Genesee Bulldogs drop league game to Kubs

GENESEE - It's very rare to see a game with everything. Kickoffs returned for touchdowns (from both teams), rushing touchdowns, passing touchdowns, interceptions, fumbles, trick plays, et cetera.

Despite being on the right end of a lot of things on that checklist, the Colton/Genesee Bulldogs couldn't stop the offense of the 7-1 Kamiah Kubs, losing 66-22 in an Idaho Whitepine League matchup.

Kamiah (7-1, 6-0), who currently occupies first place in the Idaho Whitepine League standings, struck first in the game – returning one of the aforementioned kickoff returns for a touchdown.

Colton/Genesee (1-7, 0-6) immediately responded, with quarterback Angus Jordan connecting with receiver Nolan Bartosz for a 34-yard touchdown and converted on the two-point conversion to take the 8-6 lead.

It was the Bulldogs' only lead of the game.

Kamiah went on a run showcasing its offense and defense – converting on a two-point conversion following a 26-yard touchdown run and intercepting Colton/Genesee on the following drive.

The Kubs scored a touchdown on fourth down and converted on the two-point try to take a 22-8 lead with 2:12 to go in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs did their best to try and create offense and make plays happen – with Angus Jordan scrambling almost every single drop back, using receivers Bartosz and Wyatt Jordan on sweeps, and trying to create some misdirection in the kick return game.

This misdirection in the return game resulted in controversy – with Angus Jordan throwing a lateral pass to Bartosz on a return that was initially called an illegal forward pass before the refs picked up the flag and ruled that the pass was right down the line.

The misdirection did, however, result in the second of the three scores for Colton/Genesee in the game – with Bartosz returning the ball 71 yards for a touchdown to shorten the gap to 28-14 in the second quarter.

Big plays were also on the table for the Bulldogs on offense, with brothers Angus and Wyatt Jordan connecting on a 50-yard touchdown pass and Angus converting the 2-point conversion on the quarterback keeper. This shortened the gap to 36-22, but were the last points scored for Colton/Genesee.

"We really did a great job at putting ourselves in positions to get points," Colton/Genesee coach Justin Podrabsky said. "There's so many times that we drove down and we were within the 20 going in, then we'd have something. Whether it was a loss of yardage on a play or maybe a penalty and that just kind of set us back. And it does limit the amount of plays you can (run) because a lot of times we need a first down and not just a touchdown and so we had to try and get to that but they were able to set up their coverage, because we were throwing the ball pretty well."

The inability of the Bulldogs to finish drives in the game showcased itself in the last drive of the third quarter, when receiver Wyatt Jordan lined up in a wildcat formation and was unable to convert on fourth down – which gave the Kubs an opportunity to go down the field and score right before halftime.

Colton/Genesee had a similar result in the first drive of the third quarter, where the Bulldogs marched down to inside Kamiah's 20-yard line before a sack on Angus Jordan gave Colton/Genesee a fourth down with 15 yards to go that the team wasn't able to convert.

"I can't say enough," Podabsky said. "We just need to finish drives. Whether it was on offense, whether it was on a tackle on defense or even the drive before (halftime). That was big, we needed to get that stop and we just came up short."

Podrabsky's squad currently sits at last in the 1A Whitepine League conference standings behind Troy, Prairie and Lapwai, but will have an opportunity to pass those aforementioned teams at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 against the 4-3 (3-3 in league) Lapwai Wildcats in Lapwai.