Emotion Bowl: Skyline pulls away early to maintain its dominance against rival Idaho Falls

IDAHO FALLS – If there were any questions about how Skyline would bounce back after last week’s loss to Hillcrest, the Grizzlies put an end to that chatter early in Friday’s game against Idaho Falls.

Yes, the Emotion Bowl rivalry brings out all kinds of, well, emotions, but Skyline was all business, scoring on its first seven possessions and even adding a punt return for a score in the first half on the way to an eventual 55-13 win.

“We came out right from the beginning and stepped on them and just kept going from there,” said Skyline senior Zyan Crockett, who did his part with two rushing scores and a punt return for a score in the first half.

The Grizzlies, who struggled offensively during most of last week’s game against Hillcrest, erupted for 34 points in the first quarter and led 48-6 at the half.

The win was the 11th in the past 12 Emotion Bowl matchups for the Grizzlies.

Afterward, players rushed to the far side of the stadium to carry on the tradition of painting the goal post blue for the victorious team.

Crockett, who was named game MVP, noted he’d never lost an Emotion Bowl game and didn’t want that to change in his final senior matchup.

“Going into this game you never know what’s going to happen,” Skyline coach Scott Berger said. “Throw out the records … there was still some hard hitting going on even in the second half.”

Idaho Falls (0-5, 0-2) was looking for its first win of the season and finally hit a big play when Will Thompson connected with Kenyon Spencer for a dazzling 73-yard touchdown at the end of the first quarter.

The Tigers couldn’t capitalize in the second quarter turning the ball over with two interceptions and a turnover on downs.

Meanwhile, Crockett busted loose for a 27-yard touchdown and Sawyer Davis added a 1-yard score for Skyline.

“It changes the tempo,” Tigers’ coach Joe Parker said of trying to overcome the early deficit. “We know who they are and what they’re capable of. When you get down like that, it happened so fast … it felt like you’re in quicksand. We just got to calm down and play football.”

Playing catch-up also meant that Idaho Falls had to pass more and wasn’t able to control the game with its running game.

Thompson finished 16 of 33 for 206 yards with two interceptions and two touchdowns.

Caden Cruz had two touchdowns for Skyline.

The Grizzlies (4-1, 2-1) host Shelley next week and the Tigers are at Minico for a nonconference game.