Kubs maul Notus Pirates in postseason football play

Oct. 31—KAMIAH — Looking at Idaho Class 2A MaxPreps.com football rankings, which govern the state's postseason, one might have expected an evenly matched epic as the Kamiah Kubs hosted the Notus Pirates in a state tournament game Friday at Bob Squires Sports Complex.

That expectation would have been utterly inaccurate. Eighth-ranked Kamiah, which stood above ninth-ranked Notus by the very barest of margins in the computerized system, was head-and-shoulders the better team on the field, reeling off the game's first four touchdowns within the opening quarter alone en route to a 34-14 victory.

"Our kids just knew what kind of team we were," Kamiah coach Garrison Bretz said. "They just had to execute and play physical, and that's just what we did."

The dynamic duo of Lawson Landmark and Todd Roberts took turns at quarterback and passed to each other for two touchdowns, factored in four of the team's five scoring plays and combined for 16 tackles on defense to lead the way as the Kubs produced the statement result.

"I think we just proved that the North does it better," Landmark said.

After a 2-3 start to their season, the Kubs have now won four straight contests. They will next await word on the opponent and location for an Idaho Class 2A state playoff quarterfinal as results and rankings shake out over the weekend.

In an early sign of the defensive dominance that would characterize Kamiah's outing, Devin Davis logged the game's first points on an end zone fumble recovery. Logan Keen went on to clinch the first offensive touchdown for the Kubs (6-3), squeezing down the right side of the field following a pass from Roberts for a 30-yard play.

Next up came a rare occurrence for back-to-back scoring plays: Landmark hit Roberts for a passing touchdown, then Roberts promptly returned the favor as the pair swapped positions from receiver to quarterback and vice versa, then back again.

Here are the circumstances behind the Kubs' unusual decision to swap quarterbacks twice within the first 12 minutes of play:

Landmark, formerly the Kamiah's starting quarterback, had stepped away from the position due to a wrist injury early this season, letting Roberts take over while he played receiver. Now that Landmark has recovered and Roberts has proven himself at QB, the two are sharing the slot.

"We kind of switch out because he earned his right to keep playing quarterback," Landmark said of Roberts. "I did miss it, but I do like wide receiver a lot."

With Landmark and Roberts' 1-2 punch capping things off, the Kubs were up 28-0 before the second quarter began.

The Kubs cooled down offensively after the opening quarter, but continued to utterly stymie any attempt by the Pirates (6-3) to answer their early onslaught. The game was into its final frame before Notus finally broke its scoring duck on a short running touchdown punched in by Sawyer Nicoletti.

Landmark would respond with about three-and-a-half minutes to go in regulation, cutting laterally to his left to evade the Notus line for a 6-yard scoring rush. Moments later, the boom of something like celebratory cannonfire issued from a balcony labeled "Go Kubs! End Zone Club."

The Pirates quickly found their second touchdown on the ensuing possession, but by then the game's outcome was essentially decided.

After the clock ran out with their final drive sitting at midfield, the Kubs assembled in front of the bleachers and serenaded their home fans with a recitation of the school's fight song:

"Come on Kamiah; fight-fight-fight! We'll always be winning our ballgames!

Come on Kamiah; win-win-win! Our Kub pack will carry us to fame!"

Roberts wrapped up the day passing 5-for-8 for 95 yards and two touchdowns, added eight carries and 60 yards on the ground and racked up seven tackles and a fumble recovery on defense.

Landmark added one TD apiece passing and rushing, went 4-for-8 passing for 54 yards and logged nine carries for 44 rushing yards on offense. He also had nine tackles, two fumble recoveries and an interception on defense.

Keen led the Kubs in rushing yards with 94 on 11 carries and added a receiving touchdown to his ledger, while Gatlin Griffith notched a team-high two sacks among his five tackles.

Coming into this game, Kamiah's total of 60.14 MaxPreps ranking points relative to Notus' 56.92 would not have suggested a blowout was in the offing, but the belief at Kamiah is that the records are somewhat deceiving this fall.

"As the season's moved on, we got a lot better," said Roberts, noting that factors like Landmark's injury hampered the Kubs' early performance. "I think people were not expecting us to be as good as we are. The North has some good competition; I think it's a lot tougher up here than down south.

"Excited for our next matchup," he added. "Hopefully we play in one of the domes."

What to look forward to in the upcoming playoffs? Bretz acknowledged that teams like favored Hagerman and Prairie of Cottonwood will pose formidable challenges, but maintains that his Kubs can hold their own against any of them.

"In the playoffs, it's anybody's ballgame," he said. "The records in the regular season don't matter in the playoffs. We've just got to go in with the mentality that we're good enough to play with these teams, we're good enough to beat these teams and see what happens."

Kamiah — Devin Davis end zone fumble recovery (Lawson Landmark run).

Kamiah — Logan Keen 30 pass from Todd Roberts (pass failed).

Kamiah — Roberts 20 pass from Landmark (run failed).

Kamiah — Landmark 13 pass from Roberts (Keen pass from Landmark).

Notus — Sawyer Nicoletti 1 run (pass failed).

Kamiah — Landmark 6 run (pass failed), 3:28.

Norus — Marc Lungu 53 run (Nicoletti pass from Lungu).

Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com .