High school football: Woods Cross falls at Idaho football showcase

POCATELLO, Idaho — The Woods Cross Wildcats got another opportunity to play a season opener Friday afternoon.

Playing inside the newly renovated Idaho Central Credit Union Arena on the Idaho State University campus, the Wildcats ventured against one of Idaho’s more talented teams and, despite neither school knowing much about the other, the Mountain View Mavericks rallied for a 24-21 win at the annual Rocky Mountain Rumble.

The Rumble is a 17-year-old showcase initiated by Pocatello’s Highland High School to invite out-of state powers to compete against some of southern Idaho’s best. This year’s two-day event has six Idaho schools taking on three Utah teams, as well as two from Nevada and one out of Alaska.

Junior quarterback Hank Nelson threw for 153 yards and the Boise-area school took advantage of a failed fake punt in the fourth quarter to score the go-ahead touchdown with just over five minutes left, and that was the difference in the game.

“We had our opportunities,” said Woods Cross coach Brody Benson. “We put the ball on the ground (fumbled) too much and misread a block on that fake punt. Otherwise, that kid is still running (and would have scored).

“They had a good line and played us tough. We couldn’t do what we wanted (offensively) and had to change our game plan at the end.”

Woods Cross led most of the game. Viliami Tapa’atoutai rushed for 92 yards and finished the Wildcats’ opening 12-play drive with a two-yard run. He also had a 60-yard scamper on another drive. In-between, Charlie Howe recovered a fumble and rambled four yards for another touchdown.

The Wildcats, though, couldn’t generate a consistent rushing game. Besides Tapa’atoutai’s long run, he was held to 32 yards on 10 carries. That forced Woods Cross to throw. Quarterback Jesse Simmons had a good first half but misfired on his last six attempts.

“We knew they liked to run it and, if we could get a lead, that would put them in a tough spot,” said first-year Mavs coach Brian Compton. “They came after us but we did a nice job staying with them.”

Mountain View, however, trailed 14-10 at halftime and things didn’t go its way until after it gave up a long gainer (41 yards) from Simmons to Eli Bodell.

Tapa’atoutai scored on the next play but the ‘Cats only had momentum for a short time.

Nelson, who completed 15 of 18 passes with no interceptions, was harassed much of the game by the Woods Cross line, which also included Tapa’atoutai. Finally, Nelson started looking deep and the Mavs got within 21-17 thanks to a long pass completion, two pass-interference penalties on Woods Cross defenders and an 18-yard scoring toss from Nelson to Brody Munson.

Woods Cross, meanwhile, was frequently stuffed on inside runs and couldn’t move the ball. Facing 4th-and-4 from its 26-yard line, Ryan Miller was stopped on a fake punt and the Mavs took the lead for good six plays later.

The loss dropped Woods Cross to 2-1 on the season with the Region 5 schedule beginning next week.

“It (the loss) doesn’t hurt us,” Benson said, “but it’s always tough to walk away from a game like this.”