CAMBRIDGE – It wasn’t the ending they wanted, but the Wallace Miners are still bringing home a third-place trophy for their efforts in the 1A Football Playoffs.  

Sophomore Cooper Miller passed for six touchdowns and almost 400 yards, but it wasn’t enough as Wallace fell to the second-seeded Tri-Valley Titans 78-54.  

The game was expected to be a track meet, and it didn’t disappoint as the teams combined for nearly 1,400 yards of total offense and 19 touchdowns.  

Head coach Jared Young knew going into the game that stopping the Titans’ offense was going to be a tall task, instead the Miners were hopeful they could match fire with fire and get a few breaks along the way. Their plan half worked.  

“Tri-Valley had a very senior team, and probably the biggest, strongest team we played all season, but the boys battled, and we made their offense work,” Young said.” They had our number in the trenches, that was clear, but we needed to force a fumble or two and get an onside kick, and we just couldn’t, hats off to them for their ball-control and security.” 

A scoreless third quarter ended up being Wallace’s undoing, but despite the loss, Young and his crew returned home with their heads held high and a new trophy to add to the case.

“Our boys brought home some hardware, which is something that our school hasn’t done in a long time,” Young said. “I know the coaches, parents and town were very proud of the work the boys put in. They represented Wallace the right way and gave our school so much to be proud of.” 

Young will have a few questions to answer in the offseason. But one thing he won’t have to worry about is what next year’s roster will look like. The Miners are graduating just one of their main pieces in senior Gus Scott, but their leaders on defense, Marley Pearce and Reece Williams, and on offense, Miller, Lennox Radford, and Henry Larson, are all coming back.  

“We were very young this season and were able to get so much valuable experience in the playoffs and high-profile games,” he said. “We played in some close games this year and we really showed a new attitude playing through tough situations. Our group’s passing attack really took off in the playoffs, and this off-season we look to get bigger and stronger to match those bigger teams and run the ball more efficiently, which will be another point of improvement for us.” 

One question he may not have an answer to is what Wallace’s schedule is going to look like. Last month, the Idaho High School Activities Association denied their petition to remain at 1A, along with Lakeside. The closest 2A conference is the 2A Whitepine League, which will lose Logos to 3A, but still features Kendrick, Prairie, Lapwai, Clearwater Valley, Troy, Potlatch, and Kamiah.   

Young will cross that bridge later. For now, he’s going to soak in his team’s 9-3 season, which included two playoff wins and a sophomore quarterback who passed for 3,073 yards, ran for 1,536 yards, and scored 74 touchdowns against just four turnovers.  

“I think we showed the state we had a very dynamic team and could put up points with anybody,” Young said. “This year in the playoffs I think we showed that we belonged there, and we fought till the end.”  

Wallace        12    22    0    20    —    54  

Tri-Valley    14    30    14    20    —    78  

First quarter  

TV — Jace Waggoner 4 run (run failed), 9:49.  

Wall — Lennox Radford 75 pass from Cooper Miller (pass failed), 8:16.  

TV — Gage George 2 run (J. Waggoner run), 3:12.  

Wall — Gus Scott 9 pass from Miller (pass failed), 2:36.  

Second quarter  

Wall — Henry Larson 14 pass from Miller (Scott pass from Miller), 8:05.  

TV — Monte Ingram 39 run (J. Waggoner run), 6:59.  

TV — Elias DeVries 31 pass from J. Waggoner (run failed), 4:19.  

Wall — Radford 26 pass from Miller (Miller run), 3:43.  

TV — J. Waggoner 38 run (Paxton Waggoner pass from J. Waggoner), 3:27. 

TV — DeVries 8 pass from J. Waggoner (Waggoner run), :50.  

Wall — Radford 70 kickoff return (pass failed), :39.  

Third quarter  

TV — Eli Noah 3 run (JJ Sutton pass from J. Waggoner), 5:13.  

TV — J. Waggoner 54 run (pass failed), :33.  

Fourth quarter  

TV — Noah 23 run (P. Waggoner pass from J. Waggoner), 10:05.  

Wall — Miller 75 run (pass failed), 9:47.  

TV — J. Waggoner 54 run (pass failed), 9:26.  

Wall — Larson 20 pass from Miller (Scott pass from Miller), 6:36.  

TV — Kellan Moura 6 run (run failed), 4:06.  

Wall — Blake Rose 10 pass from Miller (pass failed), 1:42. 

    The Miners' defense swarms to bring down Tri-Valley runningback Eli Noah, during Wallace's recent loss in the 1A Football Playoffs.