North Gem beats Rockland in shootout to claim conference crown

BANCROFT — At its best, eight-man football features explosive plays and high scores. The game was played at its best Friday at North Gem.

The Cowboys scored 11 touchdowns, but that was barely enough to squeak by the Rockland Bulldogs, 78-72, and claim the 1A Rocky Mountain Conference title and its lone guaranteed state bid.

A team that gets to the end zone 11 times would likely expect to lead from start to finish. But that wasn’t the case for North Gem.

Rockland opened the scoring, and held a 6-0 lead at the midway point of the first quarter. But both teams found their offensive rhythm from there, with the Cowboys taking a 16-12 lead in the second period.

The Bulldogs, however, threatened to pull away before halftime, scoring back-to-back touchdowns to take a 26-16 advantage half-way through the second.

Led by senior quarterback Craig Yost, North Gem found its way back into the end zone as time waned in the first half.

With his latest monster performance, Yost surpassed the program record for career rushing yards — previously held by his father. He has now run for 4,310 yards across 36 games (119.7 yards per game).

But his historic performance wasn’t enough to deter the Bulldogs.

Rockland continued to battle back and, after trailing by 16 with less than five minutes remaining in the third, took a 64-62 lead early in the fourth.

Junior quarterback Xavier Parrish was a beast as well, passing for 407 yards and six touchdowns.

His top target, Zach Permann, grabbed 10 catches for 348 yards and five of those scores. Permann added 89 rushing yards and an 81-yard kick return touchdown.

The Cowboys reclaimed the lead on a touchdown run from freshman Clay Johnson, with six minutes left in the game. Then Yost, from his linebacker position on defense, snatched one of his team’s two interceptions of the afternoon.

North Gem turned that takeaway into an insurance touchdown, taking a 78-64 lead with just over two minutes remaining.

Permann’s last long scoring reception 30 seconds later was not enough for the Bulldogs to overcome the late score.

With the win, North Gem claims the conference title and a berth into the state tournament, which begins next week.

EastIdahoSports.com will publish the state seeding and first-round matchups when that information becomes available.