‘He’s our muscle.’ Borah senior scores his first TD — and then 3 more — in win over Kuna

Most of the time, Keijen Shearer is on the field playing outside linebacker for the Borah football team.

But every now and then, the Lions give the 6-foot, 205-pound senior a chance to flex his muscle on offense.

Such was the case Thursday night, as Shearer scored the first touchdown of his varsity career — and three more after that — to lead Borah to a 35-7 road victory over Kuna in a 6A Southern Idaho Conference River Division matchup.

Shearer had four touches on offense, and all four ended in the end zone. He scored on runs of 1, 2 and 1 yards, and caught a 24-yard TD reception from senior quarterback Dylan Luekenga with 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter to top off a big night on both sides of the ball.

“I don’t even know if we knew he was going to have that big of a role tonight. It’s just kind of how things played out,” Borah coach JQ Kenyon said. “We got down there, and when you get inside the 10, they do some pretty exotic blitzes, so we just had to pound it in there.

“And he’s our guy. He’s our fullback. He’s our muscle that’s just going to push it in.”

Thursday’s win put the Lions alone atop the River Division at 3-0 and 5-1 overall going into Friday’s full slate of games. Borah has won five straight since losing its season opener on a walk-off field goal against Timberline.

“These guys have been through a lot of hardships in their lives,” Kenyon said. “Going down seven points or a little blocked punt doesn’t really phase these guys. They kind of come together over football. It’s amazing what they can give, and I’m just super proud to be their coach.”

After a scoreless first quarter that featured a forced fumble by Shearer that was recovered by teammate Jon Ceron, and then a blocked punt by Kuna’s Casey Neff that was recovered by teammate Christopher Pollard, the Lions started clicking.

Borah’s defense made a huge stop on fourth-and-2 from its own 5-yard line on the first play of the second quarter, and the offense rewarded their counterparts with an 11-play drive that covered almost the length of the field. Shearer burst into the end zone from the 1 for the touchdown and a 7-0 Borah lead with 7:29 left until halftime.

“I just run as hard as I can,” Shearer said. “They told me I’ve gotta run hard, low pad level and just execute.”

The Lions forced a Kuna three-and-out, and Borah’s offense went to work once again, this time polishing off an 80-yard drive with a 2-yard TD dive from Shearer with 29 seconds to go before the half.

“He’s a dog. He stepped up big time,” Luekenga said of Shearer. “... He’s just a powerhouse. He’ll shove anything right down the middle and then go get it.”

Kuna pulled within a touchdown on a 25-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Lino Senio to junior receiver Jaxon Bullen with 5:17 on the clock in the third quarter. But the close game didn’t last much longer.

Borah responded on the ensuing drive by scoring on a double-pass trick play when Luekenga passed to Ayden Melendez, who found senior Karden Halpin in the end zone from 28 yards out despite getting drilled as the football left his finger tips.

Shearer then put the finishing touches on the Lions’ victory with two more TDs in the fourth quarter.

“We’re always on the hunt. We never settle,” Luekenga said. “We don’t want to be the prey, so we’re hunting.”

Luekenga finished 28-for-44 through the air for 337 yards and a touchdown. Melendez had a team-high 10 receptions for 61 yards, while senior Mason Monteleone had seven grabs for 99 yards, senior Ryan Lopez had five for 81, and Halpin totaled 90 receiving yards on four catches.

Senio paced the Kavemen (3-3, 2-1) with a 12-for-20 performance for 94 yards and a score.

CAPITAL 41, CENTENNIAL 14

Eagles quarterback Brayden Dudley threw for three touchdowns, and running back Austin Brown scored three TDs on the ground to secure Capital’s first win of the season Thursday at Dona Larsen Park.

Dudley completed 14-of-22 pass attempts for 202 yards, with two of his touchdown passes going to receiver Nate Ortega.

Stats were not provided for Centennial (0-6, 0-3 6A SIC Foothills).