POCATELLO − Keaton Belnap almost missed his first Black and Blue Bowl game.
The Highland High School junior quarterback, who transferred in this past offseason from Marsh Valley, woke up Friday morning with a fever, a headache and a sore throat. He was already 20 minutes late to his first class. The team rule is you can’t play if you miss an hour of school.
“I was laying there and I was like, ‘I can’t let my team down,’” Belnap said. “I went through the day just nauseous and dizzy. But I just wanted to do the best I could.”
It ended up being more than enough.
Belnap tallied three touchdowns, including a 1-yard QB sneak on a fourth-and-goal with just under three minutes remaining that sealed a 28-18 win over crosstown rival Pocatello Friday night at Highland High School. The heads-up play led to the Rams (6-0 overall, 1-0 6A High Country Conference) 14th consecutive win over the Thunder (3-2) and extended their all-time lead to 54-15 in a series that dates back all the way to 1963.
“He played the Brett Favre flu game tonight,” Highland head coach Nick Sorrell said. “He was very under the weather. He was very sick all day long. The trainers did a great job of getting fluids in him and making sure that he could go. But man, he just just stepped up. He’s doing whatever he can to help this team in every single way. He’s making the right reads. He’s that true QB1 leader that we needed to step in after Drew (Hymas) left. It’s just been huge for us in terms of his addition to the team.”
That was evident on Highland’s one and only drive of the fourth quarter.
After the defense forced a crucial turnover on downs at its own 38-yard line, Belnap and the offense trotted back out onto the field up 21-18 with 11 minutes and 38 seconds remaining. He methodically guided Highland down the field with a 13-play drive that spanned 9:40.
Belnap converted three first downs himself, including two on third down alone. He saved the Rams from potential disaster when the snap on third-and-goal from the Pocatello 2 landed at his feet. But he scooped it up and managed to even get a yard out the play. One play later, Belnap put his head down and kept churning his legs until he crossed the goal line to give Highland a two-possession lead at 28-18 with just 2:53 to go.
“He texted me this morning, ‘Dude, you might have to play some quarterback today. Not feeling too great,’” said senior wideout Lana Alvarico. “So for him to come out here and lead us with that drive, was huge. Especially on that last play. He just kept driving and driving. That’s what I love about him. He just doesn’t give up.”
It was his second time scoring on a QB sneak.
He pushed the Rams’ lead to 21-12 on one to start the third quarter. The touchdown was set up after Belnap dropped an absolute dime to Easton Almond along the near sideline on a 4th-and-3 from the Thunder 19. Almond appeared to have stayed in bounds for a touchdown. But the officials ruled him down at the 1. The very next play, Belnap was in for six.
Belnap’s first touchdown of the game came on a 27-yard strike to Alvarico, who was wide open in the middle of the endzone. It allowed Highland to regain the lead at 14-12 with just 36.5 seconds until the break.
Belnap totaled 107 yards, including 69 through the air on the night.
“Keaton, he’s a dog,” said Alvarico of Belnap, who is also dealing with an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder. “He just gets up every day, even if he’s not feeling 100% he gives it his all and that’s what I love about him. I trust him with everything.”
Not to get lost in the fold was the play of the special teams, which directly led to 21 points.
Sophomore punter Cedric Mitchell twice pinned Pocatello inside its own 5-yard line. So the Rams were able to start their drives inside Thunder territory both times after the defense forced a pair of three-and-outs. It all resulted in Highland’s first 14 points of the game, including a 10-yard run by Mitchell at the end of the first quarter. Mitchell finished as the team’s leading rusher with 63 yards.
The Rams also snuffed out a fake punt on Poky’s first possession of the second half. Pocatello was down 14-12 and back at its own 26, but still decided to try some trickery. It had worked earlier in the game on the Thunder’s opening drive of the game that resulted in a touchdown, after all. But not this time around.
Five plays later, Belnap was in on the quarterback sneak.
“It was huge,” Sorrell said about the play of his special teams. “We’ve been talking to our team about this because we struggled with special teams up until this point. We needed that unit to win a game.
“When we put together three full units of four-quarter football, we’re pretty scary. A lot of teams overlook special teams and we spent a lot of time on it. We’ve been spending a lot of time fixing the little issues that we’ve had and Cedric did a great job of pinning them back. Our coverage units were great. You can’t ask for anything better in terms of that unit tonight.”
Hunter May almost threw and ran for 100 yards in the loss for Pocatello.
The senior quarterback twice gave the Thunder the lead. They jumped out to a 6-0 advantage midway through the first quarter on their opening drive of the game off a 6-yard touchdown pass from May to senior Isaac Mccullock.
Pocatello retook the lead on a 2-yard run by May at the 6:21 mark of the second quarter. He then kept the Thunder in it at 21-18 after a 31-yard bomb to junior Tavin Williams along the far sideline with 5:15 left in the third quarter.
May had a chance to potentially give Poky the lead in the fourth quarter. He drove them all the way down to the Highland 38. But on a 4th-and-11, Williams was unable to corral in what would have been a one-handed grab to keep the drive alive. So it was a turnover on downs.
May ended his night with 120 passing yards, 95 rushing and another loss to the Rams. The Thunder have only one win in the series since 2006.
“Things stay right in the universe,” said Sorrell who has never lost a Black and Blue Bowl game while coaching and playing varsity football at Highland. “They’re a great team, they’ve got some great playmakers, but it’s one of those things where we’ve, kind of, had our domination in this rivalry over the years. … We want to take of of business in-city, but we’ve got bigger goals as well.”
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