News Story - Idaho State Journal

The Rams didn't need trickery to beat the Eagle Mustangs in the 5A state championship game on Friday. A bad call or muffed punt didn't hand them the game. They totally dominated the Mustangs -- especially defensively -- to win 28-7 in front of an overflowing crowd at Holt Arena.

That Highland is quarterbacked by the best athlete in the state was more of a perk than a determining factor.

So forget Meridian, Centennial and Eagle, all recent state champions from the Treasure Valley.

When Highland ended its six-year state title drought on Friday, it reiterated that it -- not any of those upstarts -- is still the king of Idaho football.

First, the obvious. Taysom Hill is the best player in the state, and Stanford really found a gem of a recruit.

Cardinal coach Jim Harbaugh will also be pleased to see that Hill played much more like a traditional quarterback on Friday. He threw for 232 yards on 15-of-21 passing, and his passes were more accurate than in any game of his career. Hill wasn't intercepted, didn't force passes into tight coverage and only ran when he had to -- though he did still run for 121 yards.

But Hill isn't Highland. If he was, the Rams would have won state last season, too.

This season, Highland proved it could play defense, and that's what separated it from the Boise teams.

Before the state title game, Eagle (11-1) hadn't scored fewer than 21 points in a contest all year. Against the Rams (10-2), the Mustangs turned the ball over three times and only moved the chains consistently on one drive.

Highland didn't improve like that on defense simply because it got older, either. It improved because instead of settling for in-state competition, Highland brought in and traveled to play teams from Utah and California.

Challenging Grant Union (Calif.) during September's Rocky Mountain Rumble at Holt Arena was the best scheduling decision Highland coach Gino Mariani could have made. Sure, the Rams lost 34-21, but the game had no direct bearing on their prospects for reaching the playoffs.

Mariani figured the Rams were better off losing to a superior team early in the season than beating up on a smaller Idaho school. Instead of whining about how no team in the state wanted to play Highland, Mariani found better teams to play.

He was right. Highland went 2-2 against out-of-state competition, but it improved because of those games and beat all eight Idaho teams it faced.

Next year, Highland will need to find a quarterback. It doesn't look like there's a second coming of Hill anywhere on the roster, and most of the team's defensive starters will graduate.

But Highland will retool. It already restored its reputation as Idaho's best football program by winning its ninth state football title since 1984.

The Treasure Valley may own more good 5A teams, but the best one, at least for now, is still in Pocatello.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock on Friday, Highland defensive coordinator Chris Frost hugged a fellow assistant coach inside the Holt Arena press box.

"They weren't as good as everybody thought," Frost said of the Mustangs.

No, they weren't, coach.

And Highland was better.

Dan Thompson's column normally appears Thursdays. With comments or story ideas, call him at 239-3122 or e-mail dthompson@journalnet.com.

This document was originally published online on Saturday, November 22, 2008

Article Rating

Reader Comments

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of our paper.

Submit a Comment

Commenting Rules

We encourage your feedback and dialog. All comments are subject to deletion by our Web staff.

Report a Comment

Report a comment for review to the ISJ web staff.