really gifted runner, gifted athlete.”

Crow did his best to match Johnson, proving his Chiefs with 95 physical yards on nine carries.

Johnson is part of a very young North Gem roster, which consists of more freshmen (six) than seniors (five). But he showed the maturity that has his coaches excited after the game, when he said he was not especially happy with his team’s performance.

“We “could’ve played harder … could have played better,” he said.

As a big part of the Cowboy youth movement, Johnson spoke about the keys to his young — and small — team finding success this year.

“We’ve got to practice hard, we’ve got to hit hard,” he said. “We’ve got to not care about size, we’ve just got to hit.”

Hatch said after the game that the key to his squad’s second-half turnaround was communication on blocking assignments. He said that Sho-Ban did a good job of showing different schemes and disguising their defensive attack, which made things hard for his young team.

Blocking, he continued, is the most important part of the game, especially in their split-wing veer offense, and blocking will be key to the Cowboys making a run at a state title.

“The league is wide open … and I think we’ve got a shot to win the conference,” he said.

North Gem will travel to Garden Valley next week, to take on the 2-0 Wolverines.

The Chiefs will also be on the road, facing the Mackay Miners (2-0).