Grangeville 21, Priest River 6 

GRANGEVILLE — A sloppy first half for the Priest River Spartans put them in a 21-0 hole that they were unable to dig themselves out of on Friday night against Grangeville with the Central Idaho League title on the line. 

The Spartans' offense struggled mightily against the Bulldogs' defense, especially early. Priest River head coach Alex Zepeda said the team had six drops, a fumble and a blocked punt in the first half, which allowed Grangeville to take control of the game. 

"We just didn't come out ready to play," Zepeda said. "We certainly didn't play Spartan football for four quarters, but I believe in this group. I think we'll get ready, and we might have the opportunity to play them again, so I know the boys would want a redemption game for sure." 

Priest River's lone score came in the fourth quarter off a 5-yard run by senior Colton Kurpienko. The Spartans struggled to run the ball all day with Kurpienko ending the day with just 15 yards on 10 carries while Nate Fegert added 16 yards on five carries. 

That meant that Priest River leaned on the arm of junior quarterback Jacob Best, who finished the day with 153 yards and a 50% completion percentage. Best's top target was Madden Redinger, who caught seven passes for 54 yards. 

"There's a lot of missed blocking assignments, so we're going to watch the film and see what we did and what we need to do to get better," Zepeda said of the Spartans' run game.  

After the loss, Zepeda said he felt like his team needed the result in a way. The Spartans have cruised past their last three opponents, Orofino, Kellogg and St. Maries, and Zepeda said it's tough to come from that to playing one of the best teams in 3A. 

"In that first half of the season, we played four really good teams, and so we really were hitting full stride," Zepeda said. "Then when you play teams that are beneath you, it almost brings you down a little bit." 

Priest River's season is far from over as they'll host a state playoff game next week. At the time of publishing, their opponent is unknown. 

"My message to them was that the goal hasn't changed," Zepeda said. "Now we're on to the playoffs next week, and at the end of the day we just got to show up when the time calls." 

Grangeville 6 15 0 0 — 21 

Priest River 0 0 0 6 — 6 

Coeur du Christ 40, Clark Fork 8 

CLARK FORK — Despite a gutsy defensive performance from the Clark Fork Wampus Cats, they couldn't contain Coeur du Christ's offense in the 1A North Star League title game on Friday at Clark Fork Jr./Sr. High. 

Clark Fork head coach Andre Johansen said his team battled with the No. 2 team in 1A, according to the Idaho State Media Poll. Johansen said the difference between the two came down to the Saints' ability to generate a few explosive plays throughout the game. 

"The kids actually played their butts off," Johansen said of his Wampus Cats. "Overall, we played pretty well defensively. The score doesn't reflect that, but I thought physically it was closer. They just made more big plays than we did." 

The Wampus Cats offense struggled to find rhythm throughout the game. Clark Fork's lone score on senior night fittingly came on a connection from senior quarterback Mateo Cruz to senior wideout Jesse Yanik. 

Johansen said all of his seniors put in a great week of practice and stepped up to the challenge in their final home game. 

"Overall, from the first time we played them to now, it was vastly improved," Johansen said. "All our seniors played good; it was a good way to finish their career at home." 

With Coeur du Christ, 8-0 (1-0), claiming the North Star League title, Clark Fork's state playoff hopes now lie in the hands of MaxPreps rankings. The 3-5 (0-1) Wampus Cats need to be in the top 12 in order to earn an at-large playoff bid. Clark Fork entered Friday's game ranked 11th. 

Johansen said he feels his team should continue playing based on their strength of schedule alone. The Wampus Cats have played one of the toughest schedules in 1A, facing a top team in 2A, Wallace, twice, Coeur du Christ twice and the top 8-man team in Montana. 

"We won the games we were supposed to win," Johansen said. 

Clark Fork will find out on Sunday whether their season will continue in the state playoffs.