IDAHO FALLS – Welcome back high school football.
Friday’s matchup between two of the area’s top teams featured a little bit of everything.
6A Madison and 5A state champion Hillcrest had missed opportunities. There were big plays and gut wrenching penalties. There was inspired defense by both teams, and a boisterous crowd on both sides of Hillcrest’s still-seeems-like-new stadium.
Bottom line?
“It was two really good teams that fought down to the final seconds,” Hillcrest coach Brennon Mossholder said after the Knights held off the Bobcats 23-22.
It was Hillcrest’s season opener, while Madison already had a win under its belt after beating Bonneville last week.
“It wasn’t our cleanest in any phase of the game … but overall we did just enough. I was proud of how they picked each other up,” Mossholder said.
Hillcrest (1-0) scored on its first possession as Tyson Sweetwood scampered for a 2-yard touchdown run. The Knights missed the extra point.
Madison responded on its next series as Jackson Cordero hit Mason Phillips for a dazzling 44-yard score and the ensuing PAT put the Bobcats up 7-6.
Then it looked like the Knights would start to pull away as their offense took over.
Sweetwood engineered a long drive that resulted in a field goal by Rylan Borgmann. The Knights then put together a 50-yard drive that was capped off with a 4-yard touchdown run by Dax Sargent with 1:07 left before the half.
Sweetwood accounted for 46 of the 50 yards during the drive, either through the air or running.
With under a minute to play in the half, Madison busted out the first of its big plays as Cordero moved the offense downfield, connecting on back-to-back passes for 56 yards. Brock Hammond then raced past Knight defenders for a 25-yard touchdown with 27 seconds left.
Down 16-14, Madison’s first possession of the third quarter resulted in another highlight-reel play as Brennen Dredge took a handoff and was swarmed by Hillcrest defenders. Dredge somehow broke free and raced around the right side for a 64-yard touchdown, eventually putting the Bobcats up 22-16 following a 2-point conversion.
But Hillcrest’s defense would hold the rest of the game, allowing Madison just three more possessions over the third and fourth quarters.
Offensively, Hillcrest put together an 85-yard drive in the third quarter that was capped by another touchdown pass from Sweetwood.
Hillcrest was content to run the ball in the fourth, and despite turning the ball over on downs midway through the quarter, was able to rely on its defense to keep the Bobcats from putting together a drive.
The finishing run came when Sargent burst through the Madison defense for a 32-yard run on a fourth-and-two play.

Sargent finished with a game-high 106 rushing yards.
That run sealed the game and Hillcrest’s first win of the new season.
“We brought the physicality to them, but we got to keep it rolling because this isn’t league play, and league play is what matters,” Sargent said. “It’s great to beat a 6A, but we have to keep pushing for our league games.”
Hillcrest won’t have to wait long as the Knights visit Bonneville next week.
“They’re a good football team,” Madison coach Matt Pancheri said. “We didn’t play good enough defense in the first half … they ran the ball on us and we had to make some adjustments.”
Hillcrest’s Sweetwood passed for 203 yards and was also pivotal in the running game.
Madison (1-1) is at Middleton next Friday.
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