American Falls 28, Bonners Ferry 21

AMERICAN FALLS — Junior quarterback Alex Stolley threw for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 8-for-19 passing, senior Keenan Maas eclipsed 2,500 career rushing yards with a 91-yard performance on 21 touches, and the No. 12 Badgers fought until the very last play, but fell a score short of the No. 5 Beavers in 4A State Championship first-round playoff action Friday at Robert K. Brulotte Field.

American Falls, which improved to 8-2 with the win, started off strong by scoring on a 36-yard run and a 30-yard pass to take a 13-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Bonners Ferry responded early in the second quarter when Maas punched in a 5-yard run out of the wildcat for the 29th touchdown of his career. With 23 seconds remaining until intermission, senior Conrad Hiatt, who posted 80 total yards in the contest, found himself all alone in the left corner of the endzone and Stolley hit him on a play that started from the right hash to tie the game 13-13. Junior kicker Aaron Tadlock sunk an extended extra point after a penalty to give the Badgers a one-point lead heading into halftime.

In the third, Bonners Ferry continued to blank American Falls while Stolley connected with senior tight end Sulay Abubakari for a 2-yard receiving touchdown on a fourth-and-goal to give the Badgers an eight-point cushion with four minutes remaining in the quarter.

The Beavers, however, found a rhythm in the fourth and tied the game early in the quarter after a 35-yard pick-six and a two-point conversion to boot. With just 35 ticks on the clock, American Falls regained the lead on a 15-yard rushing touchdown after a grueling 80-yard drive that lasted over six minutes. On the Badgers' ensuing possession, Stolley completed a series of quick passes to get Bonners Ferry to the opposition's 31-yard line, in which they had an untimed down after a penalty. On the play, Stolley found junior Cooper Higgins, who had a game-high 63 receiving yards, for a 22-yard reception as the Badgers came up just 9 yards short of keeping their season alive.

On the defensive side of the ball, Higgins and Maas both hauled in interceptions while Hiatt put together a tied for career-high 13 total tackles, nine of which were solo, for his fifth double-digit tackling effort of the season. Maas added 10 tackles of his own, junior Jake Solt seven, Abubakari six, and Hiatt, Solt and seniors Daric Vincent and James Morgen recorded tackles for losses on the evening.

Stolley reached over 1,000 career total yards with his performance for Bonners Ferry, which finishes the season with a record of 7-3.

Bonners Ferry 0 14 7 0 — 21

American Falls 13 0 0 15 — 28

1st quarter

AF — Zakary Grigg 36 run (Fred Murillo kick), 7:43

AF — Hunter Grigg 30 pass from Zakary Grigg (kick no good), 4:49

2nd quarter

BF — Keenan Maas 5 run (Aaron Tadlock kick), 10:15

BF — Conrad Hiatt 2 pass from Alex Stolley, 0:23

3rd quarter

BF — Sulay Abubakari 2 pass from Alex Stolley (Aaron Tadlock kick), 4:00

4th quarter

AF — Zakary Grigg 35 interception return (Zakary Grigg run), 10:43

AF — Zakary Grigg 15 run (Fred Murillo kick), 0:35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

BF — Maas 21-91, Hiatt 8-34, Stolley 4-24. AF — Z. Grigg 16-135, Lopez 15-110, H. Grigg 1-14, Adamson 1-0.

PASSING

BF — Stolley 8-19-2-143, Maas 1-1-0-2. AF — Z. Grigg 2-9-1-33.

RECEIVING

BF — Higgins 2-63, Hiatt 2-46, Abubakari 2-14, Allred 1-12, Maas 1-8, Stolley 1-2. AF — H. Grigg 1-30, Adamson 1-3.