(upbeat music) - I kinda think a Shelley is like the Justice League. Everyone talks about, you know, Brinley Cannon, but they're kinda like the Justice League. They just have a nice set of characters that back them up. - When it comes to high school sports, East Idaho never gets its due. - I ran into Jeremy Hess, the A.D. of Grace Luther, and you know, he was just excited, and then, you know, I'm just talking to him, and he goes, "We have seven girls, so just amazing." - But the East Idaho PrepCast has changed that, covering the biggest sports stories from salmon, all the way down to Bear Lake. - And again, you know, Grace is always that team just kinda lurking like, "Yeah, there's Grace." They, you know, they don't have social media, but you know what, they have footballs, they've got grass, they've got bats, and they use all those very well. - It's the East Idaho PrepCast with Sean Kane on IdahoSports.com. (upbeat music) - Hey, folks, sorry about that little miss cue there. Welcome to the East Idaho PrepCast on IdahoSports.com. Joel Richardson, breaking down top stories from Districts 5 and 6 from Idaho High School Athletics. Don't forget to like and subscribe to the East Idaho PrepCast, so you know when each show drops, week in and week out. You can watch this show on IdahoSports.com's Facebook, page, YouTube channel, or X account, and don't forget, you can also get this podcast on IdahoSports.com or wherever you download your podcast. It's August, it's Wednesday night, 10 to 2024. Let's bring in our East Idaho expert and insider, Sean Kane. Sean, nice buttoned up, tie on. What's going on? - You know, you know, I was looking down here, I was just checking the rankings, right? IdahoSports.com has all the rankings top to bottom for you, and you know, the number one prepcast is the East Idaho PrepCast. I, you know, I just felt like we had to dress it up and, you know, make it look good because it's number one right now, so I'm very proud to be here. - You know, Sean got on the camera, he was all buttoned up, tie on. So you know what? I decided I needed to button up as well. So we got our top buttons. Sean's got the tie making us look good. Let's do this. Sean, it's October, we are there. We are into playoff mode for golf. We're getting close for soccer. Football's about halfway over. Volleyball, it was just a few weeks out from volleyball doing their districts. A lot of good stuff going on. Let's get right to it. First of all, though, here on the East Idaho PrepCast, we got to celebrate a couple of great, one great individual and one great team from this last week. First off, the East Idaho athlete of the week is going to go to junior quarterback Keaton Bellup of Highland. - Yeah, you know, I was at this game, the black and blue bowl versus pokey and Keaton Bellnap, the Marsh Valley transfer, learning the offense, game in, and just had a phenomenal game leading that offense. Being the general back there was Keaton Bellnap. And, you know, not, you know, I can't think of too many more deserving to come in. You know, he almost didn't play that game, right, Joel? So, you know, it comes in 107 yards, two TDs, one throw in TD, one on the ground, a 28-18 win over the Pocatella Thunder. To win the black and blue bowl again for the 14th time in a row right now. And what a, just a great tradition of a game going back to 1963. So, you know, congratulations to Keaton Bellnap for being that athlete of the week and just overcoming some adversity. - Yeah, and that adversity, let's dive into that just a little bit. He had a fever, headache, sore throat. He had missed the first 20 minutes of class on, I believe it was Friday, right, Sean? And team rule is, if you can't play, if you miss one hour of class. So, he had also texted. He had texted his kind of quarterback, one of his wide receivers, Alvarico, and said, "Dude, you may have to fill in for me. "I'm feeling terrible." But Keaton got up, got dressed, got to school within, before that hour of class had ticked off. And he was able to get enough fluids in him, get ready for the game and went off. You know, sometimes, Sean, those, when you're a little bit under the weather, you're not totally, I don't know what the word is, but-- - Fluid. - Yeah, yeah, that's right. You aren't worried so much about everything that's going on because you're just trying to walk, right? You're just trying to throw the ball. Sometimes that you end up playing a little more loose and you play actually really well when you're a little bit under the weather. - Yeah, you just, you know, both coaches, Dave Spillart from Pocatello, Dave Sorrell, from Highland, we both tell you, you know, that the weak leading up to this game is, you want to block out everything, right? You just want to focus on your team, what you need to do. If you're not feeling well, it's super easy to block everything else out and rest. And, you know, whatever it takes, because that's what Highland's pretty much done all years, just found a way to win games. I will also say the Pocatello Thunder looked good. I don't know if we're giving them enough credit as we should be right now, but that's a team playing very well with Hunter May, leading them back there. A couple of plays go a different way. Who knows how this game ends up, a fake punt, later on in the game. It was kind of devastation for the Thunder, but they don't go for that fake punt. I mean, who knows what happens? It was a great game. - Yeah, it was, and Pocatello there, I think they're top 10, if I'm not wrong, Sean, in Max Preps, they're going to be just fine. Highland, they continue to find ways to win, like you said. Especially using that special teams. We'll talk about that in a little bit. Want a little shot out? I believe, Sean, this is a family member of yours. - Oh, that'd be my mom. - That would be my mom. - Your mom, okay, so I think she was congratulating you for celebrating the best podcast in Idaho, of course. - Now that might not be listed anywhere, but me and Joel know. We know, it's fine. We know. So thank you, Kathy Lawson, for coming in here and saying hi and congratulating us for our championship of being the best Idaho prep cast. Speaking of people or teams, Sean, who continue to find a way to win Madison, Madison Volleyball, they are undefeated. They were undefeated in the Madison Battle, Madison's Battle of the Best tournament. Madison Volleyball is our team of the week. - Yeah, easy, easy, right? We've talked about them here and there. We knew this was gonna come. It's just kind of like when are you gonna throw in the Bobcats volleyball team? 22 and 0, 28 straight at home. They haven't lost since October 28th, 2023. They're on two straight titles. So we're looking for the three-peat. This is a team that is built to win. They say practice is harder than their matches. And I understand that as a coach is if you're going out and practicing, like this is your last day on Earth and that's kind of what Bobcats are doing. They're just really playing really well. And they're not extremely old either. It's still kind of a, there's some young mixes in this team. So I mean, you know, we're looking at a three-peat maybe this year and maybe a four-peat. What a culture, they're cultivating right now at Madison in the volleyball program. Just absolutely outstanding. - So congrats to Madison volleyball for having an amazing season, amazing two seasons. Haven't lost like you said, Shawn, since October 28th, 2023. Looking for that third straight title. There's a couple teams, North Idaho, the Boise area that are gonna be, that have something to say about that. But hey, East Idaho, we're number one. We're gonna be just fine. - Yeah, I mean, you know, you're the champion until someone beats it, right? So right now Madison's the champions until someone beats them. And they've went and played hard teams. They've played some Boise teams. They've done the things they've need to do. So, you know, congrats to them. And, you know, going forward, they're definitely a team to watch out for, you know, number one, obviously in the polls on iosports.com and for good reason. - Yeah. So congrats to Madison. And congrats also to junior quarterback Keaton Belenap from Highland for being our athlete and teams and team of the week. Shawn, this last week, we had some great football games. You and I, let's go through our picks from the week. There was Declo Westside, Mackie Rockland. We both chose those games or we both chose one of those games as our interesting game of the week. Declo beat Westside. That's something we did not see come in six to zero. So we both lose on that one. And then Rockland beat Mackie, 52-20, which we both guessed correct on that one. So we both get the win there. Shawn, you're now at nine and three. I'm at eight and four, but forget our records. How about Declo beating Westside, six zero? What happened there? - I mean, just the defensive battle. It's a rematch of the 2023 to a state championship game. And, yeah, I mean, once the last time, Westside's been shut out in a game, right? - You've got to go back, past '09, 2010. - Yeah, you have to go back so far to where Westside's been even shut out of a game. So, I mean, credit to Declo, right? Six zero, you're doing what it takes to win. I mean, maybe we're not giving Declo as much credit as they should, but I mean, six zero game, you kind of throw everything out the window. And it's, you know, who maybe just who had the ball last or who has one more possession. I mean, that's just as close as you can cut it. - And, you know, interestingly enough, Declo scored on their first drive. They got six, they didn't get the two point conversion. Westside was inside their 10 yard line twice. Inside Declo's 10 yard line twice. They couldn't score. Then they were inside the 35 yard line of Declo couldn't score. So in the end, I mean, Westside had their chances, but Declo's defense just stood him up and shut him down. - Yeah, so you definitely Declo's defense could have been a player of the game, right? Easily, easily been the player of the game 'cause shedding out Westside is no easy feat and they had opportunities, but, you know, sometimes if you can just get that early score in a defensive battle, that's all it takes. And that's what Declo did. Now, one thing to keep in mind, Westside was without their star running back crew sage out with injury. Hopefully he'll be back soon as Westside looks to finish, obviously stronger, but as they start the back end of their season. So Declo beats Westside, 6-0. And then we talked about Rocklin already beating Mackey, 52-20, we both won on that one. Sean, let's go through a conference game of note, Madison beat Thunder Ridge, Hillcrest beat Shelly, first beat Ryrie, Chalice beat North Jim, 40-38, by the way. But the game that was most interesting to us, or the outcome that was most interesting to us, was Blackfoot beating Bonneville, 16-12. - Yeah, definitely because you've got a conference where you kind of feel like sugar, it's not sugar, holy, and a skyline in Hillcrest, probably gonna take the two spots and then maybe an at large bid that's kind of lurking between a bunch of teams. So that win for Blackfoot, I think it's huge because Blackfoot knocked off Pocatello. So they're max prep ranking, just because of that win could be higher going forward. So getting through Bonneville, which Bonneville almost beat Bishop Kelly early in the year. So you've got a lot of parity going on, and I would say that you may be that third bid from District 6. - Yeah, right now I'm Bailey's bracket's little teaser for Gem State game day, that'll be published or broadcasted Thursday. Bishop right now, Brandon and Bailey's brackets that are coming on now, it's October, Sean. So it's time for Bailey's brackets. It's the most wonderful time of the year. He has Blackfoot playing valivue, Blackfoot being a 10c, valivue being a 7c, but Blackfoot playing valivue, who was a much better team than last year, mind you, but Blackfoot getting, like you say, Sean, that third seed from District 6. - Yeah, and you know, Blackfoot's that team, kind of like a Shelly was last year. I don't think you want to play them first round because they run the ball extremely well. And as obviously, as we get later in the season in Idaho, weather's a factor and running the ball when it's cold outside, if you have to play that game outside is huge. And right now, Blackfoot Broncos are able to run the ball efficiently and that could play dividends later on in the season. - Yeah, so a very good game from Blackfoot beating, Bonneville 16, 12 looking forward to what Blackfoot can do in this second half of the season. Going over some football rivalries, it was rivalry week here in East Idaho and in Magic Valley too, but we're focused here on East Idaho. The Black and Blue Bowl, we are talking about that Highland beating Pokey 2018 and the emotional skyline while up Dydo falls blanked him, shut him down, whatever you want to call it, 47 to zero. Sean, you're at both games, which game? Well, obviously Highland Pokey was more interesting because Pokey scored points, frankly, but what outcome is more interesting to you and why? - Well, I think for the Highland Poke-Tala game, I think Highland had to win just as far as six A goes. They're ranked very high, they haven't lost the game. They needed to win that game for Pokey is what we learn is, I think is Pokey's a lot better than maybe we thought on paper. I think Pokey graduated 20 plus seniors, a lot of those seniors played, there's a lot of question marks. Pokey came in and competed with the defending state champions in the Highland Rams, right? - Right, that's an ideal. - I think that was very important. The skyline, Idaho Falls game, me and you were both there. Obviously the score, it was a blowout, but what I took from it is skyline is really good and they're justified in their ranking with their record right now, I think in the coach's poll. It's a team that's defensively, extremely solid, and it's a team offensively that has more weapons than the Ming Dynasty at this point. - More weapons than the Ming Dynasty. That might be the title for our podcast tonight. Skyline, you mentioned Skyline's their record justifies or their ranking justifies their performance so far in the field. It's a tube just behind Bishop Kelly. I would love to see Skyline play Bishop Kelly. One thing that was interesting watching Skyline, and now I've watched him, this is my third game, broadcasting or being camera crew for Skyline, for a Skyline game for Idaho sports, was their penalty. Something that they can clean up, they're not perfect, they're a great team like you say, Sean, but too many penalties, especially in that IF game, just holds, false starts. Jumping the gun a little bit off-sides. IF got them a few times just with hard counts. So something that Skyline can clean up as they're looking to push the second half of the season and claim that high seed, but also look for maybe there's a chance to play Bishop Kelly in the championship. - Yeah, definitely. And like just piggybacking on you, the coaches polls came out today, October 2nd, and Skyline's number one in the coaches poll. - Okay. - Overbeat, over Bishop Kelly's. - Interesting. - Pretty interesting, you have Skyline number one, Bishop Kelly number two, Minico three, and then another East Idaho team at Four Hillcrest. - Right. - So District six again, a nightmare for a team's wanting to go to state because they're also competitive. - Yeah, so if we had more time, we would be very interesting to compare the media coaches and Max Preps and see what makes sense, what doesn't make sense. Well, there is a team on here that really doesn't quite make sense and very interested to see kind of how things play out for them, but for Skyline, yeah, so far they're ranking and coaches, media and Max Preps is all standard. It's all chalk, so they say for Skyline and their performance on the field. So looking ahead for football, Sean, this weekend, we have Rigby Highland number two, Rigby at number six, Highland, when I say those rankings, I'm talking about Max Preps rankings. That's gonna be the idolsports.com game of the week, where we put a little more polish at a couple cameras, have a producer, and it's a really good time, really good broadcast. North Fremont is going to be at Aberdeen. That's a huge game that's gonna be number four, North Fremont at number one, Aberdeen, Nuke versus SEIC. And then another interesting game, number six, Ryregan, Max Preps rankings at number nine, West Jefferson. Of those three games, Sean, which one is most interesting to you? - Oh man, I've got to go North Fremont, Aberdeen, right? I think that's the hardest one on paper to pick. It's a matchup of defense versus offense. You've got Aberdeen, which I think has, for me, overachieved what I thought, which I don't, what I think isn't that important, but they've done really well. So I'm gonna go Aberdeen just defensively, what they've been able to do. I'm gonna go Aberdeen taking down North Fremont in a very, maybe low scoring affair, which North Fremont has not had to deal with so far this year. - I'm gonna agree with you, Sean. I'm going to Aberdeen as well. I like Aberdeen's offense, really love their defense. I don't think North Fremont has the defense enough to stop Aberdeen. Huskies are averaging more than 42 points per game. That's big time. I don't think they've played as tough opponents as Aberdeen has. They've given up just 9.5, but the better scoring defense is Aberdeen, who has given up eight, just slightly different, but I think that's gonna be enough. Hey, both teams are undefeated in conference play. They're both undefeated in overall record. Nuke versus SCIC, Sean, it's gonna be awesome. Oh, and by the way, both teams are coming off buys. So plenty of rest for North Fremont Aberdeen, but we're both going with Aberdeen. The game I'm gonna choose, Sean, is gonna be Rigby at Highland. I shouldn't do this because I'm gonna be on that broadcast with Brandon Baney. You never choose games where you're gonna be broadcasting 'cause that's kind of in the back of your head and you don't wanna get biased, but I gotta choose that game, especially because we have another comment here coming in from the audience, Amelia Lugo. Go Rigby, she says. Now we need someone else to come in and say, "Go Highlands, you have a nice battle going on." But thanks, Amelia Lugo, for your comment. Go Rigby indeed, hoping that's gonna be a great game. Should be a great game. Rigby has played maybe a slightly more difficult schedule, but it's really close. I'm really just delaying. I'm filibustering right now, Sean, so I don't have to make a pick. - Yeah, you gotta go first. - But I gotta go first. So I wanna make a pick. Oh man, especially with Amelia saying go Rigby, I feel like I gotta, man, this is so tough. I shouldn't have picked this. This was the mistake. But I'm gonna go, oh man, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go Rigby. I'm gonna go Rigby beating Highland. I'm a Pocatello, I live here in Pocatello, so I got a sauce by my heart from Pocatello schools, but I'm gonna go Rigby winning this game only because, and not just 'cause they're number two in the max professor, I think Rigby's played a harder schedule. They only have two games at home, and I think this is gonna be a major test. And if Rigby wins this, it'll also create chaos in the 6A rankings. I'm going Rigby. - All right, well, I mean, I was hoping he wouldn't pick this one, but-- - I'm sorry. - You know, I've seen Highland, I've broadcast at Highland twice. I've watched them other times. I'm also gonna go Rigby. And I don't know, I have mixed emotions about it. I just feel like Rigby has won games decisively, and I feel like Highland's found a way to win, and when two opposite forces come into each other, I feel like the team that's just won decisively has a little bit more of an edge, and I like Rigby's offense to be able to produce long drives, and I like the Rigby defense to maybe hold some of the long drives Highland's may able to produce. But I could be totally wrong. I think this conference is gonna be very interesting. Also, when both these teams play a undefeated Madison team that's much improved, I think there's a lot going on there. If Highland doesn't turn the ball over, I think it'll be very close, is my prediction, but I'm gonna go with the Rigby right now, just on a knee jerk reaction. - Oh, great, sounds good. And you mentioned Madison, Madison's number three, and I have Madison number three and Max Preps. Yeah, that's right, Madison is number three. This was the one I was thinking of, Sean. Madison is number three and Max Preps. Guess where they are in the media poll? I haven't checked the coaches poll. If you can check that really fast, that'd be amazing. But in the media poll, Sean, they're unranked. They have votes, they have votes. But they are unranked in the media poll, number three and Max Preps. Explain that one. - Yeah, it's the same in the coaches poll that came out today on iosports.com. And no offense to the media because we are the media, but I always take the coaches poll slightly a little more. But in the coaches poll, they receive votes, but not ranked. - Right, I mean, also you have a bunch of teams there, right? You have Rocky Mountain number one, which obviously we're not gonna talk about them, but that's a really good team. I think that maybe isn't getting as much hype as normally. You have Highland number two, you have Eagle, which I also think Eagle is really, really good and kind of underrated. You have Cordolane, which I have a lot of mixed feelings about Cordolane, just due to some of their games. And then you have Rigby at number five. And then it's, you know, receiving votes as Madison for a timber line. But yeah, I mean, I don't, where do you put them in? Where do you put Madison in there, right? It's hard, we don't have comparables right now. I would, you know, I would say like Highland and Rigby have probably played a harder record, or harder season maybe to a point at this point. And maybe that's why, but yeah, I mean, I don't know. You know, there's there's only five spots, but if you're Madison, you could, I mean, what a motivational two, and you probably don't care because you haven't lost a game, right? You haven't lost. - Right. - And then until you play these big-time conference opponents, I, you know, the dust will settle then. - Yep. And so very looking forward to, and I said this in the Facebook chat with an East Idaho, can't remember his name right now, but anyway, great guy, he does, I wanna say channel seven sports. We were kind of jiving back and forth once the media poll came out. And, and basically he's saying, look, I put me Madison, you know, top five. And I said, oh, that's fine, but this is probably why they're not top five. And, and just said, I'm looking forward to the next few weeks, right? Where Madison can prove themselves. Look, their offensive defensive lines are huge. I don't know if you can hear my kids in the background, but they're also protesting Madison not getting in the coaches immediately. But Madison has amazing lines and lines travel. Maybe your quarterback, run it, whatever, but, but Russian game travels, defense travels. So Madison may surprise things, but until then it's, it's Rigby Highland here in East Idaho, here in East Idaho, and obviously you have Rocky, court of lane, Eagle, et cetera. Madison's in there in, in Max Preps, but for now media coaches, I think we don't trust them because they haven't had a strong enough schedule. - Yeah, I would agree. And yeah, we'll just have to see. Was it Cade from channel six? - Yes, yeah, Cade, that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Cade, yeah, great, great dude. Love Cade. - Yeah, from the KPVI channel six, he's been doing a good job of covering East Idaho's sport. So shout out to him and his crew. So yeah, I mean, he's, he's seen him. EastIdahoNews.com, they also are pretty big on Madison. Like we're not, we're not the only ones, right? I mean, it's a good team. But again, they've got to, you know, again, you can be great, but you've got, in my opinion, one of the hardest conferences, right? With Rigby and Madison both sitting there, always going to say, you know, it's either Rigby or Madison's been winning the state titles for the last, I don't know, forever. - Right. - So. And that's, if you want more football coverage, we're going to end there for football. And if you want more football coverage, tune in to the Gen State Game Day. It's going to broadcast Thursday morning in preparation for your weekend for all things football. We're going to move on and do golf. We're going to hit Boy's Soccer, Girl's Soccer, Volleyball, Cross Country. And then that'll be the show for tonight. Let's do golf, Sean. We already have district tournament play going on. But first, we had the Gate City Invite last week. There were seven 6A schools, Sean competing. Thunder Ridge Boys won 300 with a square of 306, Justin Anderson won with a 70, which again, we talked about this in high school golf. If you're in those low 70s, you're going to win a lot of tournaments or you're going to win a lot of matches. Madison Boys came in second with 308. Then this past Tuesday, we got in the district play, five eight district, five had their district tournament. And that was at Preston Golf Course. Preston Boys won, Century Girls won, and they'll both claim those state tournament birds, Sean. - Yeah, definitely. It was the weather's been beautiful. They played down in Preston. The Century Girls won pretty handedly. And then Preston and Century had been kind of battling, but Preston prevailed in districts and they're going to take the team to state. And yeah, it'll be good. It's, you know, Preston and Century. These teams have been competing against like teams like Twin Falls, different places because the state tournament will be in Burley this year. I don't know if you knew that, but I don't know if that, it's the first time I can remember the state tournament being in Burley. So that will be a cool, I think, tournament for five eight to be in Burley. - Yeah. - Pretty central, right? Except for Northern Idaho, because they're not central to anything, but for Boise area in East Idaho and pretty much pretty central for that five A tournament in Burley, which I didn't know that until today, talking to my athletic director, Mark Pixton. And he couldn't remember it ever being in Burley either. So I don't know, we'll have that brand in fact, check that or something, but it might be the first time ever. - Yeah, I like that kind of middle ground. And yeah, shout to Ryan Scaggs, North Idaho, but yeah, nothing. Nothing is central for North Idaho, right, Brandon? And then just looking ahead, we also have a couple more district tournaments. We got six A District six, District turning at Highland Golf course. So here in Pocatello, and then also tomorrow, sorry, Thursday, tomorrow, tomorrow's Thursday. Oh man, this week is getting past me. So six A's got their district tournament at Highland Golf course, beautiful golf course. The horseshoe is right there. Just a great place to play golf in the fall. And then tomorrow as well, five A, D six, District tournament, is that Blackfoot municipal golf course? Every time I drive by that golf course, I'm right there on I-15. I wanna go ahead a couple balls, but also they have a great Frisbee golf course there, man. - Yeah, Frisbee golf in the summer, the little lake pond thing is full of water too. - Totally. - Playground there and everything. It's a-- - Sweet tank. - Yeah, it's a nice little area, right? There's some restaurants there too. It's a good time. And I know from years past, many people like, really like playing that Blackfoot course. It's a very well-liked course for players, et cetera. I am terrible at a golf, so I cannot comment. But from what I understand, most are really excited once there. And just congrats to Idaho for moving golf to the fall. I think it's the weather's far better. They've got to play since the season started to the season ends and what a difference that makes for the golf athletes and the higher divisions that switched, the lower ones didn't. - Right, right. - I think it was a smart move. - I agree 100%. The spring is just, it's way too unpredictable. And the fall is more, obviously more predictable. The weather's really nice. And you can play golf in the fall, very hard to play golf in the spring in Idaho when it could be snowing in, it could be super sunny in March, but cold, but sunny. But then it could be snowing in May, right? - Oh, I know. - Yeah, that's right. Yeah, tennis, tennis coach in the spring. Just fighting to get games, fighting to get reps in the spring and golf has that same problem. So yeah, shout out to the upper divisions in golf for putting golf into the fall. Makes our job a little bit harder, but we love celebrating all the sports, even though there are like a million to cover in the fall. Sean, you know what? We're going to do a little, we're going to pull an audible and we're going to talk, we're going to talk about volleyball, but more particularly, let's shout out the Bear Lake Volleyball, Girls Volleyball team. I always say Girls Volleyball because I'm from California, there's boys volleyball there. Utah now has boys volleyball, so I'm always specifying Girls Volleyball. But Bear Lake Girls Volleyball, Debbie Koons-Keech says they need some recognition, 100% Debbie Koons-Keech. Thanks for your response, or thanks for your comment. Bear Lake Girls Volleyball has been dominant, Sean, this year. They have two losses, well, three losses, but volleyball losses are so strange because a lot of them are, they're playoff losses, or not playoff, they're turn the losses. - Turn the game. - Yeah, so you're playing. - Exactly, and you're playing five games and maybe three games you might lose one, but there's double elimination. So volleyball losses I think are a little bit softer in a good way, right, than like football, soccer, et cetera. So yeah, Bear Lake had been so dominant, they had a big goal of winning, there was that tournament in Wyoming, like a month ago, Sean, it was the co-filamentational. And Bear Lake Girls Volleyball had a specific goal to win that tournament, they've had that on their radar for years, and they finally pulled that one out. And since then, they've been on a tear. Like I said, they've just have a few losses. - 9-game winning streak right now, dating back to their last loss was Sugar Salem, September 14th, so close. - Which is a tournament, right? - Yeah, it's only a 0-2 loss. So you're almost a month without a loss, is Bear Lake right now. So doing a very good job with, I think pretty good wins against like a Grace team, Butte County twice. - That's a big deal. - Oppressed in, who's in their division now. You know, some big wins, Marsh Valley, century, but yeah, they've done nothing, but since, you know, September 14th is win. - Yeah, 19-3 overall, 2-1-0 in conference, Bear Lake will most likely win their conference. Now there is Snake River right behind him at 2-1-0, but Snake River also has an overall record of 8-6, so not as impressive as Bear Lake's 19-3. So look to Bear Lake, if you're a volleyball fan, look for them to win their district tournament, or win the regular season, win their district tournament and get that birth, get that high seed to state. So congrats to Bear Lake volleyball. Thanks Debbie Coons-Keech for keeping us honest, and glad to shout out Bear Lake volleyball. Football team hasn't been so great, so great to see Bear Lake volleyball kind of carrying the banner for Bear Lake High School. All right, let's keep going with Girls Soccer, Sean. Girls Soccer Recap, last week of couple of games that we were looking at. Number one, Skyline played number two, Hillcrest. Hillcrest beat Skyline 2-0, and then Pokey over Preston 6-1, Pokey will remain number one through district tournament. They should win their district, and they should get a high birth at state. And so interesting move there from Skyline move, but interesting game there that Hillcrest beat Skyline 2-0. - Yeah, I mean, not really, because I talk about it all the time. And I just talked about this to Pat Lloyd. He used to be the athletic director at Idaho Falls. He's now assistant principal at Century, and he had a daughter who played soccer at Pocatello High School. So he's very, he's very in with the soccer crowds. I was talking to him about this district six soccer situation, and he said, yeah, it's just, it's just like you say, you don't really know, right? We know Hillcrest is good, you know, Skyline is good. And then also, Idaho Falls, right? Girls are lurking there too. - They're right there. - That's a team that, you know, they could at the end of the day, maybe be three, and win the conference, you know? It's, he, you know, he talked about it. It's about, you know, getting the best position possible to make it to that championship game, 'cause then you're in and not having to play, you know, play in for that second rep to stay. But I mean, who knows what's gonna happen? It's been interesting to watch. - The regular season and Saturday for most teams, and they get into this district play next week, including 6A, looking ahead, Thunder Ridge at Madison for the two seed is coming up. And then IF versus Bonneville is playing tonight. They started at 7PM. Very interested to see what's going on there because it's number two, Skyline. Now they're number two because Hillcrest beat them. Again, lots of parity there. Like you mentioned, Sean, number two, Skyline. And then number one, Hillcrest. So IF has to play Bonneville, Skyline and Hillcrest. No, excuse me. So yeah, that's right. IF plays Bonneville, Skyline. Hillcrest to end the season. Skyline plays Shelley, IF and Bonneville to end the season. So seating, they're seating for district play is in the fate of IF's Bonneville's hands to see who gets that third slot, maybe even that second slot. Tons of parity, super exciting for fans of Girl Soccer, especially here in East Idaho. And then Sean, a very interesting game, not a conference game, but the final game of the season. I believe it's final game. Hillcrest at Pokey, which could be a potential first round state matchup. - Yeah, that should be a good one. I think Pocatello right now, it's they're kind of in the driver's seat of their destiny and what they want to do. And it'll be, if they win the game, I don't know how much it'll actually affect them going forward 'cause the likelihood of them winning districts I think is pretty high at this point. So, but it could be like you play them late in the season and then end up playing each other first round. - Exactly right. - The tournament is what could be brewing and, you know, I don't know if that's what you want. Maybe you want it. I don't know, it's hard. There's only eight teams right in the bracket. So, you got to play everyone to win it. So, I think, you know, does it mean something? I think yeah, for a record, but at the end of the day, you want to be able to go to state and win. - For sure. And I think this will also help Max Prep's rankings as they're all seeded for those Max Prep's and once the teams are all into state. And then, you know, going down to 4A District 5, you have number one, American Falls, or number two, Marsh Valley. We've already highlighted these teams last week, but who is going to have that top seed in district tournament play? Right now, American Falls, I believe, is number one. Season ends Thursday. These two will likely meet in the district championship game. The loser, Sean, has to do the state play in game, which is, you know, this isn't the time to talk about Max Prep's and playoff seating and all that, but it's just too bad that two great teams, one will go and one will have to play that state play in game, or that playing game for a state exit. - Yeah, it's a tough. When you have small districts, the amount of reps you get to the state bracket is just, it's always tough. And a lot of times, someone's going to get left out. And unfortunately, that's the way we do it in Idaho, and I'll just take a quote from a coach. I know he's like, he knows what he says. He's Ryan Frost, Century basketball coach says, just win then. - Yeah. - For sure. - And I mean, you can complain and do whatever you want, but at the end of the day, you gotta win the games. And where it works tough, and sometimes someone that should be there should, you know, in the tournament, because I think at the end of the day, most of us who follow the sports want the best tournament. - Right. - Unfortunately, those aren't in the parameters, and the parameters are win. - Yeah. I mean, it just blows sometimes, because you might win, but because you're in a specific conference, you know, the person above you has a higher strength to schedule or something, and you can't do anything about that. - Yeah. - So, yeah, you... - Don't ask for us in basketball. - Right. - About that. - Every year, for sure, for sure. So it's just too bad that it's also happening in soccer. It may happen in soccer this year as well. So that's Girl Soccer. Let's do boy soccer really fast, Sean. Looking ahead, we got, we have Canyon Ridge at number three, Madison. They're jockeying for that second and three seed. Five a high country conference. Again, lots of parity, Sean. I have Hillcrest, Skylin. They're still fighting for that two through four seed for their district tournament play. Century, comfortably number one, no problem. They should get to state as a top two or three right now. They're Max Preps, the number two, Sean, just behind Wood River, who, by the way, they lost to this past... - It was Saturday, whatever won that game five, three. - Yeah, and it was a battle. It was a high scoring game. It's what you kind of expect from two teams. And Coach Ramiani of Century said he was kind of, he was kind of happy they lost because now it's like, yeah, we know what we have to work for. - Right. - And that's sometimes really motivating. And the team I was gonna say though, the team we're not really talking about, is Blackfoot Boys. - Oh, man. - Soccer. Yeah, Blackfoot Boys. I don't think we brought them up enough. They're a really good team. I mean, keep an eye out on them. As district tournament starts up, they should be able to kind of come away with it. You have Idaho Falls, an Idaho Falls team, which I saw last night, which let me tell you that Idaho Falls team is a solid boys team. Maybe the fastest defensive line I've seen play soccer. These guys could run and track down balls. Century played, Idaho Falls last night, senior night, Century 143. It was a battle. So watch out for Idaho Falls, but I want to give some credit to Blackfoot, who's kind of quietly having a really, really good season. But again, district six, you never know they beat one team by four goals and then tie a team that hasn't won a game. So I don't know, but Blackfoot Bronco Soccer doing work right now. - They sure are. And finally, this tomorrow with Teton at Sugar Salem. This could be a tune up for the district championship game. Last game, they played Sugar Salem beat Teton four to one. Again, this is for a boy soccer. Teton is number two in the max preps, but division six, again, they only get one bid to state and there's no play in game. So Teton could be left out. Unless I'm wrong, someone out there, please correct me 'cause I think this is just super unfortunate. Teton number two in max preps could be left out because there's no play in game. I'm hoping there's an auto bid somewhere. You know, and at large bid. But that's probably for another time. But yeah, really hope Teton somehow gets in 'cause again, only one bid for that rivers conference, the Mountain Rivers Conference for six divisions. Excuse me, four A Division six soccer. So if Teton, if that is the case and Teton, there's no play in game, no auto bid for your top five teams or whatever, then Teton needs to win this game against Sugar Salem or you lose this game, but it's a good tune up for the district championship game. - Yeah, it's tough. It's always tough with three teams. I don't know why they don't combine those, the five A and the district six to get more bids, but I'm not in charge. - Yep. We already talked a little bit about volleyball. So let's finish up Sean with cross country, a great recap we have on for you at the Bob Furman, the Bob Furman Invitational at Eagle Island and Boise, which is a little intro for what state, where state's gonna be, right? Sean state's gonna be at Eagle Island and Boise, actually in Eagle, technically. But some great performances from our boys and girls, teams here from East Idaho, the Division two race, Sugar Salem came in first, Snake River second, Preston third, this is boys, by the way. And then the Division one race, section one, this was A through L. Highland boys got first, congrats to Highland boys. And then a section one M through Z, Division one, Skyline boys got first as well. So great job from the boys racers there. And then there was an elite race where they got all the best times, combined all those runners, North Fremonts. This is coming from 3A, Sean. North Fremont, senior Corbin Johnston, clocked in at 1539 for 17th place. Congrats to all those guys. - Yeah, and I mean, I know you're new here, Joel, to the USEDO prep cast, but we've been talking about Corbin Johnston for a while. That guy can run. No surprises there. I mean, the Bob Furman, it's 5,000 athletes, right? Brandon and Paul Kingsbury talked about it today on their prep cast. - And their great job. - And yeah, it's just, they're saying how there's so many Utah schools too. It's like, it's the premier event maybe in the West, right? - Totally. - For cross country. Not the Northwest, you know, it like the West. I don't know if there's a bigger cross country event and East Idaho showed up and did well. And again, you know, we've talked about Highland boys. They're having a heck of a season on the cross country side. They were our team of the week, a few weeks back and continuing that and making me and you look good. - Absolutely. And then moving to girls, division two girls, rivalry pressed in sugar, Salem, one, two, three, boom. And then division one, section one, A through L again. Highland girls got third, they can just look good. Division one, section two, M through Z, Thunder Ridge, came in fourth, Skyline came in sixth. And then in the elite race, who else, Sean? But Madison senior, Brimley William got 12th place clocking in at 1826. Sean, she was the fastest East Idaho girl. So congrats to all those girls. - Yeah, it's just a phenomenal job. And the Eagle Island course isn't like a difficult course, but it was extremely hot. I talked to a coach, you know, in Pocatello, it was in the 90s Saturday. And so they said it was about 98 degrees last Saturday in Eagle, not Boise, right? And, but super hot in, I don't know if, you know, cross country, October, you're not thinking 90s. I don't think, I don't think that pops up in anyone's mind for Idaho, but just an extremely great job by East Idaho teams there. And what a great preparation for districts and state. - So speaking of preparations, looking ahead for cross country, we got Bob Conley this weekend. Sean here in East Idaho, it's gonna be at the Portland of Wellness Complex in Pocatello, it's Thursday, and a lot of most East Idaho teams are participating. You also have middle school teams participating. My son who's in seventh grade, he's gonna be participating from Irving on middle school, man. - Yeah, that's awesome. It's, have you ever been to it? It's kind of a fun little race 'cause they kind of put some different rows in it. And the Portland of Wellness Center, it's kind of where I live on the northeast side of town. And there's like an amphitheater. They've done state there, which is really cool because they use an amphitheater to hand out the wards and stuff. I'm not sure if they'll be using that. This race, but the venues kind of got everything, got a little water feature, hopefully no one jumps in. But I think they should make them run through the sand, like the beach bar, and that's them difficulty, but that's just me. - A little bit of a chariot of fire, man. - Yeah, but yeah, it's not the biggest area, but there's enough space to make it, I think really phenomenal for watching, right? 'Cause sometimes cross country can only watch certain parts really at the Wellness Center. You could probably watch the whole thing from different vantage points. - And state was there last year, which was a lot of fun. I got to watch my nephew run there. He was from Valley View High School, did a good job. And so looking forward to Bob Conley and good job to all our runners at Bob Furman. One more comment here from the studio audience, not a studio audience, from the audience out here in East Idaho, from I believe that's Turro, asks when state for boys 5A soccer, Turro, we got to the information right here, East Idaho PrepCast, number one PrepCast in Idaho sports. It's 5A girls, 5A boys are gonna be at Hillcrest High School and Bonneville High School respectively, girls at Hillcrest Boys at Bonneville. It's gonna be October 24th to the 26th, Mr. Turro. So we're getting really close. We have districts starting next week. If not this weekend for most East Idaho for all East Idaho and then we get ready for district for state coming up at towards the end of the month. Hopefully that answered your question, Turro. Sean, what do you got this weekend? Where are you gonna be? - I will be at a lookout field against Pocatello versus Twin Falls in some 5A football, which I think is kind of a big gain. It has a lot of implications. I think Twin Falls is good. I think Pocatello's good. You have obviously, I think it's like right now, if you just looked it up, it's gonna be like Minoco Twin Falls, right? They haven't played yet, but that's coming for Pocatello. I think it's a big game for them to get a win in 5A. You know, losing to Blackfoot hurts. You know, losing to Highland doesn't hurt as much because they're a higher division defending state champs. Kind of a big game I think for both teams is gonna put them in a place, right? Put them in a, where are they in this place, right? I think that we'll have some answers after that game. - Yeah, I love that breakdown. And I think especially those two teams are future state, could be future state opponents. So having that game, knowing who they are and knowing who Twin Falls is, as they go into the rest of their conference play is gonna be very interesting. I'm gonna be at Rigby Highland, gonna be broadcasting with Brandon Baney. And that should, we already talked about that game. We're looking forward to that one. I really wanna see who Rigby is. I wanna see what Highland does against a good team like Rigby. That's gonna do it for us here on the East Auto PrepCast for my partner and tie wearing number one Prepcaster in Idaho, Sean Kane. I'm Joel Richardson saying be excellent to each other and we'll see you next week on the East Auto PrepCast on Attosports.com. [BLANK_AUDIO]
