BY MICHAEL DAVID

It was a matchup of two prolific passing attacks vying to advance to the semi-finals of the 4-A football play-offs on a chilly Friday evening at Wood River stadium in Hailey.

But the Skyview Hawks soared while the Wolverines were grounded.

In the 4A quarterfinal matchup the Hawks from Nampa rode their sophomore quarterback Wyatt Storer’s passing arm to dominate the hosts 62-13.

Storer threw seven touchdown passes to four different receivers against a Wood River defense that was unable to apply pressure on the young quarterback or defend against the Hawks big receiving corps. 

After stopping the Wolverines on their opening drive, the Hawks took advantage of a poor punt and a short field, scoring on a 5-yard pass from Storer to his 6-foot-3 senior wide out Kyle Pierce. On their next drive, Storer found junior running back Austin Lister open for a 10-yard scoring strike.  Skyview closed out the first quarter scoring with a 26-yard pass to 6-foot-4 junior wide receiver DeMonte Horton.

The Hawks scored on the ground in the second quarter when their sophomore speedster Tyler Crowe raced 70 yards up the middle to open up a four touchdown lead. 

The Wolverines finally got on the scoreboard late in the half when senior quarterback Cade Schott hit his senior running back Owen Gifford streaking down the sidelines for a 22-yard scoring pass.

But the visitors from Nampa kept the pedal down in the second half, keeping their starters in the ball game until the final two minutes, amassing 27 second-half points against the beleaguered Wolverines.

That said, Wood River did have the final score—a 13-yard pass from Cade Schott to Owen Gifford late in the fourth quarter.

Wood River’s head coach Kevin Stilling expressed his respect for his team after the game.

“This season obviously didn’t end how we had planned, but I am very proud of the season these young men put together. It was the school’s first Great Basin Conference Championship and a great three-year stretch of football for these 16 seniors, most of whom played on varsity for those three years.”

The Wolverines finished the season at 8-2.  Skyview will face Skyline (Idaho Falls) in a semi-final game next weekend.

Skyview 62, Wood River 13

Skyview             21           14            20             7              62

Wood River        0              7              0              6              13

First Quarter:

S—Kyle Pierce 5 pass from Wyatt Storer (Matthew Kingston kick)  8:38

S—Austin Lister 10 pass from Wyatt Storer (Kingston kick)  6:07

S—DeMonte Horton 26 pass from Wyatt Storer  (Kingston kick)  0:00

Second Quarter:

S—Tyler Crowe 70 run (Kingston kick) 7:52

WR—Owen Gifford 22 pass from Cade Schott (Taylor Koth kick) 3:54

S—Kyle Pierce 27 pass from Wyatt Storer (Kingston kick) 0:00

Third Quarter:

S—DeMonte Horton 20 pass from Wyatt Storer (Kingston kick) 10:12

S—Tyler Crowe 47 pass from Wyatt Storer (Kingston kick) 7:03

S—Tyler Crowe 1 run (2 pt conversion fail) 0:00

Fourth Quarter:

S—DeMonte Horton 20 pass from Wyatt Storer (Kingston kick) 10:23

WR— Owen Gifford  13 pass from Cade Schott (2 pt conversion attempt fail)  4:30