For a weekend that was originally supposed to have Teton High School in Afton, things evolved into a pair of road locations before ultimately being played out on Friday night in Soda Springs, Idaho in a 42-8 Star Valley win. 

After canceling their game with the Braves in the last calendar year, Star Valley had struggled to find a team willing and able to play them in their final non-conference slot. A short agreement with West Side evaporated, leaving it nearly certain that the team would have a rare open date in September. However, with the Marsh Valley Eagles making the decision to cancel the remainder of their varsity season, several eastern Idaho teams suddenly found themselves with an open schedule. This included Braves’ head coach McKay Young’s alma mater in Soda Springs. 

The Cardinals, fresh off the resignation of a coach hired in March and riding a 19-game losing streak, banded together and ended that skid last week with a 13-8 win over Firth. Meanwhile, the Braves had just knocked off Sugar-Salem for their program’s 24th consecutive win. 

Adding even more unlikely circumstances to the matchup, Star Valley had never played a varsity football game in Soda Springs. The programs, although just over an hour apart in distance, had only played three times in the 97-year history of SVHS football and the last one of those was in 1940.

Hardly a recipe for a rivalry game, but the two teams did their respective communities proud by battling it out under the lights. 

The first score of the contest came from Phoenixx Hovey who found Travis Thomson on a 35-yard bomb in the end zone. Tayt Lawson’s PAT was no good, leaving the score at 6-0. Coach Kelly Merritt’s defense was particularly stifling in the first half, allowing just one yard of offense to the Cardinals overall and forcing the second score of the game, a 25-yard pick-six from Dylan Hirschi who scored on defense for the second time in three weeks. 

Overall the Braves’ defense intercepted Soda’s Makiah Browning five times with Krew Morgan and Raiden Haderlie collecting their own. Landon Peterson nabbed Browning twice in the fourth quarter. 

As the Star Valley offense spread the ball around to 12 different ball carriers and eight different receivers, Hovey threw his second touchdown of the game to Sam Gaskell from eight yards out in the second quarter to make the score 19-0. 

One of the more entertaining plays of the game came as Hovey hit Zack Thompson on a short route and he pitched it back to all-state lineman Ryan Talbot who rolled for 26 yards down inside the five yard line. He ran it in two plays later to make the score 25-0. The two-point conversion attempt was no good. 

The score continued to swell as Hovey tossed his third touchdown of the half to Lawson who used his concentration to secure a bobbled ball. He then kicked the PAT to make the score 32-0 at the break. 

Lawson added a short field goal and Zach Delgado scored in the second half for the Braves. Soda Springs found some space through the air and avoided the shutout on a 17-yard Browning scamper for the 42-8 final. 

Star Valley now comes home for a pair of games to open 3A West conference play as the Jackson Broncs will be in Afton for the Fall Brawl on September 26. Powell will be at Braves Field on October 3, for Star Valley’s Homecoming. 

Friday Night Roundup – 

In the 3A classification, #2 Cody ran roughshod over Buffalo 63-9 while #3 Riverton took care of Green River 41-21. #4 Douglas had no issues with Powell in a 47-7 final and #5 Lander rolled over Evanston 50-18. The Jackson Broncs were just up the road in Montpelier as they defeated Bear Lake 45-7. 

In the 2A West, #2 Mountain View picked up a measure of revenge from last year’s semifinal loss to Cokeville as they blanked the #4 Panthers 33-0. The Kemmerer Rangers fell behind and could not recover in a 34-7 road loss to #5 Thermopolis. #3 Lovell played their third straight tight game as they came out on top of Lyman 25-22. Pinedale got past Worland 13-7. 

Find more scores at wyopreps.com.