BONNERS FERRY — A dominant day from Bonners Ferry High’s defensive front shut down the Priest River Lamanna High Spartans en route to a 31-20 victory on Friday night at Kenny Mendenhall Field. 

The Badgers' front of seniors Easton Scarborough, Jake Solt and Hunter Campbell held the Spartans’ offense scoreless in the first half and made things difficult for new Priest River starting quarterback junior Jacob Best. Bonners Ferry held Priest River’s talented running attack to under 100 yards. 

"Our front is special,” Bonners Ferry head coach Danny Swift said. “It’s always about complementary football, but what the front did was huge.” 

While the Bonners Ferry offense got off to a rough start, with Best intercepting senior quarterback Alex Stolley on the Badgers’ first drive, it didn’t take long for them to get going. A misguided snap over the head of Priest River’s punter gave the Badgers the ball at the Spartans’ 1-yard line, where Stolley punched it in for the first score. 

From there, the Badgers piled on before the halftime break. Stolley found a wide-open senior Rison Allred for a 27-yard touchdown before Bonners Ferry added a short field goal to go up 16-0 at halftime. 

Priest River head coach Alex Zepeda said his young team spent a lot of the first half adjusting to the varsity game and shaking off those first game jitters.  

"We started off so flat; it’s our first game, and I think first game jitters are a real thing,” Zepeda said. “We didn’t take care of the football. We had like four or five turnovers in the first half, that’s never the way you want to start.” 

Best, who ended the day with over 100 passing yards, a touchdown and three interceptions, struggled in the first 24 minutes. However, with a half of football under his belt, the junior looked far more settled and got Priest River back into the game with a long drive in the third quarter to make it 23-8. 

While the Spartans found their footing, it proved to be too little too late as Stolley had led his team down the field for two straight scores out of the half. Pushing through cramping, Stolley made a highlight throw to the end zone to find Allred for the second time on the night, which gave the Badgers 31 points. 

Stolley finished with two touchdowns through the air, one on the ground and over 150 combined yards. 

"He’s a special kid; it goes way beyond football,” Swift said. “Couldn’t ask for a better human to lead your team. He just does it all, and he dealt with adversity today. He’s just going to keep getting better every single week.” 

On the ensuing offensive possession, Best worked through his reads to find Layton Goins on a short pass. Goins kicked into fifth gear and outran the Badgers’ defense for a 72-yard touchdown to make it 31-14. 

Zepeda said the Spartans' offense is based on reading the defense, and that play was the perfect example of everything clicking for his offense. The Spartans’ head coach added that Goins will be a large part of the offense moving forward. 

"I believe in Jacob Best, he’s a great quarterback,” Zepeda said. “Once we settled down in the second half, we looked just fine.” 

Zepeda credited Anden Griesemer with a nice game on the defensive front and sophomore Gunner Neal, who stepped up for several tackles for loss. 

The Spartans 3A All-League running back Colton Kuprienko scored two touchdowns on the day, rushing for over 70 yards. Kuprienko also notched an impressive kick return early in the first quarter, in which he ran through two Bonners Ferry defenders to set up his team in plus territory. 

"He’s a dude, man,” Zepeda said of Kuprienko. “The offense really starts with him.” 

Bonners Ferry improved to 2-0 in the young season with the victory. Swift said his team’s grit and determination stood out to him in their win in front of the home crowd. Bonners Ferry’s season continues at home as they host St. Maries next Friday at 7 p.m. 

"The toughness and the grit that takes us a long way, so we can keep playing Badger football,” Swift said.  

The Spartans fall in their opener to the 4A Badgers and fall to 0-1 in the season. Zepeda said that while he hates losing, he’s confident they’ll bounce back next week against Timberlake at home. 

“Disappointing first game for sure. We always want to come away with a win, but at the same time you saw glimpses of what we are in the second half,” Zepeda said. “You feel a lot better walking away with that second half, like ‘Okay, we’re going to be just fine, just need to clean things up.’” 

Bonners Ferry 7 9 15 0 31 

Priest River 0 0 8 14 20