Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Blackfoot’s Matt Peterson stays in Idaho, chooses ISU
Blackfoot senior wide receiver Matt Peterson was receiving interest from Montana Western, the College of Idaho, Weber State and others.
But when Idaho State contacted the 6-foot-2 all-state wideout and offered a football scholarship, Peterson knew he wanted to be a Bengal.
“ISU was ultimately my top goal because I want to go into physical therapy and they have an excellent program there,” Peterson said Friday during a track meet at Highland High School. “So that was really nice that everything just worked out.”
The Peterson family has a long and storied athletic history with Idaho State. Both of Matt’s sisters, Stacey and Tia, played for ISU soccer and his cousin, Whitney Peterson, will be a senior this fall for Idaho State soccer. Stacey is the second-leading goal scorer in Bengals history.
“That was kind of cool that I could carry on the tradition,” Matt said.
While his sisters and cousin are soccer players, Matt’s No. 1 sport has been football since he started playing in fifth grade. Matt helped lead Blackfoot to a 10-1 record and a state runner-up finish as a senior, and was an All-Idaho First Team selection. He was an elite deep threat with size and speed to stretch opposing defenses, hauling down 52 catches for 780 yards and eight touchdowns.
At the same time the Broncos were charging to the 4A state championship game, Idaho State had its best season in a decade, going 8-4 overall and nearly qualifying for the FCS playoffs.
Matt, who had been to Idaho State football games in the past, witnessed a completely different kind of atmosphere when he attended ISU’s game against Weber State to close out the season.
“The energy in there is so loud and intense,” Matt said. “It’s really cool. There was a lot more people there, a lot louder and it was fun.”
ISU won that game 46-28, a resounding victory that sent the Bengals into the 2015 offseason ranked No. 25 in the nation. The fact the Bengals proved they could field a winning team helped further convince Matt that Idaho State was a right fit.
“You want to be successful wherever you go,” Matt said. “So that helped out a lot when they turned around their season and got things rolling again.”
Before Matt joins the football team — and possibly heads off on an LDS mission — he’s focused on track and field this spring. He could have chosen to start preparing full-time for football, but had unfinished business after taking second in state in the 300-meter hurdes and third in the long jump as a junior.
“I was so close to getting state championships in two events,” Matt said. “I can’t be satisfied with second place.”
But when Idaho State contacted the 6-foot-2 all-state wideout and offered a football scholarship, Peterson knew he wanted to be a Bengal.
“ISU was ultimately my top goal because I want to go into physical therapy and they have an excellent program there,” Peterson said Friday during a track meet at Highland High School. “So that was really nice that everything just worked out.”
The Peterson family has a long and storied athletic history with Idaho State. Both of Matt’s sisters, Stacey and Tia, played for ISU soccer and his cousin, Whitney Peterson, will be a senior this fall for Idaho State soccer. Stacey is the second-leading goal scorer in Bengals history.
“That was kind of cool that I could carry on the tradition,” Matt said.
While his sisters and cousin are soccer players, Matt’s No. 1 sport has been football since he started playing in fifth grade. Matt helped lead Blackfoot to a 10-1 record and a state runner-up finish as a senior, and was an All-Idaho First Team selection. He was an elite deep threat with size and speed to stretch opposing defenses, hauling down 52 catches for 780 yards and eight touchdowns.
At the same time the Broncos were charging to the 4A state championship game, Idaho State had its best season in a decade, going 8-4 overall and nearly qualifying for the FCS playoffs.
Matt, who had been to Idaho State football games in the past, witnessed a completely different kind of atmosphere when he attended ISU’s game against Weber State to close out the season.
“The energy in there is so loud and intense,” Matt said. “It’s really cool. There was a lot more people there, a lot louder and it was fun.”
ISU won that game 46-28, a resounding victory that sent the Bengals into the 2015 offseason ranked No. 25 in the nation. The fact the Bengals proved they could field a winning team helped further convince Matt that Idaho State was a right fit.
“You want to be successful wherever you go,” Matt said. “So that helped out a lot when they turned around their season and got things rolling again.”
Before Matt joins the football team — and possibly heads off on an LDS mission — he’s focused on track and field this spring. He could have chosen to start preparing full-time for football, but had unfinished business after taking second in state in the 300-meter hurdes and third in the long jump as a junior.
“I was so close to getting state championships in two events,” Matt said. “I can’t be satisfied with second place.”
Monday, March 9, 2015
Setting the table — A weekly look back at what was and what will be
It was a 12-hour long nightmare for District 5 boys basketball at the state tournament Saturday in the Ford Idaho Center.
Highland, Soda Springs and Rockland each lost state championship games, and the Idaho State Journal’s sports section was six pages of sadness, tears and despair on Sunday. The Cardinals and Bulldogs couldn’t find their shooting touch, and the Rams, even after Stefan Gonzalez and Connor Harding combined to score 58 points, lost in overtime to Post Falls.
But one day and three games doesn’t overshadow a brilliant basketball season. Nobody had it better than southeast Idaho this winter. Whether it was Montpelier, Arimo or Preston, District 5 had an amazing few months.
This isn’t anything new, though. No place in Idaho has a high school sports scene quite like what we have here. This is as good as it gets.
With so much going on, this weekly column is a space to take a look back at the past week and glance forward to what’s coming up. I won’t mention everything, but I will hit on a number of subjects and topics.
LOOKING BACK
Highland and Century traveled west with intention to win state tournaments. Both came up short but, man, where they fun to watch.
Senior Stefan Gonzalez averaged 23.7 points, 5.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds a game. Junior Connor Harding averaged a double-double (16.7 points, 10.7 boards), and senior Malek Harwell shot 53.7 percent while putting up 22.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists a game.
Those numbers are nuts. Each of those guys delivered in big-time fashion against the state’s best teams. It’s hard not to imagine what would have been for the Diamondbacks if they could have pulled out a victory against Twin Falls in the first round (instead of losing 68-65 in overtime).
The Diamondbacks and first-year coach Lester Stewart recovered and whipped Middleton (68-50) and Burley (63-49) in back-to-back games to take home the consolation bracket.
LOOKING FORWARD
Despite losing six of their last eight games, the Idaho State women battled their way into the Big Sky Conference tournament for the 12th consecutive year.
As a reward, the eighth-seeded Bengals will play the host team and top-seeded Montana Grizzlies at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
From a win-loss perspective, the ISU women have taken a few steps back from the 2012 championship squad. Attendance was down this season, and the Bengals were uncharacteristically middle of the road defensively.
But, folks, trust me on this: The Bengals’ future is hitched to players like junior Apiphany Woods and freshmen Grace Kenyon and Megan Hochstein. Idaho State will jump right up into the upper half of the league standings next year. You heard it here first.
AN APOLOGY TO MAKE
I screwed up a couple weeks back and have to apologize. I wrote that Tucker Leavitt was Highland’s fourth wrestler in the school’s history to finish a season undefeated after he won the 170-pound 5A state championship Feb. 28 at Holt Arena.
I was dead wrong. Leavitt was the fifth. I mentioned Kim Pieper, Jesse Smith and Travis Bell, and left out Craig Van Sickle. Back in 1995, Van Sickle went 33-0 on the way to the title in 160 pounds. Apologies to Craig and the Van Sickle family.
By the way, just how good is Leavitt? In the past two seasons, he’s gone 84-2 and won titles at 160 and 170 pounds. It’s great for Highland that he’s a junior and has one more year left, but the rest of Idaho is devastated.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Our team is very mentally tough. We didn’t let it bother us. We got over it. We knew that we wanted to get something out of this. We didn’t want to go home (Friday).” — Century senior Leo Behrend after the Diamondbacks beat Burley on Saturday for the consolation trophy.
Highland, Soda Springs and Rockland each lost state championship games, and the Idaho State Journal’s sports section was six pages of sadness, tears and despair on Sunday. The Cardinals and Bulldogs couldn’t find their shooting touch, and the Rams, even after Stefan Gonzalez and Connor Harding combined to score 58 points, lost in overtime to Post Falls.
But one day and three games doesn’t overshadow a brilliant basketball season. Nobody had it better than southeast Idaho this winter. Whether it was Montpelier, Arimo or Preston, District 5 had an amazing few months.
This isn’t anything new, though. No place in Idaho has a high school sports scene quite like what we have here. This is as good as it gets.
With so much going on, this weekly column is a space to take a look back at the past week and glance forward to what’s coming up. I won’t mention everything, but I will hit on a number of subjects and topics.
LOOKING BACK
Highland and Century traveled west with intention to win state tournaments. Both came up short but, man, where they fun to watch.
Senior Stefan Gonzalez averaged 23.7 points, 5.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds a game. Junior Connor Harding averaged a double-double (16.7 points, 10.7 boards), and senior Malek Harwell shot 53.7 percent while putting up 22.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists a game.
Those numbers are nuts. Each of those guys delivered in big-time fashion against the state’s best teams. It’s hard not to imagine what would have been for the Diamondbacks if they could have pulled out a victory against Twin Falls in the first round (instead of losing 68-65 in overtime).
The Diamondbacks and first-year coach Lester Stewart recovered and whipped Middleton (68-50) and Burley (63-49) in back-to-back games to take home the consolation bracket.
LOOKING FORWARD
Despite losing six of their last eight games, the Idaho State women battled their way into the Big Sky Conference tournament for the 12th consecutive year.
As a reward, the eighth-seeded Bengals will play the host team and top-seeded Montana Grizzlies at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
From a win-loss perspective, the ISU women have taken a few steps back from the 2012 championship squad. Attendance was down this season, and the Bengals were uncharacteristically middle of the road defensively.
But, folks, trust me on this: The Bengals’ future is hitched to players like junior Apiphany Woods and freshmen Grace Kenyon and Megan Hochstein. Idaho State will jump right up into the upper half of the league standings next year. You heard it here first.
AN APOLOGY TO MAKE
I screwed up a couple weeks back and have to apologize. I wrote that Tucker Leavitt was Highland’s fourth wrestler in the school’s history to finish a season undefeated after he won the 170-pound 5A state championship Feb. 28 at Holt Arena.
I was dead wrong. Leavitt was the fifth. I mentioned Kim Pieper, Jesse Smith and Travis Bell, and left out Craig Van Sickle. Back in 1995, Van Sickle went 33-0 on the way to the title in 160 pounds. Apologies to Craig and the Van Sickle family.
By the way, just how good is Leavitt? In the past two seasons, he’s gone 84-2 and won titles at 160 and 170 pounds. It’s great for Highland that he’s a junior and has one more year left, but the rest of Idaho is devastated.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Our team is very mentally tough. We didn’t let it bother us. We got over it. We knew that we wanted to get something out of this. We didn’t want to go home (Friday).” — Century senior Leo Behrend after the Diamondbacks beat Burley on Saturday for the consolation trophy.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Idaho State-Eastern Washington pregame
EASTERN WASHINGTON AT IDAHO STATE
Holt Arena
Tip-off >> Thursday, 7:05 p.m.Watch >> Watch Big Sky
Radio >> 102.5 FM or 930 AM
Records >> Eastern Washington 21-8, 12-4; Idaho State 6-22, 3-13
Series history >> Eastern Washington leads the series 42-28
Last meeting >> Jan. 3, 2015 at Eastern Washington; EWU 65, ISU 57
About the Eagles >> Eastern is 18-0 when it has a better shooting percentage than its opponent. ... The Eagles’ 21 wins equal the school’s most victories since becoming an NCAA Division I member in 1983. ... In Division I basketball, the Eagles are ranked fifth in scoring offense (80.4 per game), fifth in 3-pointers made per game (9.8) and 21st in blocked shots (5.1 per game) in games through March 1. Eastern leads the league in all three categories.
About the Bengals >> Idaho State’s four-point loss at Weber State on Saturday was the Bengals’ ninth defeat this season by five points or fewer. ISU has lost 20 games by five points or fewer since the 2013-14 season. ... The Bengals are 6-10 this season when shooting at least 45 percent from the field and 0-12 when shooting under 45 percent.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Idaho State at Weber State pregame
IDAHO STATE AT WEBER STATE
Dee Events Center, Ogden, Utah
Tip-off >> Saturday, 8 p.m.Dee Events Center, Ogden, Utah
Watch >> Watch Big Sky
Radio >> 102.5 FM or 930 AM
Records >> Idaho State 6-21, 3-12; Weber State 11-15, 6-9
Series history >> Weber State leads the series 77-49
Last meeting >> Feb. 7, 2015 at Idaho State; WSU 70, ISU 63
About the Bengals >> Idaho State is 1-13 on the road this season and 0-8 in Big Sky action away from Pocatello. ... Weber State is 45-11 all-time against Idaho State in Ogden. ... Senior Chris Hansen is Idaho State’s 10th all-time leading scorer with 1,292 points. ... This season, Hansen is third in the Big Sky, averaging 18.6 points per game.
About the Wildcats >> Weber State starting point guard Jeremy Senglin is out with a broken jaw, but freshman Ryan Richardson has provided a scoring spark in his last two games. Richardson scored 17 points and knocked down four 3-pointers in a Wildcats victory at Montana State, and finished with 15 points and five 3s in a loss at Montana.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Idaho State releases 2015 football schedule
Idaho State’s 2015 football schedule has been finalized.
ISU’s game at Boise State has been moved from Saturday, Sept. 19, to Friday, Sept. 18. ISU sources say Boise State requested the game to be moved up one day, and the Bengals had no issue with adjusting.
The change of date means Idaho State will have one less day to prepare for the Broncos after hosting Portland State at Holt Arena on Sept. 12. On the other end of the spectrum, ISU has an extra day of preparation for UNLV on Sept. 26.
The Bengals kick-start the year with two games at home. ISU hosts Black Hills State on Sept. 5. Idaho State played the Yellow Jackets for the first time on Sept. 8, 2012, a 38-5 ISU victory.
Portland State arrives in Pocatello for an early-season Big Sky Conference game on Sept. 12. After that, the Bengals play four straight games on the road, including matchups at Boise State, UNLV, Cal Poly and North Dakota.
In that month-long span, the Bengals will travel roughly 5,700 miles, crisscrossing to western Idaho, southern Nevada, central California and eastern North Dakota.
Idaho State returns home to take on Eastern Washington for homecoming Oct. 17 and heads to Sacramento State on Oct. 24.
After a bye week, the Bengals square off against Montana and Montana State at home in back-to-back weekends. Idaho State rounds out the regular season Nov. 21 at Weber State.
ISU just finished up its 2015 recruiting class last week. The Bengals signed 23 players with a heavy emphasis on the defensive line and linebackers.
Idaho State went 8-4 a season ago and 6-2 in the Big Sky Conference. Over the past two months, ISU has lost offensive coordinator Don Bailey to the same position at Hawaii and inside wide receivers coach Mike Ferriter accepted a job at Montana.
MORE ON HOW ISU'S 2015 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE CAME TOGETHER
IDAHO STATE'S 2015 SCHEDULE
Sept. 5: vs. Black Hills State
Sept. 12: vs. Portland State
Sept. 18: at Boise State
Sept. 26: at UNLV
Oct. 3: at Cal Poly
Oct. 10: at North Dakota
Oct. 17: vs. Eastern Washington
Oct. 24: at Sacramento State
Oct. 31: BYE
Nov. 7: vs. Montana
Nov. 14: vs. Montana State
Nov. 21: at Weber State
ISU’s game at Boise State has been moved from Saturday, Sept. 19, to Friday, Sept. 18. ISU sources say Boise State requested the game to be moved up one day, and the Bengals had no issue with adjusting.
The change of date means Idaho State will have one less day to prepare for the Broncos after hosting Portland State at Holt Arena on Sept. 12. On the other end of the spectrum, ISU has an extra day of preparation for UNLV on Sept. 26.
The Bengals kick-start the year with two games at home. ISU hosts Black Hills State on Sept. 5. Idaho State played the Yellow Jackets for the first time on Sept. 8, 2012, a 38-5 ISU victory.
Portland State arrives in Pocatello for an early-season Big Sky Conference game on Sept. 12. After that, the Bengals play four straight games on the road, including matchups at Boise State, UNLV, Cal Poly and North Dakota.
In that month-long span, the Bengals will travel roughly 5,700 miles, crisscrossing to western Idaho, southern Nevada, central California and eastern North Dakota.
Idaho State returns home to take on Eastern Washington for homecoming Oct. 17 and heads to Sacramento State on Oct. 24.
After a bye week, the Bengals square off against Montana and Montana State at home in back-to-back weekends. Idaho State rounds out the regular season Nov. 21 at Weber State.
ISU just finished up its 2015 recruiting class last week. The Bengals signed 23 players with a heavy emphasis on the defensive line and linebackers.
Idaho State went 8-4 a season ago and 6-2 in the Big Sky Conference. Over the past two months, ISU has lost offensive coordinator Don Bailey to the same position at Hawaii and inside wide receivers coach Mike Ferriter accepted a job at Montana.
MORE ON HOW ISU'S 2015 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE CAME TOGETHER
IDAHO STATE'S 2015 SCHEDULE
Sept. 5: vs. Black Hills State
Sept. 12: vs. Portland State
Sept. 18: at Boise State
Sept. 26: at UNLV
Oct. 3: at Cal Poly
Oct. 10: at North Dakota
Oct. 17: vs. Eastern Washington
Oct. 24: at Sacramento State
Oct. 31: BYE
Nov. 7: vs. Montana
Nov. 14: vs. Montana State
Nov. 21: at Weber State
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Idaho State-Southern Utah postgame
The crushing blow to the Bengals, Tyler Rawson's layup #BigSkyMBB https://t.co/t4T1IWjn19
— Kyle Franko (@ByKyleFranko) February 15, 2015
Backbreaking 3 from Southern Utah's Race Parsons. T-Birds by 6, 1:51 to go https://t.co/gLj33IsoSb
— Kyle Franko (@ByKyleFranko) February 15, 2015
Chris Hansen layup. Pass from Ben Wilson. Bengals have given up 8 3s. Free throws for ISU (7-7) keeping it ... https://t.co/fkO9TM5nk8
— Kyle Franko (@ByKyleFranko) February 15, 2015
SUU 29, ISU 26 ... Under 4 timeout ... a couple highlights from the half #BigSkyMBB #goisu https://t.co/yhT0AxsGQU
— Kyle Franko (@ByKyleFranko) February 15, 2015
BENGAL BITS
Southern Utah 71, Idaho State 67
Crowd: 1,582Records: Idaho State is 6-19 and 3-10 in the Big Sky. Southern Utah is 7-16, 4-8.
Key stat: Idaho State outscored Southern Utah 42-20 in points in the paint. But the Thunderbirds hit 13-pointers while shooting 57 percent from the perimeter.
Key players: ISU’s Chris Hansen nearly pulled off the comeback win for the Bengals. Hansen scored 21 points, pulled down five rebounds and handed out three assists.
Quotable: “They were prepared to play against our zone. They did a good job of attacking it and they were able to make baskets. It’s not easy to make 13 threes out of 23 attempts.” — Idaho State coach Bill Evans
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