Playoff football recap: BK responds to slight. Middleton dethrones champ. Vallivue cruises

Pocatello started Friday night in a celebratory mood, jumping on the midfield logo at Bishop Kelly High before kickoff. But the Thunder didn’t leave Boise with much to celebrate.

Bishop Kelly crushed Pocatello 48-3, triggering the running clock mercy rule in the fourth quarter to open the 5A state playoffs with a blowout victory.

“I took serious issue with them jumping on our Knight before the game,” Bishop Kelly coach Chris Culig said. “You don’t do that at somebody else’s place. So we came out a little more juiced than they might have expected.”

[Related: 6A to 1A playoff brackets]

Fourth-seeded Bishop Kelly (9-1) dominated every aspect of the game to turn the first-round playoff battle into a snoozer early. The Knights forced all of their three turnovers in the first half, capitalizing on each one with a touchdown.

Tylan Kaschmitter scored on runs of 6 and 8 yards, and Ben Avella hit Luca Quilici for a 5-yard touchdown pass as the Knights built a 34-3 halftime lead.

Kaschmitter finished the evening with 92 yards on 14 carries and three touchdowns — all in the first half. But he wasn’t alone on the ground. Ryan Arellano also ran for 89 yards and two scores, helping the Knights rack up 212 rushing yards at 7.6 yards per carry.

The defending state champs’ traditionally vaunted running game struggled to take flight all season behind a rebuilt offense line. But five new starters, including just one senior, showed how far they’ve come this season Friday, blowing open monster holes for Kaschmitter and Arellano to run through all night.

“We always knew we had this in us,” Kaschmitter said. “We haven’t put together a full game. We still had some mistakes tonight. We’re hoping to clean those up and come out even stronger next week.”

A seventh straight win sends Bishop Kelly into the quarterfinals, where it hosts fifth-seeded Minico (8-2) at 7 p.m. next Friday. The two met earlier this season in Boise, when Bishop Kelly rallied for a 20-8 win behind four turnovers.

The Knights’ defense recorded another vintage performance Friday, forcing three early takeaways to turn a snowball into an avalanche. Bishop Kelly forced a fumble on Pocatello’s first play after Kaschmitter’s first touchdown of the night. Three plays later, the senior made a jump cut in the backfield for a 6-yard score and a 19-3 lead.

Just over a minute later, Nik Ciovacco picked off a jump ball from Pocatello quarterback Hunter May, setting up Kaschmitter’s final touchdown. The Thunder then tried a trick play with a halfback pass from Tavin Williams. But Parker Allumbaugh nabbed it out of the air to set the stage for the final score of the first half.

Pocatello (5-4) started the game with a promising drive that ended with Zen Griggs’s 20-yard field goal. But the Thunder never scored again and finished the night with 247 yards of offense.

“We focused all week on getting the ball out,” Allumbaugh said. “We knew this quarterback was gonna throw it up, and we just had to be ready to just go get the ball.”

MIDDLETON 6, HIGHLAND 3

The Vikings ousted the defending state champions from the 6A playoffs in a defensive battle.

Middleton’s only points came on a pair of field goals from senior kicker Tyler Robinson, who connected from 27 yards in the first quarter and 43 yards in the second.

The Vikings (6-4) now head north to face Coeur d’Alene (7-2) in the quarterfinals next week.

Middleton finished with 225 total yards while holding Highland to just 152.

Drew Holman led the Vikings on the ground with 100 yards on 18 carries, and quarterback Brockton Smith went 4-for-11 passing for 40 yards. Tyke Harper caught two passes for 29 yards.

MADISON 42, CAPITAL 7

After winning back-to-back games to get into the playoffs, the Eagles (3-7) couldn’t keep pace with the Bobcats in a 6A playoff game in Rexburg.

The teams were tied 7-7 in the first quarter before Madison scored 35 unanswered points to set up a quarterfinal game at Eagle next week.

Junior Zander Grow scored Capital’s lone touchdown on a 1-yard run. Grow rushed for 126 yards on 20 carries.

Quarterback Brayden Dudley finished 18-for-34 passing for 229 yards, and sophomore Elliot Schrack was his top target with 13 catches for 133 yards.

VALLIVUE 28, BONNEVILLE 6

The Falcons moved into the 5A state quarterfinals with a commanding home victory over the Bees.

Star junior running back Onix Carson ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns on 23 touches.

Senior Cache Hance started off the scoring for Vallivue with a 15-yard interception return for a TD as the Falcons forced six turnovers, including four picks.

Vallivue (7-2) travels to face Lakeland (8-2) next week.

FRUITLAND 47, TETON 13

The Grizzlies (8-2) dominated the Timberwolves from start to finish in the first round of the 4A state playoffs.

Quarterback Titus Vidlak continued his strong season, going 10-for-20 passing for 224 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 72 yards and two more scores.

Spencer Tracy caught two of those TD passes and finished with five catches for a team-best 169 receiving yards. Austin Tesnohlidek totaled 114 yards and one TD on the ground.

Fruitland will travel to face Kimberly (6-3) next week in the quarterfinals.