November 3, 2018

Tigers reach semis

Kendrick jumps to big halftime lead, cruises past Garden Valley

Kendrick’s Cooper Hewett breaks through a tackle attempt by Garden Valley’s Joaquin Fuhriman during the first quarter of an Idaho Class 1A Division II state quarterfinal game on Friday night at Bengal Field in Lewiston.Tribune/Pete Caster

Kendrick's Alex Sneve scampers into the end zone for a long rushing touchdown as Garden Valley players look on during the third quarter of an Idaho Class 1A Division II state playoff quarterfinal game on Friday night at Bengal Field in Lewiston.Tribune/Pete Caster

Alex Sneve of Kendrick moves upfield in the first quarter.Tribune/Pete Caster

Kendrick receiver Cooper Hewitt, left, and Garden Valley defensive back Joaquin Fuhriman go up for a pass during the second quarter of an Idaho Class 1A Division II state playoff quarterfinal game on Friday night at Bengal Field in Lewiston.Tribune/Pete Caster

Kendrick's Chase Burke finds a hole in the Garden Valley defense as he crosses the field toward the end zone for a rushing touchdown in the first quarter of an Idaho Class 1A Division II state playoff quarterfinal game on Friday night at Bengal Field in Lewiston.Tribune/Pete Caster

Kendrick quarterback Alex Sneve attempts to reach the ball across the goal line for a 2-point conversion in the second quarter of an Idaho Class 1A Division II state playoff quarterfinal game against Garden Valley on Friday night at Bengal Field in Lewiston. The referees ruled that he was short of the goal line.Tribune/Pete Caster

Kendrick's Talon Alexander knocks the ball away from Garden Valley's Covy Kelly on a pass attempt in the first quarter of an Idaho Class 1A Division II state playoff quarterfinal game on Friday night at Bengal Field in Lewiston.Tribune/Pete Caster

The Kendrick defense played the perfect bend-but-don't-break strategy en route to a 64-32 victory over Garden Valley in the quarterfinals of the Idaho Class 1A Division II state playoffs at Bengal Field on Friday.

The Tigers defense shut out the Wolverines 28-0 in the first half, which included four goal-line stops to prevent them from putting points on the board, which pleased Kendrick coach Zane Hobart.

"It really came down to mental toughness," Hobart said. "When you're in the red zone, all it really comes down to is who is more mentally tough and tonight we were."

Junior quarterback Alex Sneve also credited his defense with putting the offense in solid situations as well as not having to come from behind.

"If you don't have a good defense, you can't stop anyone else, and that's what football's all about," Sneve said. "You stop them on defense and as an offense you take the ball and you score."

As for the offensive side of the ball, Kendrick was led by a three-headed monster with Sneve, running back Cooper Hewett and fullback Chase Burke.

All three of them were involved in every scoring play, which made it easy for the Tigers to know who to go to on the offensive side of the ball.

"You really can't key in on one guy, you can't commit to a certain side, because that opens up the quarterback trap game," Hobart said. "You can't blitz up the middle because Cooper is so fast, you can't commit to the outside because Chase is our workhorse and he'll run you over."

The Tigers move on to play Carey in the semifinals of the state playoffs. The time and location are both still to be announced.

Kendrick 12 16 20 16-64

Garden Valley 0 0 12 20-32

Kendrick - Rylan Hogan 23 pass from Alex Sneve (run failed)

Kendrick - Chase Burke 12 run (run failed)

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Kendrick - Burke 4 pass from Sneve (Cooper Hewett run)

Kendrick - Hewett 23 pass from Sneve (Butke run)

Kendrick - Sneve 1 run (run failed)

Garden Valley - Covy Kelly 24 pass from Corban Fields (run failed)

Kendrick - Burke 9 pass from Sneve (pass failed)

Kendrick - Burke 20 run (Hewett run)