MIDDLETON — In a showdown between two 6A Southern Idaho Conference Foothills Division upstarts, Middleton rode Jake Perez and its ball-hawking defense to a 21-14 win over visiting Timberline on a breezy Friday night.
Perez turned 25 carries into 285 yards — including 192 in the second half — with a pair of touchdowns. Meanwhile, the stifling Middleton (4-2, 3-0) defense got two interceptions, one apiece from Drew Holman and Weston Mills.
“We’ve been working really hard in practice and played a great game tonight,” Perez said. “The defense did amazing and really kept us in the game. The offensive line did a great job blocking, holes were there, and we just made it happen.”
Perez broke a 7-all tie early in the fourth quarter with a sensational 55-yard touchdown run up the middle. The junior tailback managed to stay on his feet with a crafty spin move and turned on the burners to out-race the defense.
“I don’t even know what happened,” Perez said of the highlight run. “I was just trying to do anything I could to stay up, and it worked out perfectly. It was awesome.”
Following a Timberline punt, Tyke Harper put it away with a 17-yard touchdown burst. Perez had rushes of 36 and 24 yards on the game-sealing drive.
The Wolves (4-2, 2-1) cut it to 21-14 with 36 seconds to play on a 13-yard touchdown throw from Jack Brant to Hudson O’Kelley, but Harper recovered the onside kick to end the comeback attempt.
O’Kelley had a monster game, finishing with five catches for 123 yards and a score. Harper added 34 yards on the ground for the Vikings, who didn’t complete a pass in the second half.
Middleton began the evening on defense but quickly gained possession on a Holman sliding interception at the Timberline 30. The Vikings needed six plays to reach the end zone — all Perez runs — to seize a 7-0 lead.
Timberline evened the score later in the opening period when Brant found tight end Sam Haener for a six-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
The teams closed a windy first half locked in a 7-7 tie.
Just how gusty was it at times? Timberline head coach Ian Smart opted to take a timeout with two seconds remaining in the first quarter to have the wind at his team’s back for an upcoming third-and-12 play. Brant made his coach look like a genius by connecting with O’Kelley for a 45-yard strike.
The Wolves gambled twice on special teams in the third quarter, opening the period with an onside kick and faking a punt deep in their own territory. Neither worked, but the Timberline defense came up with huge red zone stops to end both drives.
Timberline went a combined 1-16 the past two seasons but entered Friday with just one blemish in 2024: a 28-19 loss at Boise in mid-September. Middleton placed third in the SIC Foothills Division last fall and suffered a first-round playoff loss to Rigby.
The Vikings travel to Rocky Mountain next week while Timberline hosts Centennial.
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