SEASON OPENER: Badgers fall to Lions, look forward to next game

EUREKA — The Badgers fell to the Lincoln County Lions in the season opener on Friday, Aug. 25.

On paper, the game may not have looked one-sided, as the Lions won 45-0, but Bonners Ferry head coach Danny Swift said the Badgers made several contributions on both the defensive and offensive sides of the ball, but missed execution on the small things.

“We just missed a block here or there or blocked the wrong player […] or went outside when we should have gone inside,” he said. “We have to fine-tune the details.”

“Going into the game, I knew we were a young team and only had three players with varsity experience,” Swift said. “We have solid players that are now juniors and seniors, that act as our leadership, but they still need the experience.”

Swift said the execution errors fall on the coaching staff, and that it’s up to coaches to teach and emphasize details to players and make technique second nature.

Swift said the Badgers had a solid first quarter and made several stops against the Lions. He highlighted seniors Dakota Heller and Matt Treutelaar who were “off the charts” on defense. Heller had seven tackles, and Treatuellaar had 10.

“Sophomore Devin Sceppe was a bright spot on defense in the back field,” he added, noting he notched eight tackles.

The Badgers held the Lions in the fourth quarter, but were unable to get to the end zone themselves.

The Badgers were scheduled to play Foothills Composite High School from Okotoks, Alberta, on Friday. However, the game was canceled by the Canadian school due to the country’s high smoke conditions and travel expenses.

The Badgers will face 3A Weiser away on Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. (MST). The Badgers lost to Weiser last season during the quarterfinals of the Idaho 3A State Championship.

Badger football is set to play Weiser in the pre-season for the next few years. Swift said the matchup will be a challenge each year, especially since Weiser has 11 state championships under their belt, but that he believes in the direction of the program and seeing Weiser and other state contenders before playoffs will be beneficial to the program as a whole and team rankings.

This season 3A Intermountain League football foe Timberlake (2-0) is also playing southern Idaho 3A teams in the preseason. The Tigers defeated South Fremont last weekend 43-0 and are set to face McCall-Donnelly and defending state champion, Sugar-Salem.

Badger football JV and C teams will be playing at home this week and next. C-team is set to play Priest River at home on Friday and Sandpoint on Sept. 6. JV will play Sandpoint on Sept. 7.

BF STATS

Offense: M. Treutelaar 14 carries, 36 yards; Tr. Bateman 2 catches, 29 yards; G. Rider 2 catches, 23 yards.

Defense: M. Treutelaar 10 tackles; D. Sceppe 8 tackles; D. Heller 7 tackles; Tr. Bateman 4 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and forced fumble.

BF 0000—0

LC 12 18 15 0—45