PREP FOOTBALL: Priest River challenges Aberdeen, ends up short in state quarterfinals

Aberdeen 28, Priest River 12

PRIEST RIVER — In their first home playoff game in school history, excluding play-in matches, senior quarterback Lucas Mathews dialed in for 206 passing yards on a 15-for-30 effort, but turnovers proved costly as the Spartans dropped a 3A State Championship quarterfinals game to the Tigers in what was a rematch from a year ago — this time at Spartan Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Aberdeen, after a slow start by both teams, got on the board first with a 1-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion late in the first quarter, capitalizing on an interception. Sophomore Max Klassen then took it 74 yards to the house about a minute-and-a-half later for an early 14-0 Tigers advantage.

The Spartans, which tallied less than 50 yards of total offense in the first half, had trouble getting into a groove, but the defense provided a much-needed boost late in the second. About midway through the quarter, senior Brady Hatten, who had 1.5 tackles for losses, stalled a Tigers drive with a stop on fourth-and-three on the Tigers' own 34-yard line. Unable to take advantage of the stop, and with under one minute to go until intermission, Priest River made another stand. With a fourth-and-two on their own 18-yard line, the Tigers were shut down by the Spartans for the second time in as many drives. On the very next play, Priest River made them pay.

Mathews, who became just the third quarterback in school history to throw for 1,000 yards in a season during the team's regular season finale at Kellogg, connected with sophomore Layton Goins for an 18-yard score in the back right corner of the end zone to cut the deficit to 14-6 with 46 seconds left until halftime.

In the third, however, Aberdeen regained momentum when they returned the opening kickoff 63 yards and Klassen punched in another 7-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 16 points. A lapse in scoring occurred between both teams, but it was Priest River that struck next midway through the fourth. The Spartan defense made another stop, this time on a fourth-and-goal, and the offense drove 96 yards to make it a 22-12 game. Goins, who had a career-high 123 receiving yards in the contest, had 70 yards on the drive, including the 11-yard touchdown pass from Mathews, and junior Kane Berns made a spectacular off-balance grab for a 24-yard gain to keep the drive alive at one point. 

Ultimately, Aberdeen, which totaled 308 yards of offense, 286 on the ground, recorded another long drive and scored on a 12-yard touchdown run with under three minutes to go in regulation. The Spartans managed to enter the red zone with under a minute remaining, but the Tigers came away with their third interception and fourth turnover of the game to put an end to things.

On defense, Goins added a career-high 16 tackles, two of which were for losses, Braden Leach was involved in a career-high 13 tackles of his own, and Berns and junior Nate Fegert had eight tackles apiece for Priest River, which finished out their season at 5-5 after capturing their first league title since 1957.

Aberdeen 14 0 8 6 — 28

Priest River 0 6 0 6 — 12

1st quarter

ABD — Isaac Driscoll 1 run (Jeremy Partida run), 2:14

ABD — Max Klassen 74 run (conversion failed), 0:52

2nd quarter

PR — Layton Goins 18 pass from Lucas Mathews (conversion failed), 0:46

3rd quarter

ABD — Max Klassen 7 run (Jeremy Partida run), 9:18

4th quarter

PR — Layton Goins 11 pass from Lucas Mathews (conversion failed), 6:33

ABD — Erik Alvarez 12 run (conversion failed), 2:53

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

PR — Kuprienko 12-18, Mathews 2-2, Fegert 1-0. ABD — Klassen 5-85, Partida 16-71, Alvarez 13-72, Jenkins 6-46, Driscoll 10-12, Ortiz 1-0.

PASSING

PR — Mathews 15-30-2-206. ABD — Driscoll 1-2-0-22.

RECEIVING

PR — Goins 7-123, Berns 3-36, B. Leach 3-24, Kuprienko 1-17, Fegert 1-6. ABD — Nelson 1-22.