NORTHWEST NOTES June 10, 2016
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 9 years, 10 months AGO
Backup QB Luton leaving
Vandal football program
MOSCOW — Idaho backup quarterback Jake Luton said he is leaving the Vandals football program, he announced on his Twitter feed.
Luton, who would be a redshirt sophomore this fall, has informed Idaho coach Paul Petrino of his decision, Idaho athletic director Rob Spear said. Luton has not asked to be released from his scholarship, Spear said. Petrino is on vacation and unavailable for comment.
Luton, from Marysville-Pilchuck High in Marysville, Wash, passed for 591 yards and five touchdowns in Idaho’s spring game in April. He got most of the reps in spring ball as Matt Linehan, the starter the past two seasons, sat out with a foot injury. Linehan will be a junior this fall.
Luton redshirted at Idaho in 2014. He saw action in eight games last fall, completing 51 of 80 passes for 403 yards and one touchdown, with four interceptions. He also rushed for 101 yards and five TDs on 27 carries.
Besides Linehan, the only other quarterbacks listed on the roster are Gunnar Amos, a redshirt freshman from Coeur d’Alene High; and AJ Woodin, a sophomore. Another QB is incoming freshman Mason Petrino, Paul’s son.
If Luton transfers to an FCS school, he would be eligible immediately. If he transferred to another FBS school he would lose a year of eligibility, since he has already used his redshirt season.
Empire visit
Nebraska tonight
The Spokane Empire (11-2) hit the road in Week 17 tonight (5 p.m., ESPN 700) to take on the Nebraska Danger (5-8) at the Heartland Event Center for their only scheduled matchup of the Indoor Football League regular season.
With its victory over Billings last weekend, Spokane clinched the number one seed in the Intense Conference and home-field advantage for the conference championship game in July.
In the United Conference, the Sioux Falls Storm (13-1) have clinched the number one seed while Cedar Rapids (10-4) and Wichita Falls (9-4) battle for hosting rights in the first round of the playoffs.
The Intense Conference enters the final three weeks of the regular season with a three-way battle between Nebraska, Billings (6-7) and Tri-Cities (3-10) for the second and third positions.
One more win by Billings will clinch the Wolves a spot in the playoffs with seeding to be determined.
Nebraska has the opportunity to claim the second-place position, but a loss to Spokane tonight would not help its cause.
Tri-Cities Fever trails Nebraska by two games and would need to win two of its three games, including the final regular season game against the Danger at home, while banking on Nebraska losing out.
After Spokane lost running back Trevor Kennedy for the season with a broken leg suffered in last week’s game, defensive back Josh Ferguson will shift to the starting running back role. He has seen limited action at the position this season.