Bishop Kelly gets shot at Idaho state-title redemption after 28-18 win over Pocatello
BOISE, Idaho - Peter Minnaert never forgot.
The long sorrowing walk back to the Holt Arena locker room after the pursuit of a state championship and a perfect season came to a heartbreaking end.
But the Bishop Kelly senior running back and all the other returning players who experienced that same agonizing pain last year, will get another long-awaited shot at both.
The Knights kept their dream of redemption alive with a 28-18 win over Pocatello in the Class 4A state semifinals Friday night at Nick Ysursa Field. They'll play in back-to-back state title games for the first time in seven years.
Bishop Kelly (12-0) will take on Hillcrest (12-0) in the state finals next week.
“That kind of drove my whole offseason,” said Minnaert who ran for a game-high 168 yards and three touchdowns. “Drove this whole team’s offseason was that disappointing loss in the state championship. We’re definitely going to use that as fuel.
“We took it one game at a time and now we’re here. The road ends here.”
The Knights primarily did it with their defense, which forced five turnovers on the night.
Four of those came in the second half alone, including on Pocatello’s opening drive.
Senior linebacker Maddox Rawson jumped on Hunter May’s fumble to give them a first down at the Thunder’s 27-yard line. A few plays later, Minneart completed the hat trick on a 1-yard run to push the lead to 21-3.
But Pocatello (7-3) didn’t go away. It twice cut the deficit down to 10 points later in the half. However, each time, the state’s top defense (10.2 points per game) had an answer.
(All photos by Loren Orr)
With the Thunder threatening to make it a one-score game, trailing 21-11, Noah Nienhouse stepped in front of a throw from Dreyson Contreras. The senior defensive back then took it 38 yards to the house to once again make it a three possession game at 28-11 with 46 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
“They’re huge,” said Bishop Kelly coach Chris Culig of the turnovers. “I told them we needed five turnovers. That was my goal. And we just managed to find a way to get the five.”
Pocatello answered quickly on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Contreras to May on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 28-18. But that’s the closest it got, thanks to a pair of late interceptions. Cole Traverso had the first one with 4:46 to go before Markus Powers sealed it two minutes later.
It capped a banner night for the junior linebacker, who also recorded a pick in the second quarter. The Las Vegas, Nevada transfer wasn’t even in the starting lineup at the beginning of the season. But he’s more than filled in for senior Caleb Horn, who suffered a season-ending injury earlier in the year.
“It means the world to me. Just feeling like I have a big contribution to this team, I love it,” Powers said. “Because the minute I came, they treated me like family.”
The defense came through in the first half with Powers' turnover and a couple of key stops that really turned the tide of the game.
The Knights made a goal-line stand at their own 1-yard line on the Thunder’s first possession of the game. They completely stuffed former all-state running back Ryken Echohawk on first downl. The senior then lost 5 yards on a sweep before the pressure got to Contreras. He threw a slant to May, who was unable to haul in the low pass.
So Pocatello had to settle for a 3-0 lead on a 23-yard field goal by Garrett Keller with 2:22 remaining in the opening quarter. It was a drive that consumed 10 minutes off the clock.
The defense held firm again after a Cooper Cammann fumble and a 41-yard run down the sideline by Echohawk gave the Thunder a 1st-and-10 at the Bishop Kelly 33-yard line. They ended up turning the ball over on downs just a few plays later at the 28 after Contreras’ heave to the corner of the endzone was just out of the outreached arms of Boise State basketball commit Julian Bowie.
The Knights ended up scoring on both of those ensuing drives via touchdown runs by Minnaert of 13 and 5 yards, respectively, to head into the locker room up 14-3.
“It was just between who wanted it more,” Powers said. “Those were huge, huge plays. I felt the momentum shift right after.”
Echohawk ran for 97 yards and Ty Wilkinson had 60 yards receiving for the Thunder, who finish third for the second time in three seasons.
Bishop Kelly will now look for the eighth state championship in program history - and the first since 2015 when it finished a three-peat.
