Skyview overpowers Columbia River in rivalry game

There was no freak ending.

No highlight from this game will gain national attention.

Friday saw west Clark County’s top high-school rivalry return to its roots. Skyview beat Columbia River 35-28 in an intense but good-natured neighborly- feud at Kiggins Bowl.

For 48 minutes, the hits had an extra pop. The fist pumps that followed a big run had more vigor. The student sections traded barbs, which were answered with chants of: “We can’t hear you.”

But this non-league game between schools two miles apart was decided by a basic factor — Skyview’s power running game wore down River.

Blake Ingram rushed for 214 yards and three touchdowns. The 6-foot-3,

205-pound junior had 159 of those yards in the second half, when River’s offense was held to 98 total yards. That allowed Skyview to overcome a 21-13 halftime deficit.

This year, Skyview’s students again rushed the field after the final play.

But it was nothing like last year, when the Storm thought they had won after blocking a field goal on the game’s final play, only to see River scoop up the live ball and score on a freak play that was eventually shown on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

“Each year is a new year, we try not to dwell on that,” Skyview coach Steve Kizer said. “But that was fun. It made this win a lot better.”

Columbia River quarterback Gabe Evenson said that play couldn’t be ignored in the buildup to this Friday’s game.

“Last year definitely had an effect on this game,” Evenson said. “You hear people from both schools still talking about it, arguing over whether it was a good call or not. It’s not a fun thing to lose to your rival. We knew they’d be coming out hard tonight.”

Columbia River’s offense, however, came out blazing, Evenson hit Carson Bennett for a 59-yard touchdown pass on the game’s first drive.

The Chieftains followed that with a 12-play 87-yard drive that ended with Evenson’s first of two rushing touchdowns.

River had a 14-3 lead and it’s zone-read offense was humming, with Evenson and running back Nic Briggs combining for 129 yards on 23 carries in the first half.

Everything changed in the second half. Ingram, who had just six carries in the first half, was given the ball over and over. Nineteen of Skyview’s 37 plays in the second half were Ingram runs.

“When Blake started running it, we kept that great River offense on the sideline for much of the second half,” Kizer said. “I was really proud of how our guys fought back in the second half.”

Even after the game, Ingram didn’t fumble. He remembered who made his big game possible.

“It’s all about the linemen,” Ingram said. “They made the blocks perfectly. … The whole offense played great today.”

Ingram had touchdown runs of 8 and 4 yards in the second half, in addition to a 24-yard TD run in the first half. Jeremiah Wright’s 26-yard TD catch gave the Storm a 35-21 lead with 3:04 to play.

Columbia River didn’t have a first down in the second half until its final drive. The Chieftains marched down the field to pull within 35-28 on Bassett’s second TD catch.

“We switched it up a little bit and showed them a different look,” said Ingram, who also plays linebacker.

Afterwards, players hugged and shook hands. It was a rivalry at its best.

“It was so fun to battle with them tonight,” Skyview quarterback Zac Shomler said. “Nothing but good things to say about (River). They’re phenomenal. I love this rivalry.”

Evenson echoed his counterpart.

“Offseason, these are the guys I’m working out with,” Evenson said. “It’s your buddies and who you’re close with. Afterwards, win or lose, it’s still that way.”

SKYVIEW 35, COLUMBIA RIVER 28

C. River 14 7 0 7–28

Skyview 10 3 8 14–35

First quarter

CR — Carson Bassett 59 pass from Gabe Evenson (Garrett McKee kick)

S — Braden Hadfield 33 FG

CR — Evenson 1 run (McKee kick)

S — Blake Ingram 24 run (Hadfield kick)

Second quarter

CR — Evenson 1 run (McKee kick)

S — Hadfield 27 FG

Third quarter

S — Ingram 8 run (Bryson Enge pass from Zac Shomler)

Fourth quarter

S — Ingram 4 run (Hadfield kick)

S — Jeremiah Wright 26 pass from Shomler (Hadfield kick)

CR — Bassett 15 pass from Evenson (McKeen kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — River: Evenson 19-98, Nic Briggs 13-64, Team 2-(minus)-32. Skyview: Ingram 25-214, Josh Emmy 9-80, Shomler 1-9, Beyden Heppler 2-11

PASSING — River: Evenson 16-19-0-170. Skyview: Schomler 19-26-0-160.

RECEIVING — River: Bassett 7-99, Jacob Bystry 1-11, Nathan Hawthorne 6-42, Holden Fielding 2-16. Skyview: Skyler Martin 3-36, Bryson Enge 2-10, Nate Rider 3-25, Cameron Sissel 3-13, Jeremiah Wright 5-57, Emmy 1-20, Marcus Lord 2-15, Parker Baker 1-2.