Week 9 recap: Blackfoot blows up football rankings with home upset of Hillcrest; Rigby, Butte County snatch conference titles

EASTERN IDAHO — The final weekend of regular-season football featured everything fans could have wanted. There were upsets, conference championships and state tournament tickets punched.

Rigby won its third consecutive High Country Conference crown, beating up on rival Madison; Butte County returned to the top of its conference with a lopsided victory over Grace; And Shelley secured a state bid by beating Skyline for the first time since the two teams became conference foes in 2018.

Here is a full rundown of what happened in Week 9:

6A

The Thunder Ridge Titans (5-4, 1-2) traveled to Pocatello needing a victory over Highland (4-5, 1-2) to keep alive any playoff hopes they had. But the Titan offense never arrived as the Rams ran away with a 38-0 victory.

With the loss, the Titans were eliminated from state tournament contention, ending their season.

The Rigby Trojans (8-1, 3-0) had their own one-sided battle, beating rival Madison (6-3, 1-2) 35-3.

Both Rigby and Madison earned spots in the state tournament, though, with Madison earning the right to host a first-round game and Rigby, the conference champ, claiming a first-round bye.

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5A

Entering the final week of the season, the Hillcrest Knights (8-1, 6-1) had already claimed their second straight conference title, and with it a first-round bye. But a double-digit loss to conference rival Blackfoot (5-4, 5-2) was not how they wanted to cap the season.

Behind junior running back Rykar Wools, the Broncos beat Hillcrest 34-22.

Wools finished the game with 176 yards and four touchdowns, giving Blackfoot its first victory over the Knights since 2022.

Shelley (5-4, 4-3) also finished its season on a high, beating Skyline (3-6, 3-4) 41-0 to lock down a playoff spot.

4A

South Fremont (6-3, 1-1) locked up its playoff spot — if it hadn’t already — with a 19-0 win over Teton (1-7, 0-2).

The Cougars ended what had been a two-game losing streak. They will face Preston (4-4, 3-0), who was responsible for the first of those two losses, in the first round of the state tournament.

3A

Ririe (4-5, 3-1) also secured a state berth, one year removed from a championship game loss, by beating Firth (0-8, 0-4) 54-6.

The Bulldogs started the season 1-5, but finished with three straight wins to claim a spot in the tournament.

It was too little, too late, however, for Salmon (6-3, 2-2) — who beat Ririe. The Savages finished their season with a 30-14 win over North Fremont (3-6, 1-3) but were left on the outside looking in when the IHSAA announced the state tournament brackets.

2A

Butte County (6-3, 2-0) did not need to worry about at-large bids after beating Grace (3-6, 1-1) 58-12 to secure a conference championship.

The Pirates will be back in the state tournament and will enjoy a first-round bye.

1A

The Watersprings Warriors (4-4, 1-3) finished their season with a second victory over the Sho-Ban Chiefs (0-8, 0-4) this season, though this one was much closer.

After beating the Chiefs 50-26 on the road on Sept. 4, Watersprings hung on for a 22-20 win at home Friday.

The state tournament begins Friday, with seven District 6 teams scheduled to play in round one.