Lumberjacks claim state championship

Geoff Crimmins | Moscow daily news Council running back Ricky Green picks up some yardage for the Lumberjacks on the way to their 48-22 win over Genesee in the Idaho 1A state championship game Friday in Moscow.

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“We've been wanting to do this ever since we were in seventh grade,” Council senior Ricky Green said. “We just knew that we could do it. We all just buckled down, even when it was close, we just worked our butts off and we did it.”

Both teams traded touchdowns and fumbles in the first half on the way to a 22-point tie at halftime. Genesee (9-3 overall) was held scoreless in the first quarter, but picked up the slack with three scores, including two touchdown runs from Shane Raffelson, in the second quarter.

“We had a lot of momentum at halftime, but we weren't able to transfer it to the second half,” Genesee coach Jason Hanson said.

The Lumberjacks (9-3) returned from halftime with a 66-yard Green touchdown run, almost immediately followed by a 68-yard score from Josh Edmunson. Council peaked at the end of the third quarter when they halted the Bulldogs five yards from the end zone after a 16-play drive. The Lumberjacks carried the momentum to the fourth quarter by scoring two final touchdowns.

“We basically told them we're a second half team,” Shumway said. “We've always been able to suck it up the second half. They put their nose to the grindstone and hit it.”

Council's defense locked down on quarterback Justin Udy and didn't let him inside the end zone. The Genesee senior only had a four-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Parsons to put the Bulldogs on the board. Udy finished with 149 passing yards (9-for-26) and 92 rushing yards on 13 carries.

“We got a little out-manned and made some mistakes today,” Udy said. “Everybody did, and that will cost you a ball game. Unfortunately we came out on the bottom.”

The Lumberjacks alternated its ground offense with their two big running backs in seniors Green and Jesse Paradis. The two backs scored three and two touchdowns, respectively. Green finished with 208 total rushing yards while Paradis totaled 95 yards on the ground.

Edmunson often fed his running backs with lateral pitches but caught the Bulldogs off guard with a 68-yard touchdown option run in the third quarter. The signal caller finished with 74 rushing yards.

Hanson was expecting a more balanced Lumberjacks offense, but instead Edmunson only completed 4-of-10 passes for 106 yards.

“That's the great thing about the team- diversity,” Shumway said. “We can run. We can pass. They gave us the run, we said ‘We're going to keep running until they stop us,' and that's what we did.”

Council racked up 306 total yards on the ground and 106 in the air for 412 total offensive yards. Genesee finished with 250 total rushing yards and 149 passing for 399 total yards.

The Bulldogs struggled through eight penalties on the night, including three penalties on one drive.

“There were a couple penalties in there that got our engines going for a little while,” Hanson said. “Council is the championship team of 2006, and you can't do that against a champion... Hats off to Council, they did the things they needed to do.”

Both teams went into the title game after enduring a tough season. The Lumberjacks persevered through its continuous injuries, and the Bulldogs won out after losing two critical games.

“I think we showed a lot of character throughout the season,” Hanson said. “After a couple losses, everybody and their dog wrote us off. For us to get here that's a giant milestone and shows a lot of character. Regardless of the game itself, we knew it was a successful season for us.”