Priest River 42, Grangeville 6

PRIEST RIVER — Priest River took a giant leap forward in hopes of achieving their first league title since 1957.

Behind junior Colton Kuprienko, who rushed 29 times for a career-high 202 yards and two touchdowns, the Spartans put the state's 3A classification on notice with a 36-point win over the defending Central Idaho League champion Bulldogs, ranked No. 4 in the latest media poll, Friday night.

It was Priest River's first win against Grangeville in school history. Last year, the Bulldogs defeated the Spartans 36-8 on their home turf.

"These boys came ready to practice and prepare this week," Priest River High head coach Alex Zepeda said. "Jeff Adams (Grangeville) is a great coach and I have nothing but respect for him. For us, however, it's a great feeling to win this game."

Senior Braden Leach set the tone early, intercepting Grangeville's first pass of the game to give his team field possession at the Bulldogs' 40-yard line. In addition to his first career interception, the 6-foot 150-pound senior also caught a pass for 37 yards on the evening.

"He has stepped up so much and it's awesome to see," coach Zepeda said of Leach, who made the move up to varsity this season. "As a coach, you want to see your players grow and get better and he certainly has. Super proud of him and what he's done this year."

Although unable to capitalize on their initial field position, Priest River eventually started off the scoring with 1:44 remaining in the first with a 1-yard rushing touchdown via a direct snap to Kuprienko, who cashed on the conversion with the same exact play for the 8-0 lead.

Grangeville, which was 2-0 heading into the game with victories over 4A Moscow (26-20) and 4A Timberlake (34-20), responded mid-way through the second to make it an 8-6 game before Priest River scored 34 unanswered points over the next two-and-a-half quarters.

Junior Nate Fegert, who rushed 14 times for 85 yards, punched in a 34-yard score off a counter play to put the Spartans back up by eight points, 14-6, before heading into the locker room.

In the third, Priest River got their passing game going when senior quarterback Lucas Mathews, who completed 7 of his 9 passes for 105 yards, led sophomore Layton Goins in stride with a 20-yard dime in the back right corner of the endzone to put the Spartans ahead 22-6.

On the first play of the fourth, Fegert punched his second rushing touchdown via a 12-yard run up the right sideline. Later in the quarter, Mathews then hit Goins wide open again on a fade route for a 19-yard touchdown for the 36-6 advantage. Kuprienko then finished off the night with a 56-yard touchdown run to put the exclamation point on things.

"Colton is one of those kids that squats three times his weight," coach Zepeda said. "Even when he gets wrapped up with five guys on him and the play is blown dead, he's still on his feet. Just a strong kid and we're excited to have him."

Priest River's defense accounted for 10 tackles for losses, including four sacks. Senior Brady Hatten tallied two sacks, senior Gavin Griesemer 1.5 sacks, and senior Linden Rainwater a .5 sack. Fegert had three tackles for losses.

"I felt like we had a really good gameplan for Grangeville," coach Zepeda noted. "We pattern match now, something we've been working on all summer. Three out of the four teams in our league are spread/pass heavy. We were able to match their concepts and put pressure on their quarterback."

Priest River (2-1) will face Newport, which defeated Riverside High 35-14 in their opener, this Friday for homecoming. The last time the Spartans defeated the Grizzlies was in 2014.

"We just have to keep doing what we're doing," remarked coach Zepeda. "If the boys can play like this every week, we're going to be a hard team to stop. Newport is a team that has been on our radar that we'd like to beat."

Grangeville 0 6 0 0 — 6

Priest River 8 6 8 20 — 42

1st quarter

PR — Kuprienko 1 run (Kuprienko run)

2nd quarter

GRA — Troy Long 55 pass from Gage Smith

PR — Nate Fegert 34 run (two-point no good)

3rd quarter

PR — Layton Goins 20 pass from Lucas Mathews (Kuprienko run)

4th quarter

PR — Nate Fegert 12 run (two-point no good)

PR —  Layton Goins 19 pass from Lucas Mathews (Kuprienko run)

PR — Kuprienko 56 run (two-point no good)

INIDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

PR — Kuprienko 29-201, Fegert 14-85, Goins 2-9, Mathews 2-0.

PASSING

PR — Mathews 7-9-2-105.

RECEIVING 

PR — Goins 2-39, B. Leach 1-37, Berns 3-26, Fegert 1-3.