The Raft River Trojans will be playing in front of their home fans against the Kamiah Kubs at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Raft River is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Idaho's top teams: Hagerman, who was ranked fifth at the time (Raft River was ranked ninth). The Trojans put the hurt on the Pirates with a sharp 42-20 victory two weeks ago. The Trojans pushed the score to 36-8 by the end of the third, a deficit the Pirates cut but never quite recovered from.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Treyce Ward and Ruger Ward. Treyce gained 84 total yards while Ruger rushed for 52 yards and two scores.
Raft River didn't let much get past them through the air: they limited Hagerman to a completion percentage of just 28.1%. The Trojans weren't nearly as limited: they posted one of 56.2%.
Raft River didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut McCoy Spencer.
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Kamiah had no problem doing just that on Friday. They really took it to the Pilots for the full four quarters, racking up an 86-22 win. The Kubs' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Kamiah's win came from a few key players Raft River will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Everett Oatman, who rushed for 134 yards and a pair of TDs, and also picked up 57 receiving yards and one touchdown. What's more, he posted two rushing touchdowns, the most he's had since back in September. Another player making a difference was Lawson Landmark, who threw for 206 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 passes.
Kamiah pushed their record up to 8-1 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. The home wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 48.0 points over those games. As for Raft River, their record is now 6-2.
Raft River took their victory against Kamiah in their previous meeting back in September of 2022 by a conclusive 46-20 score. Do the Trojans have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Kubs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
