3A: Ririe goes overtime in first championship game, but Bulldogs fall to Nampa Christian

MIDDLETON – Ririe’s run to its first state football championship ended just a few yards short on Saturday, as Nampa Christian came up with two big plays in overtime to beat the Bulldogs 36-30 in the 3A title game.

“We just didn’t have enough in the tank,” Ririe coach Josh Huntsman said after collecting the program’s first second-place trophy.

That sums up a hard-hitting game, with Ririe pounding the ball behind Kolter Lewis, and Nampa Christian taking advantage of enough big plays on both sides of the ball to hold on.

The final and decisive play was the Nampa Christian defense swarming to the edge to tackle Lewis as he sprinted around the left side on a fourth-down play in overtime.

For one of the seemingly few times all season, Lewis was held short of the goal line and the celebration was on for Nampa Christian, which was seeded sixth in the 3A bracket, but beat North Fremont and then downed defending champion West Side to advance to the championship game against top-seeded Ririe.

“We got stopped by a very good defense,” Huntsman said. “They did what they needed to do.”

Ririe (11-1) scored on its opening possession as Lewis capped the drive with a 1-yard score. The Bulldogs added a 2-point conversion for the early 8-0 lead and the defense did its part on Nampa Christian’s first drive, forcing a turnover on downs.

Nampa Christian settled down and put together its own scoring drive early in the second to pull within 8-7.

The Trojans followed with an onside kick and recovered the ball near midfield, but Ririe’s defense held and forced another turnover on downs.

Ririe appeared to regain the momentum after driving 55 yards on 10 straight running plays to take a 16-7 lead on a sneak by quarterback Breylon Moon.

Nampa Christian’s special teams struck again when Mason Mills took a short kickoff and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown.

Ririe recovered a muffed punt deep in Trojans’ territory late in the second quarter and it was Lewis again finding the end zone on a 5-yard scamper.

But Nampa Christian put together a last-second drive that ended on a 32-yard field goal by Dylan O’Brien, sending the Trojans into the locker room trailing just 22-16 despite the Bulldogs controlling possession.

That deficit lasted one play as the Trojans’ Ian Johnson burst through the Bulldog defense for a 53-yard touchdown run on the first play of the third quarter to give Nampa Christian its first lead.

Meanwhile, Ririe’s offense sputtered with a turnover on downs and a punt in the third.

Johnson added his second touchdown of the day on a 2-yard run to put Nampa Christian up 30-22.

Ririe took over with 10:02 left and did what it does best.

Starting at the 20, Lewis and Garrett Van Noy pounded the Nampa Christian defense and methodically drove downfield. It took 16 plays, but Lewis powered in for the score.

He also ran around the left side for the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 30-30.

The Trojans missed a 42-yard field goal as time expired to send the game into overtime.

That’s where Nampa Christian won its championship as Pete Dice lobbed a pass into the end zone that was hauled in by a leaping O’Brien.

The pass for a 2-point conversion failed, so Ririe had its chance to win the game on its first overtime possession.

The Nampa Christian defense was up to the task, stopping Lewis on four straight rushing attempts.

“We looked at a couple of different (plays) and we just didn’t feel like we had anything left in the tank,” Huntsman said of the final overtime series. “We left everything out there to tie it up. We were hoping we could sneak one past them, but that defense, you’re not going to sneak it past them.”

Lewis finished with 176 yards rushing. Johnson led Nampa Christian with 161 yards rushing, and Dice was 10 of 16 for 144 yards.

“We didn’t lose the ballgame, we just ran out of time,” Huntsman said.