HOMECOMING: Football earns needed shutout victory over the Maniacs
BONNERS FERRY — Three touchdowns in the first six minutes of a shutout game is just the Homecoming the Bonners Ferry Badgers (3-5) dreamed of and needed at this point in the season.
Badger football shut out the Orofino Maniacs (0-6, 0-3) for the Homecoming game, winning 45-0.
Bonners Ferry head coach Danny Swift said the Badgers had great energy, effort and team play.
“We knew Orofino could do some things, but were having a rough year and unfortunately were down players due to sickness,” he said.
He said sometimes when playing games against a struggling opponent, as a coach you are uncertain of the team’s energy and if they will kick things off in the right direction and effort at the whistle.
The Badgers were ready at the start.
Bonners Ferry senior running back Matt Treutelar scored a touchdown in the first three minutes of the game.
Orofino failed to get a first down and opted to punt on fourth and 19. Senior tight end Trey Bateman blocked the punt, with Treutelar recovering the ball for another touchdown. The Badgers made another run, this one that featured senior halfback Dakota Heller with a big gain on the play.
Treutelar would go on to score his third touchdown of the night, making it 18-0, in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Bateman crashed into the endzone for another Badger touchdown. He cleared the PAT, making it 26-0.
On third down for Orofino, junior Brandon Williams intercepted the ball for Bonners Ferry. Heller scored the fifth touchdown for Bonners Ferry and after another successful PAT, the Badgers led 33-0.
An interception — and score — by Alex Stolley for the Badgers was called back after a penalty was called on the play. Stolley gained a second interception right before halftime.
After halftime, many junior varsity players and underclassmen saw playing time due to the lead.
Swift said the halftime speech by the coaching staff was focused on overcoming adversity and that for some being on the sideline and supporting teammates is a form of adversity.
“It was a great opportunity for younger players to get reps in. They performed well,” he said.
Neither team scored in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter on an Orofino third down, Stolley intercepted an Orofino passand returned it for a touchdown, making it 39-0, with 11:44 left in the game.
Jacob Solt, for the Badgers, had a 74-yard interception which he returned for a touchdown, giving the Bonners Ferry a 45-0 Homecoming victory.
After the game and reflecting the win against Kellogg the week before, Swift said the team has found their identity.
“After tough games to start the season, we found our stride and are now keeping kids healthy,” he said.
The Badgers host the lone Intermountain League opponent Timberlake (4-4) on Friday at 7 p.m. The game is also Senior Night and the only league game.
The Tigers just came off a 28-24 non-league loss to Lakeland (Rathdrum, ID) and have had a packed schedule against other 3A Idaho teams and 4A opponents.
Swift said the most important thing going into the game against the Tigers is for the Badgers to be the best version of themselves.
“We’ll prepare with everything we have and hope to show up on Senior Night,” he said.
Winner on game defactor league winner and host a play off.
The winner of league advances to state, but with the several at larges offered in 3A, the Badgers could still end up in the playoffs.
“We try to be as sportsmanlike as possible in the situation as tonight, but unfortunately Maxpreps (national high school sports ranking site) works, we need to meet a certain point criteria to increase our rating.”
Football team rankings have moved away from being based off league ranking, which opens the door for the Badgers to still make it to a state play-in game if they don’t win the league title.
Many teams in the 3A Mountain Rivers Conference and 3A South East Idaho Conference sit at 1-0 or 0-1 in league play, but are in the top rankings for the 3A.
Swift said how Maxpreps algorithm ranks teams by scoring more points against an opponent it can offset or increase a teams rankings when compared to how other teams won or lost against a mutual opponent.
“With Maxpreps scoring 70-0 is better than winning 50-0, and 100-0. You still get points for scoring that much,” Swift said.
Out of the 19 teams in 3A, the top two teams advance to the quarter finals with the no. 3 seed to the no. 13 seed fighting it out in the state play-in game. The Badgers could advance to the state play-in game depending on their ranking.
With Marsh Valley and South Fremont losing on Thursday Oct. 12, Bonners Ferry is hoping to leapfrog into playoffs.
“We have the opportunity to jump [over other teams in the ranking]. Kellogg and Orofino aren’t great wins, but we might be able to jump people by beating the algorithm,” he said.
Timberlake's (4-4) performance this season : T 27, Weiser 34; T 42, Grangeville 21; T 43, South Fremont 0; T 32, Shadle Park (WA) 38, T 26, McCall-Donnelly 32, T 38, Moscow 28, T 56, 14, T 8, Sugar-Salem 55, T 24, Lakeland 28.
Bonners Ferry’s (3-5) performance this season (Bonners Ferrry’s score is listed first) versus opponents: BF 6, Weiser 62; BF 0, Connell 52; BF 14, East Valley 34; BF 0 St. Maries 28; BF 20, Kellogg 14; BF 45, Orofino 0.
BF – (18) 13 0 12—45
O–0000—0
Points: Matt Treautlar, 3 TDs, Trey Bateman TD, FG 2, Dakota Heller TD, Alex Stolley TD, Jacob Solt TD.
