Vandals to play another top-tier defense in Albany

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Dec. 6—It’s early December, and the Idaho football team is still in action.

The fourth-seeded Vandals kept their season alive with a 20-17 decision over Southern Illinois in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs last Saturday at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome.

Idaho’s senior kicker Ricardo Chavez converted a 28-yard field goal in overtime to advance its season.

The Vandals (9-3) will next play Albany (10-3) at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs on Saturday at the Kibbie Dome (ESPN+).

“I think it’s awesome,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said during Monday’s news conference. “You have the two teams that are playing in the Celebration Bowl and the eight playoff teams out of 128 that are still playing; that’s a great honor.”

Here are some notes ahead of Idaho’s next playoff contest:

A couple of locals sticking around

The Vandals landed two commits from the Pacific Northwest following their first playoff win since 1993.

Aaron Kinsey, a 2-star recruit from Rogers High School in Spokane, announced his commitment to Idaho on Tuesday.

Kinsey was the 2A Greater Spokane League MVP and led the Pirates to the Washington Class 2A state playoffs for the first time since 2015.

The 170-pounder was Rogers’ signal caller but will be on Idaho’s roster as a receiver.

The second commit was Will Haverland, a tight end from Eugene, Ore.

Haverland is listed as a 3-star recruit on 247Sports and has offers from Eastern Washington, Montana and Sacramento State, to name a few.

The 6-foot-5, 220-pounder is a towering presence, making him difficult to bring down in open space. He’s also a more-than-capable blocker, having his share of pancake blocks at Sheldon High School.

Coach of the week honors

Idaho coach Thomas Ford earned Special Teams coordinator of the week honors from Our Coaching Network.

The Vandals’ special teams…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/vandals-play-another-top-tier-131600626.html

Author : Lewiston Tribune, Idaho

Publish date : 2023-12-06 13:16:00

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