High school football action heats up in week four

Sunday, September 23, 2007 12:22 AM PDT

Argus Observer sports staff

Vale - The Vale Vikings got off the losing wagon they were on Friday night with a 34-0 shutout victory over the Baker Bulldogs. Vale has been battling a few injuries early this season, but coach Jeff Jacobs will not let that be an excuse.

Vale (1-2) lost two tough games in its first two games of the year; a 13-3 loss to Weiser (3-1) and a 16-3 loss to Ontario (4-0).

“We have played two solid teams this year, that were both bigger than we are,” Jacobs said.

The Vikings struggled on offense in the opening half of play as they could not get the offense moving in the right direction, making it 10 straight quarters in 2007 without a touchdown.

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But in the second half, Jacobs’ and Vale’s offensive woes came to an end with five touchdowns.

The first was a pass from Tyler Pirrie to Lance Erickson for 46 yards, and then the Vikings found their running game with three straight rushing scores.

Finally, the defense got in on the action and ended the scoring with a five-yard interception return.

Vale will travel to La Grande Friday as the Vikings search for win No. 2 against a winless Tiger team. Kick off is set for 8 p.m.

Council

It was the Bubba Zielinski and Tyler Farrar show Friday.

Zielinski scored four touchdowns and Farrar added three more in leading the Lumberjacks to the 62-24 win over Idaho City in 1A Division I football action in Council.

In a game which featured two undefeated teams, the Lumberjacks set the tone in the first half putting 38 points on the board.

Council scored five times in the opening half of play and Zielinski kicked things off with a 65-yard touchdown run. Zielinski racked up 135 yards rushing and Farrar tallied 93 yards on the ground.

“It all starts with that line,” Council head coach Dan Shumway said. “They were really creating holes and the backs were hitting holes good this week. They are a good combination. Both are pretty fast. They were able to juke and see the holes well.”

Council quarterback Keith Heil went 9-of-14 for 131 yards and a touchdown. So far this season, Heil has thrown 13 touchdown passes and one interception.

Council put up 376 yards of offense, 245 yards rushing and the defense held the Wildcats to 30 yards rushing and forced three turnovers.

Council (5-0 overall, 3-0 league) next travels to Powder Valley.

Harper

The Harper Hornets were stung by Prairie City Friday night 30-18, dropping them to 1-2 overall this season and 1-1 in the High Desert League. Harper was plagued by the turnover bug, and the Hornets coach said the team made too many mistakes. “I think we need to become more disciplined,” Harper head coach Mike Eddy said. “We move the ball down the field, but we are not disciplined enough to score.”

Harper jumped out to a 12-0 lead with a pair of first quarter touchdowns, but in the second frame, the Hornets were shut out and allowed Prairie City to get back in the game with a pair of scores, along with two 2-point conversions to take a 16-12 lead into the locker room at the break.

The Hornets found themselves in a swarm of a frenzy in the third quarter as Prairie City added 14 more points to the scoreboard to go up 30-12.

In the final quarter of play Harper found paydirt one more time to inch closer, but in the end, Harper came up short.

Harper will travel to Adrian Friday for 1A Oregon district match-up. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Dayville/Monument

If high scoring football is your thing, then you should have been at the Adrian-Dayville/Monument game Friday night. The two teams combined for 112 points in the gridiron battle.

Adrian more than doubled up Dayville/Monument, 76-36.

Adrian logged three first-quarter scores to Dayville/Monuments’ one, and led 24-6.

However, in the second quarter, it was Dayville/Monument who tallied more points as Tigers outscored their guests 16-14 but still trailed at recess, 38-22.

The second half brought new life to the Antelopes as they pranced their way to 22 third-quarter points and held the home team to six.

The fourth quarter was also productive for the Antelopes as they tallied 16 more points and Dayville/Monument added eight to their total.

Adrian will host Harper this Friday in High Desert League play with the opening kick slated for 7 p.m.

Homedale

The Payette Pirates had a rough go of it in Homedale Friday as they were the victims of a 30-0 Snake River Valley Conference loss.

Homedale’s first touchdown came in the first quarter on a 10-yard run by Daniel Valadez. The point after kick was good for the 7-0 lead.

The Trojans added a second score in the second quarter, this time from Rodrigo Villareal on a three-yard scamper for the score, giving the home team a 14-0 lead.

In the third frame the Trojans added seven more to the scoreboard with a Valadez one-yard run, then tacked on a two spot with a safety when the Homedale’s defense sacked Payette’s quarterback Travis Blackwell in the end zone.

Homedale finished the night with a final touchdown in the fourth quarter when the Trojans recovered a fumble in Payette’s end zone.

Payette’s offensive troubles continue as it managed 134 yards of offense to Homedale’s 283.

Payette will be in action again Friday when they host the Wolverines of Weiser. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.

Nampa

The Parma Panthers fell short Friday night against the Nampa Christian Trojans, losing 35-13 in a Western Idaho Conference match up. Nampa jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and never looked back. The Trojans racked up 409 yards of total offense and held the Panthers to 258.

Parma got the goose egg off the scoreboard in the second frame with a two-yard score, but the Trojans added to their lead with a 35-yard field goal to stay up by 10, 17-7 at the break.

The third quarter brought little action with only Nampa Christian finding paydirt on a 30-yard pass completion, but the PAT failed.

In the fourth quarter, leading 23-7, the Trojans padded their lead with a nine-yard score to go up by 22 points. Parma scored a meaningless touchdown off a 23-yard pass to cut the lead back to 16 points.

Not to be out done, the Trojans capped of the game with 13-yard score and the 22-point win, 35-13.

The loss drops the Panthers to 0-1 in conference play and to 1-2 overall.

Meanwhile, the Trojans remain perfect on the year with a 4-0 overall record and 1-0 in WIC play.

Parma will get a chance to even up its conference mark Friday the Panthers host New Plymouth at 7 p.m.

Meridian

Asterio Mira booted a game-winning 28-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in the game to give New Plymouth its first win of the season, 20-17, over Cole Valley Christian Saturday in Western Idaho Conference football action in Meridian.

The Chargers enjoyed a 3-0 halftime lead, and Mira tied things up with a 28-yard field goal to start the scoring in the third quarter.

Cole Valley regained the lead on the ensuing kickoff with Mitch Symmonds taking a 71-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, which gave the Chargers the 10-3 lead.

Casey Pfeifer tied the score at 10, with a one-yard plunge, and teammate Justin Peterson gave New Plymouth its first lead of the game with a five-yard touchdown run.

With three minutes left in the game, Symmonds knotted the score at 17 with 23-yard scamper, setting the stage for the Pilgrims’ final drive.

The Pilgrims started the game-winning drive from their own 40-yard line and used some clutch passes and tough runs by Peterson to set the stage for Mira’s heroics.

“It was a pretty win,” Pfeifer said, who had 22 yard rushing. “We needed a win to boost our confidence. Give credit to our defense. We steped up and shut down their running game.”

New Plymouth (1-3 overall, 1-0 WIC) next travels to Parma Friday.

Cambridge

The Tri-Valley Titans shrugged off a disappointing loss to Council last week and rebounded in a big way, defeating Horseshoe Bend, 74-36, in 1A Division classic 8-man football action Friday.

“The kids recognize they forgot to show up for the Council game,” Tri-Valley head coach Mark Loveland said. “They came back ready to play. If the boys learned anything (it’s) they have to come out ready to play ball. Nobody in the Long Pin is going to give them anything.”

Brandon Fry led the way with 91-yard rushing and two scores for the Titans, which had 10 different players score touchdowns.

Tri-Valley scored 55 first-half points and racked up 536 total yards and held the Mustang offense to four yards in the fourth quarter.

Chase Looney, Jordan Wiggins, Ross Branch, Mark Macedo, Remmington Summers and Ben Neckels all hit paydirt for the Titans, and freshman Scottie Jaeger added a 30-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Jaeger rushed eight times for 66 yards, Neckels totaled 62, and Summers led in the air attack with two catches for 51 yards.

Titan quarterback Jake Doggett went 3-of-5 for 35 yards and three touchdowns, and backup quarterback Haden Boll was 5-of-10 for 60 yards and the score.

Foreign exchange student Jacob Busse Von Colbe also joined in the fun, as he caught two balls for 16 yards and added two extra point kicks.

Tri-Valley (3-1 overall, 1-1 league) next hosts Wilder Friday on Homecoming night.