STATE 2A FOOTBALL QUARTERFINALS: Priest River's historic season comes to an end

MELBA — A battered Priest River Spartans' defense lined up for a thrd-and-1 with just over a minute remaining, with their historic season in balance. 

Stopping the Melba Mustangs' offense meant another chance to chase the school's second-ever playoff win, but anything more than a yard would snuff out the remaining hope. Melba snapped the ball, ran off the left side and easily picked up the first down, clinching a narrow 28-22 win in the state 3A quarterfinals on Saturday. 

"Super proud of the way the kids fought all the way to the end," Priest River coach Alex Zepeda said. "We were getting beat up front on both sides of the ball, but at the same time, a couple of players here or there and it's a whole different ballgame, so super proud of them." 

Much of the scoring in this game came in the first half as Melba rode their dominant trenches to three long drives that ended in 1-yard touchdowns. Priest River responded with two scores of their own early, captained by junior quarterback Jacob Best. 

Priest River, seeded seventh, finished 7-3. Melba (8-2), seeded third, faces second-seeded Declo (9-1) on Friday at the ICCU Dome in Pocatello.

 Priest River had to lean on Best as Melba bottled up both Colton Kuprienko and Nate Fegert. Best responded with his best game of the year and completed 24 of his 29 attempts to the tune of 231 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. 

"He's comfortable now, he understands the offense and his reads," Zepeda said of Best. "This one sucks and the season ending the way it did was tough, but all you can do is look forward, and I'm excited for him." 

While Best did his best to stave off Melba's front, the Mustangs got the better of him at the end of the first half. Melba forced a fumble up 22-14 and quickly turned around to score a touchdown to make it 28-14 heading into the halftime break. 

The Spartans defense reappeared in the second half, holding Melba scoreless even after Best's lone interception and a turnover on downs. Junior safety Layton Goins was a force on defense, recording 13 tackles, while Best caught an interception late in the fourth quarter to keep the Spartans in the game.  

On offense, Best and Goins were a dynamic duo that drove the offense. The two connected 13 times for 109 yards, including a 35-yard pickup on 4th-and-10 late in the game, and a touchdown.  

"He was another one of the kids that got the injury bug this week and played through it and played tough," Zepeda said of Goins. "It takes a couple of weeks to process the whole season once it's over, but I'm already visualizing what next year is going to look like and what we need to do to get better and win these quarterfinal matchups when we get here again." 

Zepeda told his team after the game that the loss doesn't define the Spartans' historic season, which saw them claim their first playoff win in school history, score the most regular season points in school history, 319, and allow the fewest points in a season, 90. 

 Zepeda said he's confident this team has the returning pieces to make another run in the state playoffs next year. 

"This loss doesn't define the season and the careers that these kids had," Zepeda said. "We told them to hang their heads up and for the freshmen, sophomores and juniors, remember this feeling because it sucks, and let's get back to work after the holidays."  

Priest River         7     8     0     8     —     22 

Melba         15     13     0     0     —     28 

First quarter 

Melba — Noah Wiersma 1 run (pass successful), 8:08. 

PR — Layton Goins 14 pass from Jacob Best (run failed), 4:00. 

Melba — Rhett Franklin 60 run (Tristan Ferring kick), 2:15. 

Second quarter 

PR — Colton Kuprienko 2 run (Goins pass from Best), 11:50. 

Melba — Wiersma 1 run (Ferring kick), 8:00. 

Melba — Franklin 1 run (conversion failed), 2:34. 

Fourth quarter 

PR — Madden Redinger 15-yard pass from Best (Best run), 4:30. 

PRIEST RIVER STATISTICS: 

RUSHING — Nate Fegert 7-7, Colton Kuprienko 6-18-1, Jacob Best 6-17, Layton Goins 1-5. 

PASSING  — Best 24-29-231-2-1, Kane Berns 0-1-0. 

RECEIVING — Goins 13-109-1, Madden Redinger 4-27-1, Berns 3-64, Fegert 3-24, Kuprienko 1-2.