POCATELLO — The Snake River Panthers played like two completely different teams this season, bouncing back from a 0-3 start to win five of their last six regular-season games and qualify for the playoffs. Then they kept the winning streak rolling last week to earn a rematch with the Sugar-Salem Diggers, who beat the Panthers back in August.
Snake River looked primed for a microcosm of that sort of turnaround Thursday night, when they recovered a perfectly placed pooch kick to start the second half. The Panthers turned that free possession into a quick score, cutting into what had been a 21-0 Digger halftime advantage.
At the midway point of the third quarter, the Panthers trailed 28-6 and had the ball near midfield — still threatening the three-time reigning state champs.
But like the champions they are, the Diggers gutted Snake River’s upset aspirations, scoring 27 unanswered points in just over four minutes of game time.
A four-yard touchdown run from Ace Clark made it 34-6 with 3:20 left in the third. Then a 56-yard scoring gallop from Adriane Williams made it 55-6 — the final tally — with 11:14 left in the fourth.
Junior quarterback Frank Fillmore said, in a word, the run jolted the Digger bench with “excitement.”
“Everyone was all fired up,” he told EastIdahoSports.com after the game. “Before that, we were all still a little tense, still in the game. When you drop 27 like that, everything lightens up a little bit.”
Sugar-Salem’s Frank Fillmore holds his East Idaho Sports Game Ball, after leading the Diggers to a quarterfinal victory over the Snake River Panthers. | Kalama Hines, EastIdahoSports.com
Head coach Tyler Richins spoke to the tenseness on the sideline, saying that, coming off a first-round bye, there were some early jitters.
“They were hungry coming in, because we had that week off,” the coach said. “I was proud of them — there’s always that wonder of what’s going to happen after taking a week off.”
Sugar-Salem has won each of the last three state championships, primarily behind the powerful running of 2025 graduate Dawson McInelly — the 2024 East Idaho Sports football Player of the Year.
Without that singular reliable force, Richins explained, the 2025 Diggers have gone to a balanced attack, relying on several feature backs to replace McInelly in the aggregate.
“If you want to try to shut down one player, we’ve got several others that can hurt you,” Richins said. “Dawson was a dawg, and we had a lot of different boys that were just waiting in the wings to get their opportunity.”
Thursday night, seven different backs took at least one carry, with five of them toting the rock into the endzone.
That type of balance is “exactly what we want,” according to Fillmore.
The signal-caller was one of the Diggers to record a rushing touchdown, finishing the night with 42 yards and one score on four carries. He also completed all seven of his pass attempts, for 153 yards and another score.
Senior Kimball Tonks took on the majority of the workload, carrying the ball eight times for 98 yards and two scores. He added one catch for 42 yards. Senior Ace Clark added 31 yards and two scores, while junior Adriane Williams piled up 79 yards, including a 56-yard scoring sprint. Senior Payton Blaser rounded out the Digger scoring quintet.
The Panthers were led by senior quarterback Bryden Mortensen, who carried the ball 18 times for 61 yards and Snake River’s lone score. He also completed 11 of 28 pass attempts for 138 yards.
Snake River’s Bryden Mortensen looks to run the ball during the Panthers’ quarterfinal loss to Sugar-Salem. | Kyle Riley, EastIdahoSports.com
Sugar-Salem entered the playoffs as 4A’s No. 2 seed, looking to claim its fourth banner in as many years. After a first-round bye, they beat up on a Snake River team they’d beaten 37-7 at home on Aug. 29. But the victory did not come without some challenges.
A redzone fumble late in the first half cost the Diggers an opportunity to add on. The pooch recovery and score to start the second half pushed all the momentum to the other side of the field. But the Diggers answered, as they have so many times before. Richins said after the game that this sort of adversity will benefit his team as it advances.
“I love us facing some diversity,” he said. “We have to, it’s not going to be easy. … If we play our sound offense, play sound defense and do our job, good things are going to happen.”
Now they look forward to the winner of Friday’s Homedale-Weiser game. Regardless of the outcome, Sugar-Salem will host the winner, likely at the ICCU Dome, next week.
“We love where we’re at, and love the opportunities we have,” Richins said. “I think we’re sitting in a good place. I’m excited to see who we draw for next week.”
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