South Fremont survived Preston by a point despite being outgained, Emmett ran over Wood River after a flat-tire delay, Cole Valley Christian blanked Bonners Ferry in a historic night, and Kimberly swept its rematch with Gooding. The 4A quarterfinal field is set for Friday night.
Photo: Cody Smithies // FLOWW Network
The 4A play-in round had a little of everything on Friday night: a one-point classic in St. Anthony, a ground-game statement in Emmett, a shutout years in the making at Eagle High School, and a rematch that ended the same way as the original. While Homedale, Sugar-Salem, Weiser and Fruitland rested on their first-round byes, eight teams played for the four remaining spots in the quarterfinals, and by the end of the night every one of those spots was claimed.
South Fremont 35, Preston 34
The game of the night, and it was not particularly close. Preston actually outgained South Fremont 531 yards to 455 and still went home with a one-point loss, the cruelest box score of the first round.
South Fremont did its damage on the ground, rushing for 300 yards against 155 through the air behind junior quarterback Cy Hill, whose play headlined the Cougars' night. Preston answered with a workhorse rushing attack of its own, 361 yards on the ground and 170 more through the air, piling up more than 500 yards of offense in a losing effort. Somewhere in that one point is a conversion, a kick or a single stop that decided a season, and it went South Fremont's way.
It was also a flipped rematch. Preston won the regular-season meeting 42-35 at home on October 2, and for most of Friday night the Indians looked capable of doing it again. Four weeks later, on South Fremont's field, the Cougars took the one that mattered. Preston's season ends with a 500-yard night and nothing to show for it. South Fremont's reward is a trip to the top seed.
Emmett 34, Wood River 20
The night in Emmett started with a flat tire. Wood River's bus broke down on the way in, pushing kickoff from 7 p.m. to roughly 8:40, and the Emmett School District's postgame note said it plainly: "It was a late game last night, but the Huskies took home the win."
Once the game finally started, Emmett's ground game did the rest. The Huskies rushed for 326 of their 380 total yards, leaning on the run behind quarterback Eli Brennan, whose night headlined the MaxPreps recap. Wood River was no pushover: the Wolverines put up 312 yards of their own (181 rushing, 131 passing), and quarterback Sawyer Morgan came in hot after throwing for 301 yards and two touchdowns against Filer a week earlier. Emmett's defense held that same passing game to 131 yards, and the Wolverines never caught up after the long wait on the road.
Cole Valley Christian 34, Bonners Ferry 0
Cole Valley Christian waited four years to get back to the state playoffs and a decade to host a playoff game, and the Chargers made the night count. In the program's first-ever playoff game as a 4A school, played at Eagle High School with Cole Valley as the designated home team, the Chargers rolled up 368 yards of offense and pitched a shutout. The school's own recap called it what it was: Cole Valley "made history Friday night with a dominant 34-0 victory."
The defense was the story. Bonners Ferry made one of the longest trips in Idaho football, from the panhandle down to Eagle, and never found any rhythm at the end of it. The Badgers managed just 102 total yards all night, 57 on the ground and 45 through the air, against a Cole Valley defense that owned the line of scrimmage from the opening series. For a program playing its first 4A postseason game, it was a statement: 368 yards for, 102 against, and a zero on the scoreboard.
Kimberly 35, Gooding 13
The rematch went like the original, just with a little more resistance. One week after Kimberly shut out Gooding 42-0 to win the Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference title, the Bulldogs beat the Senators again, this time at home, to keep their season going.
Gooding (4-6) at least got on the board in the rematch after being blanked in the first meeting, but the season series tells the story: two meetings in eight days, two Kimberly wins, and a combined 77-13 margin. Kimberly (6-4) moves on having already proven it can beat the team across from it twice in a week. Neither school published a box score for this game, so the final and the series stand as the record of the night.
What's Next: The Quarterfinals
All four 4A quarterfinals are Friday, November 6, with 7 p.m. MT kickoffs at the higher seed's field. IHSAA re-seeded the round, and every first-round winner now gets a shot at one of the four teams that sat home with a bye:
South Fremont at No. 1 Homedale. The Cougars just survived the wildest game of the round, a 35-34 classic they won despite being outgained. Their reward is a trip to undefeated Homedale, the top seed and the team everyone in 4A has been chasing all season. South Fremont's 300 rushing yards say the Cougars will not be intimidated; Homedale has not been beaten yet.
Emmett at No. 4 Fruitland. Emmett brings the round's most honest identity: 326 rushing yards and no apologies. Fruitland has had two weeks to prepare for exactly that. If the Grizzlies' rested defense can make Emmett throw, this becomes a different game than the one Wood River lost.
Cole Valley Christian at No. 2 Sugar-Salem. The Chargers' historic run continues on the road against one of 4A's most consistent programs. Cole Valley's defense just allowed 102 yards in a shutout; Sugar-Salem, fresh off a bye, is a far steeper test than Bonners Ferry, and the Chargers will find out quickly whether Friday was a breakthrough or a beginning.
Kimberly at No. 3 Weiser. Kimberly already owns a specific kind of confidence this postseason: it beat the same opponent twice in eight days to get here. Weiser is a different test entirely, a top-three seed at home, and the Bulldogs will need more than familiarity to survive this one.
Winners advance to the semifinals November 13-14, with the 4A championship at the Milk Bowl, November 20-21.
Sources
Scores and brackets: MaxPreps 2026 IDHSAA 4A bracket and the official IHSAA 4A bracket (PDF). Team stat totals: MaxPreps team pages for South Fremont, Preston, Emmett, Wood River, Cole Valley Christian and Bonners Ferry. Kickoff delay and postgame note: Emmett School District. Program milestones and recap quote: Cole Valley Christian. Conference title and Sawyer Morgan context: Lee Family Broadcasting (AM 1230 KBAR).