Bear River finishes strong and the Thunder Ridge defense struggles in loss at Rocky Mountain Rumble

POCATELLO – Thunder Ridge’s season opener in the dome had a little bit of everything on Thursday.

There were some impressive offensive drives, a tip-it-to-yourself pick-6 by the defense, all countered by a spectacular air attack by Bear River.

In the end, it was Bear River celebrating after a 49-35 victory that featured a strong fourth quarter.

The Rocky Mountain Rumble in the ICCU Dome pits Idaho teams against teams from Utah and it was clear Utah’s Bear River had every intent of showing off its passing game against the Titans from Idaho.

Thunder Ridge coach Michael Berger noted the Titans’ defense was young and inexperienced, and Bear River aired it out.

“Sloppy,” Berger said. “Defensively, a lot of blown assignments, a lot of inexperience on display. We gave up too many big plays and we lost our confidence. As a coach I have to correct that. It starts with me. I got to get us better prepared.”

Berger noted it was a typical first game, where jitters and inexperience tend to lead to mistakes.

That wasn’t the case early, at least on the offensive side of the ball, where quarterback Ryder Portmann and running back Tayt Nelson sparked Thunder Ridge to touchdowns on its first two drives.

Bear River responded with big plays, scoring on a 44-yard touchdown pass and following up with a 63-yard scoring pass.

The Titan defense contributed as McKay Scoresby tipped a pass in the Bear River backfield and grabbed it out of the air and sprinted for a touchdown from 22 yards out.

The Titans averaged a conference low 21.78 points last year, but led 28-27 at the half on Thursday despite the Bears scoring on a 59-yard play in the closing seconds.

Bear River opened the second half with another long scoring play to take the lead, but the Titans tied it at 35-35 on a touchdown pass by Portmann.

But the big play would strike again as Bear River took the lead on a 48-yard touchdown run. They would add another touchdown in the closing minutes and the Titan offense never recovered.

Bear River finished with nearly 500 yards of offense,335 coming through the air.

“We just got to learn from that,” Berger said.

Thunder Ridge hosts Bonneville next Friday.