The Thunder Ridge girls will win their first 5A state title in program history

First team

Good luck finding another coach in the area who dealt with more this season than Skyline’s Kip Archibald.

In several ways, Sunny Bennion has been all over. She once lived with her family in Cedar City, Utah, before the family moved to Sugar City, where Bennion became a standout athlete at Sugar-Salem. There, she blossomed into a star on the football team and the softball team — among other teams…

During its run the 4A state title game, it was clear the Blackfoot Broncos were far from a one-player team.

Even without the craziness of 2020, there are plenty of challenges in coaching, many of which can derail a season or launch a team to new heights, depending on how those challenges are handled.

First team

The Idaho all-state soccer teams are chosen by the Idaho High School Soccer Coaches Association (IHSSCA) and United Soccer Coaches (USC).

The Blackfoot boys soccer team was already having a strong season.

The Thunder Ridge boys soccer team came up just short in Tuesday’s 5A state championship game, falling to Boise 5-4 on penalty kicks.

A full 198 1/2 minutes. That’s how much soccer the Sugar-Salem girls’ team played Saturday in temperatures as low as 23 degrees. And that doesn’t include their penalty kicks in the 9 a.m. game.

Not a cloud hung in the sky after one of Blackfoot’s first-regular season wins of the season, a September victory over Hillcrest in Idaho Falls. Head coach Liam Pope wore a grin while he teased his players, who pulled on warmup gear and prepared to return home. The mood was light for the Bro…

Temperatures turned bitter and wind threatened to level the treatment tent on the sideline of Friday’s 4A state semifinal between Blackfoot and Canyon Ridge.

The Thunder Ridge boys soccer team rolled over Rocky Mountain 7-2 in a 5A semifinal, but inclement weather caused the championship match, originally scheduled for Saturday, to be moved to Tuesday as the other semifinal between Boise and Eagle was postponed. Thunder Ridge coach Corey Toldson …

The 4A Idaho State boys Soccer Tournament kicked off in a big way on Thursday with four matches. The marquee matchup was the two-time defending state champion Caldwell Cougars playing a 14-1 Blackfoot team.

At Bonneville, the Bees' volleyball team captured the 4A District 6 tournament title with a 23-25, 25-18, 25-10, 25-17 win over Shelley in Thursday's championship match.

Kip Archibald clapped two bare hands together, encouraging his Skyline girls soccer team to keep their heads up. They weren’t out of this tournament. They had just dropped a 4-1 decision to Columbia in the first round of the 4A state tournament Thursday afternoon, but to the man tasked with …

Talk to most anyone on Skyline’s girls soccer team and it becomes apparent fairly quickly how much the team has gone through this season. The Grizzlies have lost two starters to injury. One player suffered a concussion. Another had to miss time due to COVID-19 concerns.

To Thunder Ridge boys soccer coach Corey Toldson, the answer to one of the more intriguing questions about her team and how it has maintained success at such a consistent rate comes down to something pretty simple.

The area’s top cross country runners compete Wednesday in their respective district meets.

BLACKFOOT — There was a high school girls soccer game on Saturday — a big one, too. Sugar-Salem knocked off American Falls 4-1 in a state play-in game to earn a bid to the 3A state tournament. With about 15 minutes remaining, as the majority of the crowd sprinted on the pitch, most of them f…

BLACKFOOT – There was a high school girls soccer game on Saturday – a big one, too. Sugar-Salem knocked off American Falls 4-1 in a state play-in game to earn a bid to the 3A state tournament. With about 15 minutes remaining, as the majority of the crowd sprinted on the pitch, most of them f…

As his team feverishly whisked on beanies, jackets and sweatpants, Mark Muzzo did a lap around his team’s bench and met their somber faces with a message.

POCATELLO — For the Highland girls soccer team in its district championship game against the Madison Bobcats, the best defense was a good offense.

BLACKFOOT – The Blackfoot boys’ soccer team used its strong defense and some timely scoring to defeat Hillcrest 3-1 on Wednesday to win the 4A District 6 title and secure a berth in the state tournament.

The four seniors on Sugar-Salem’s boys’ soccer team don’t know what it’s like to lose a district championship. The Diggers won their fourth straight title Wednesday, winning 1-0 over Teton in Driggs after falling 2-1 to Teton in their game with the Timberwolves last week.

At Rigby, Thunder Ridge girls soccer junior Sophie Mangum recorded a game-winning goal in overtime on a free kick, sending the Titans on in the loser's bracket of the 5A District 5-6 girls soccer tournament.

As his Skyline team marched through one of the strangest regular seasons in Idaho sports history, and before it faced Bonneville Wednesday afternoon in the District 6 tournament title game, Kip Archibald noticed a trend emerging.

In case you missed it, Thunder Ridge made an impressive debut on Monday Night Football, the east Idaho version.

At Blackfoot, the 4A District 6 boys soccer tournament got underway on Monday under cloudy skies and blustery winds that made play difficult for Blackfoot and Shelley.

Here are the results from Saturday's District 6 soccer tournaments

You can’t get much closer than a 1-0 victory like the one the Madison girls soccer team had over Rigby Tuesday in their final regular season game. And yet, Madison and Rigby played an even closer game Saturday in their district tournament opener with the Bobcats coming out on top 1-0 in doub…

At Thunder Ridge, the Bonneville girls soccer team downed Thunder Ridge 4-0 on Thursday.

At Hillcrest, Skyline took a 1-0 advantage into the half, but Johan Gaytan-Hernandez tied the game on an assist from Benson Bateman and Thomas Endsley netted the eventual 2-1 game winner for the Hillcrest boys soccer team on Wednesday..

Amy Feik can still remember the gloomier days, the months after she became Bonneville’s girls soccer coach in 2016, when the Bees could only muster a few wins per season. That was the standard at the time, and though she was brought aboard to raise it, the process took time to develop.

At Shelley, Blackfoot boys soccer got hat tricks from two different players, easing past Shelley for a 9-2 road win.

After canceling its football game last week due to COVID-19, it looks like Butte County could play this week against Challis.

At Idaho Falls, the Idaho Falls girls soccer team defeated Skyline 3-0 on Monday night, earning the program's first win over the Grizzlies in 11 years.

At Madison, the Bobcats' volleyball team recorded an 8-0 weekend en route to a Battle of the Best tournament championship.

At Blackfoot, the Preston boys and girls cross country squads won the team titles at the Snake River Invitational meet.

Idaho Falls, Idaho Fall's Rylee Sessions scored the game-winning goal off a cross by Alexis Adams late in the second half as the Tigers girls soccer team downed Rigby 1-0 on Thursday.

At Bonneville, Ali Ellsworth scored four goals and Alyssa Harris, Kylie Coles, Reagan Flynn each found the net as the Bonneville girls soccer team handled handled Blackfoot 7-0.

The Tiger-Grizz wrestling tournament is one of the top competitions in the state, so when the tournament hosted a girls division for the first time last year, it seemed it was only a matter of time before the dominoes started to fall.

At Thunder Ridge, the Thunder Ridge girls soccer team celebrated senior night with a 1-1 draw Monday against Rigby.

The Thunder Ridge volleyball team posted a 10-1 record over the weekend, winning the Triple Threat Tournament with a victory over Eagle in the championship match on Saturday.

The message echoed through Savannah Kenney’s head, even in this tense moment against Madison. All season, Thunder Ridge girls soccer coach Jason Lance had taught his team to be in the right position. Be ready for rebounds. Crowd the box when teammates attempt shots.

At Madison, the Thunder Ridge girls soccer team defeated Madison 1-0 to hand the Bobcats their first High Country Conference loss since 2015, according to coach Jason Lance.

At Thunder Ridge, Paige Clark had 21 kills and Kendel Hone added 14 as the Thunder Ridge volleyball team held off Rigby 3-2 on Tuesday.

The Idaho Falls boys soccer team has made a smooth transition to 5A, entering the week 4-0-0 in conference play and 7-2 overall prior to Tuesday’s matchup with Thunder Ridge.

At Blackfoot, Ali Ellsworth scored two goals as the Bonneville girls soccer team downed Blackfoot 4-0 on Monday.

Blackfoot’s Frankie Garcia has been nearly unstoppable since returning from injury

At Blackfoot, Frankie Garcia scored three goals and Misa Reyna and Manny Bartolo each added a score as the Blackfoot boys soccer team downed Skyline 5-2 on Thursday.