Priest River 56, Orofino 0

OROFINO — Another step towards the quest for 3A Central Idaho League title was completed Friday night by Priest River.

Junior Nate Fegert tallied four touchdowns and rushed 16 times for a season-high 212 yards, junior Colton Kuprienko returned from injury and recorded 116 rushing yards on 13 touches to go along with two touchdowns of his own, and the visiting Spartans, after a string of three competitive losses to Washington schools, shut out the Maniacs for a league win at Orofino High.

Fegert, on the first play of the game, scored a 69-yard rushing touchdown to start things off. Near the end of the first quarter, the 5-foot 9-inch, 180-pound bruiser then worked his way up the near-side sideline, breaking multiple tackles and tip-toeing the white line to stay in bounds in the process, for a 48-yard touchdown and a 16-0 Priest River lead.

In the second, Kuprienko, playing for the first time since the first quarter of the Spartans' game against Newport on Sept. 12, scored on runs of five and 37 yards and punched in both the two-point conversions as Priest River headed into halftime with a 32-0 advantage.

"It's huge," Priest River High head coach Alex Zepeda said of Kuprienko's return to the lineup. "Him, Layton (Goins), and Nate (Fegert), plus Braden Leach — when we're healthy, that's what the offense is built around."

On the Spartans' opening third quarter drive, Fegert continued his big day with a 30-yard run immediately followed by a 1-yard touchdown run. Later in the quarter, the junior then made his way into the endzone for his 15th career touchdown on a 3-yard run to extend the Spartans' lead to 48 points.

In the fourth, junior Haiden Leach crossed the goal line on an 8-yard run for his first career touchdown and sophomore P.J. Paschetag ran in his first career two-point conversion to cap off the 56-0 Priest River victory.

Sophomore quarterback Jacob Best stepped in and commanded the offense with senior Lucas Mathews nursing a minor injury. Best, in his first career varsity start, completed five of his nine passes for 99 yards — one of those which went to Kuprienko for a 62-yard gain.

"I thought he did great operating the offense," coach Zepeda said of the sophomore quarterback. "He made the checks, commanded the offense, and got the play calls in. He did a really good job."

Zepeda said the offensive line did their part in the winning effort, as did the defense, specifically senior Brady Hatten, who had 1.5 sacks and four tackles for losses on the night. Also leading the way on defense were Fegert, who had a team-high seven tackles and an interception, junior Donovan Baldwin, who helped out on a sack and hauled in his first career interception to go along with 40 return yards, and senior Niki Porinchok, who had an 8-yard sack, three tackles for losses and three quarterback hurries in what was Priest River's second shutout of the year.

"I thought the boys played great and fought hard," Zepeda said of his team's effort in the league win. "We were able to get some of our JV players in as well. It was nice to be back in our own league, playing Idaho schools."

Sophomore Layton Goins added three catches and 20 receiving yards for Priest River (3-4), which will host St. Maries for an important game that may determine who captures the Central Idaho League title this upcoming Friday.

Priest River 16 16 16 8 — 56

Orofino 0 0 0 0 — 0

Priest River Scoring Plays

1st quarter

PR — Nate Fegert 69 run (Colton Kuprienko run)

PR — Nate Fegert 48 run (Colton Kuprienko run)

2nd quarter

PR — Colton Kuprienko 5 run (Colton Kuprienko run) 

PR — Colton Kuprienko 37 run (Colton Kuprienko run)

3rd quarter

PR — Nate Fegert 1 run (Colton Kuprienko run)

PR — Nate Fegert 3 run (Colton Kuprienko run) 

4th quarter

PR — Haiden Leach 8 run (P.J. Paschetag run)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

PR — Fegert 16-212, Kuprienko 13-116, Paschetag 2-10, H. Leach 1-8, Martin 1-4, Best 1-(-1).

PASSING

PR — Best 5-9-0-99.

RECEIVING

PR — Kuprienko 1-62, Goins 3-20, B. Leach 1-17.