Box Score
April 26th, 2003 Pocatello Silverbacks vs. Idaho Falls Mustangs

POCATELLO 22 IDAHO FALLS 14

IDAHO FALLS – With the defending champion, Idaho Falls Mustangs down 22-14 with less than a minute to go in the 4th quarter, they had a chance. They had moved deep into Silverback territory to the S-back 20. Three unsuccessful plays later, they had one last shot. Silverback defensive end, Chris Howerton knocked down a Cody Jackson pass, intended for Jake Scouten at the line of scrimmage and the Silverbacks held on for a 22-14 RMFL regular season victory.

The game was billed as the "game of the week", however it could have easily been billed as the "rivalry of the week" or simply as the "Championship rematch"... and it was all of that, and more.

The Mustangs, who recorded 19 first downs in the game, took the early wind advantage and after the Silverbacks failed to get a first down on the opening possession and punted to the Mustangs, drove 62 yards for the opening score, Cody Jackson (13-31-3-134-1, 13 carries, 74 yards rushing) sprinted around the left side for a 14-yard touchdown run. The extra point snap rolled all the way from center through holder Sean Powell to kicker, Jeff Weatje. Weatje showed some pretty good speed outracing all the Silverbacks to the right corner of the end zone for the two point conversion. The Silverbacks, however, answered quickly. RMFL MVP, Jeff Belnap (9-17-0-151-1) engineered his own drive, capping it off with a 27-yard touchdown pass to his favorite receiver, Brock Gunter (7 catches, 133 yards) for the score.

The Silverbacks gained momentum in the second quarter, getting two big Tyler Wheatley (11 carries, 94 yards) touchdown runs to go up 19-8 at the half. The third quarter, with the Mustangs getting a slowly decreasing wind advantage, was played almost to a standstill. Finally, with the third quarter clock running out, Mustang quarterback, Jackson found a very rarely used, Burke Webster crossing the middle of the field at the goal line for a 15-yard touchdown to draw to within 19-14. Halfway through the fourth quarter, it looked as if the Mustangs would get the break they were looking for. Jeff Belnap found Troy Sutton in the right flats for a short gain, however, Rayce Bird came up and hit Sutton and dislodged the football. Ron Childs picked up the loose ball and raced 45-yards to the Silverback 27-yard line to set up the Mustangs. When the Mustangs failed to capitalized and turned the ball over on downs on the Silverback 12-yard line.

Two plays later, Belnap hit Gunter on a quick slant; Gunter broke a tackle and out-raced the Mustangs all the way for an apparent 88-yard touchdown. An illegal block infraction was called on the Silverbacks returning the ball to the Silverbacks 38-yard line. Belnap would drive the team down for a 29-yard field goal with just less than 3 minutes. The Mustangs took the kickoff drive and, aided by a couple of 15-yard penalties on the Silverbacks, drove down to the Silverback 20-yard line for the game ending series. The usually poised Silverbacks actually out-flagged the Mustangs. The Mustangs, who had 80 yards in penalties in the first half, ended up with only 85 for the game, while the Silverbacks were flagged for 105 overall.

The Mustangs got big defensive efforts from RMFL Defensive MVP, Ron Childs (8-1/2 tackles, recovered fumble) and Rayce Bird (5-1/2 tackles, forced fumble). The Silverbacks picked up key performances from Hicks (8 tackles, 1 interception), Trent Sutton (7 tackles), Wilkerson (7 tackles), as well as great line-stuffing play from Spencer Perry (6 tackles) and head coach, Shawn O'Hearn (4 tackles). O'Hearn also intercepted an intended screen pass. Observers noted that by O'Hearn's juggling and bobbling of the ball before finally securing, he doesn't intercept many passes.

Pocatello

Idaho Falls

Scoring Summary:

First Quarter:

Idaho Falls: C.Jackson 14-yard run (Waetje run) 6:59
Pocatello: Gunter 27-yard pass from J.Belnap (kick failed) 5:20

Second Quarter:

Pocatello: Wheatley 25-yard run (pass failed) 11:00
Pocatello: Wheatley 11-yard run (Belnap kick) 3:20

Third Quarter:

Idaho Falls: Webster 15-yard pass from C.Jackson (pass failed) 0:21

Fourth Quarter:

Pocatello: J.Belnap 29-yard field goal 2:55

	Pocatello	Idaho Falls
First Downs	15	19
Rushes, Yards	34-202	43-174
Passes	9-17-0	13-31-3
Passing Yards	151	134
Sacked-Yds Lost	1-6	0-0
Total Net Yards	347	308
Punts, Average	4-32.4	1-24.0
Penalties, Yards	12-105	10-85
Fumbles, Lost	2-1	4-0

Individual Statistics:

Rushing: Pocatello - Wheatley 11-94, Troy Sutton 19-93, Seutopka 1-13, J.Belnap 3-2. Idaho Falls - C.Jackson 13-74, Scouten 20-69, Cummins 6-17, Childs 2-8, French 2-6.

Passing: Pocatello - J.Belnap 9-17-0-151-1. Idaho Falls - C.Jackson 13-31-3-134-1.

Receiving: Pocatello - Gunter 7-133, Richardson 1-14, Troy Sutton 1-4. Idaho Falls - Cummins 4-35, Johnson 1-28, Scouten 3-20, Webster 1-15, Spencer 1-14, Brown 1-11, Powell 1-8, French 1-3.

Tackles: Pocatello - Hicks 8, Trent Sutton 7, Wilkerson 7, Perry 6, Ball 5.5, Guardipee 4.5, Seutopka 4.5, O'Hearn 4, Fisher 3, Troy Sutton 2.5, Howerton 1, Ketzenberg 1, Ayotte 1/2, Hancock 1/2, Olsen 1/2. Idaho Falls - Childs 8.5, Bird 5.5, Weaver 5, Chacon 4, Richardson 3, Hardy 3, Jensen 2.5, (1 sack), Worthington 2.5, Powell 2, Burch 2, Westbrook 2, McNeal 1.5, Brasier 1.5, Perez 1, Cummins 1, Spencer 1, Peterson 1.

Interceptions: Pocatello - O'Hearn, Fisher, Hicks. Idaho Falls - None.

Missed Field Goals: Pocatello - J.Belnap 28-yards (wl).