There was no need for lightning during Saturday’s non-league football contest between Skyview and Sunnyside. The Storm and Thunder provided all the electricity Kiggins Bowl needed in a wild back-and-forth affair.
The game featured a 30-minute lightning delay and seven lead changes, the last a 48-yard Jaydin Knapp rumble that gave Skyview a 38-35 victory.
This type of game is a familiar one for the Storm, senior Teddy Beaver said. They felt it in a 23-20 win over Union last spring, and again in a 38-31 defeat to Camas weeks later. That experience only bolstered the Storm’s internal belief in themselves and an unwavering resolve.
“We’ve been through a lot of adversity as a group,” Beaver said. “It was good to keep getting better.”
Beaver hauled in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Niko Arriola — shortly after the lightning delay — to give Skyview a 10-7 second-quarter lead. He again was responsible for the Storm responding to challenges well, when he countered a Sunnyside touchdown with a 78-yard kickoff return touchdown to give Skyview a 17-14 halftime lead.
“We believe in ourselves; we believe in each other,” Beaver said. “We trust each other, and it starts with that.”
Skyview opened a double-digit lead twice in the third quarter on a pair of touchdown passes from Arriola to Riley Artis. The first was a beautiful rainbow pass for a 39-yard score, and the second a 20-yard strike for a 31-21 lead. Arriola finished with three touchdowns on 8-of-23 passing while Artis ended with 64 yards on four catches.
Sunnyside gunslinger Logan Rodriguez was even more impressive on the other side of the ball, throwing for 325 yards and four scores on 23-of-32 passing. His third-down strike to Noah McNair went for 79 yards and a score in the third quarter. He then scrambled out of pressure and threw a jump ball to Brent Maldonado, who hauled it in over a Skyview defender and dove into the end zone for a 32-yard score. It cut the Storm lead to 31-28 at the end of three quarters.
Sunnyside took the lead with 7:02 remaining in the fourth quarter, after a blocked punt set up a short field. Myles Newhouse fought his way in for a 1-yard score to give the Grizzlies the 35-31 advantage.
The Grizzlies nearly sealed the game on the ensuing possession when Maldonado intercepted an Arriola pass. But the defensive back fumbled on the return and Tanner Beaman recovered to keep the ball in Skyview hands.
Two plays later, Jaydin Knapp punched a hole through the middle of the defense and went 48 yards untouched to put the Storm up 38-35 with four minutes remaining.
The Storm defense held steady following a small on-field scuffle during the kickoff and Skyview was able to run out the clock to improve to 3-0 on the year (1-0 GSHL).
“We’re going to build on it,” Beaver said. “I don’t think we played our best ball at all, but we’ll get better.”
Gabe Martin ran for 131 yards on 23 carries and Knapp added 96 yards on 12 touches.
Skyview travels to Coeur d’Alene for another Saturday game next week.
NOTE: This article originally credited Blake Doman with two touchdown catches. Riley Artis had two touchdown catches.
SKYVIEW 38, SUNNYSIDE 35
Sunnyside 7 7 14 7—35
Skyview 3 14 14 7—38
First quarter
Sky — Fedya Henrichs-Tarasenkov 26 FG
Sun — Myles Newhouse 6 run (Daunte Ramos kick)
Second quarter
Sky — Teddy Beaver 10 pass from Niko Arriola (Henrichs-Tarasenkov kick)
Sun — Newhouse 16 pass from Logan Rodriguez (Ramos kick)
Sky — Beaver 78 kickoff return (Henrichs-Tarasenkov kick)
Third quarter
Sky — Riley Artis 39 pass from Arriola (Henrichs-Tarasenkov kick)
Sun — Noah McNair 79 pass from Rodriguez (Ramos kick)
Sky — Artis 20 pass from Arriola (Henrichs-Tarasenkov kick)
Sun — Brent Maldonado 32 pass from Rodriguez (Ramos kick)
Fourth quarter
Sun — Newhouse 1 run (Ramos kick)
Sky — Jaydin Knapp 48 run (Henrichs-Tarasenkov kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Sunnyside: Dustin DeRego 2-1, Logan Rodriguez 5-(-12), Ezekiel Mendoza 1-(-1), Myles Newhouse 22-49; Skyview: Gabe Martin 23-131, Niko Arriola 6-(-12), Jaydin Knapp 12-96.
Passing — Sunnyside: Logan Rodriguez 23-32-1-325; Skyview: Niko Arriola 8-23-1-93.
Receiving — Sunnyside: Eli Fernandez 2-6, Dustin DeRego 1-25, Brent Maldonado 5-63, Noah McNair 5-136, Ezekiel Mendoza 3-50, Sebastian Magana 1-7, Mylews Newhouse 6-38; Skyview: Teddy Beaver 2-24, Isaiah Patterson 1-(-1), Tanner Beaman 1-6, Riley Artis 4-64.
