American Falls, Bear Lake, West Side stay perfect; Rockland runs away in opener

EASTERN IDAHO — With their first victory over rival Aberdeen in 14 years, the American Falls Beavers improved to 2-0 on the young season. The West Side Pirates and Bear Lake Bears also remained undefeated, while the Rockland Bulldogs cruised past Lighthouse Christian in their first game of the year.

West Side entered Week 1 as the 3A division’s No. 1 team in the second media poll of the season.

The Pirates (2-0, 0-0) expressed that expected success with a 35-7 road victory over the Firth Cougars (0-1, 0-0).

West Side will be tested this week when they host the South Fremont Cougars (2-0, 0-0), who have outscored North Fremont and West Jefferson by a combined 73 points (91-18).

American Falls also improved to 2-0, beating the Aberdeen Tigers (1-1, 0-0) 7-6. The Beavers (2-0, 0-0) last won the “Battle of the Dam” in 2012, and had been 0-4 under current head coach Tim Hoppe.

They will be at Emmett to take on the Huskies on Thursday.

Two weeks into the season, Bear Lake has already surpassed their win total from a season ago, when they finished with a 1-6 overall record, 0-2 in conference.

The Bears (2-0, 0-0) followed up a 32-29 Week 0 win at Marsh Valley with a 48-0 victory over the North Fremont Huskies (0-2, 0-0), again on the road. The last time the Bears started a season 2-0 was in 2019.

Bear Lake will host its first home game of the season on Friday, when the Firth Cougars come to town.

The Rockland Bulldogs (1-0, 0-0) started their 2026 season on Friday, beating the Lighthouse Christian Lions (0-1) 66-8.

Rockland was led by seniors Xavier Parrish and Zach Permann.

Parrish finished the game with two rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns, while Permann did a bit of everything — recording a rushing touchdown, receiving touchdown and a 75-yard pick-six.

A trio of Bulldog freshmen also impacted the first high school game of their careers. Cooper Black hauled in a pair of touchdown catches, Luke Permann scored two rushing touchdowns, and Dallin Permann recorded a safety.

Rockland will round out the 2026 Rocky Mountain Rumble on Saturday, when they meet Dietrich at Idaho State University’s ICCU Dome.

The Highland Rams (0-2, 0-0) also played in the Rocky Mountain Rumble, falling 31-19 against the Box Elder Bees (UT) on Friday. Senior running back Cedric Mitchell scored three touchdowns and compiled more than 200 yards of total offense in the loss.

Highland had not started a season 0-2 since 2022. The last time they opened a year with three straight losses was in 2016.

Marsh Valley, Malad, Preston and Snake River all fell to 0-2 alongside the Rams.

The Eagles (0-2, 0-0) lost 51-0 at Melba; Malad (0-2, 0-0) was edged out by Salmon (1-1, 0-0), 14-7, in Malad City; Preston (0-2, 0-0) went down 47-21 at Emmett; And Snake River (0-2, 0-0) was shut out 35-0 at home by the Sugar-Salem Diggers (1-1, 0-0)

Century, Pocatello and Soda Springs each started their season with losses.

The Diamondbacks and Thunder both faced new conference competition, with 5A’s District 5 joining District 6 this season. Pocatello (0-1, 0-1) was downed 32-7 by Hillcrest (1-0, 1-0), while Century (0-1, 0-1) was hammered 41-13 by Blackfoot (2-0, 2-0).

The Cardinals (0-1, 0-0) lost 32-20 at home against Ririe (1-1, 0-0).

The North Gem Cowboys (1-1, 0-0) lost at home, 54-8, against Carey (1-0). The Grace Grizzlies (1-1, 0-0) also went down at home, 30-26, at the hands of Oakley (1-0).

A full slate of games this week will feature 14 games involving District 5 teams, including conference showdowns between Skyline (1-0, 1-0) at Century and Watersprings (0-1, 0-0) at Sho-Ban (0-0, 0-0).