Trevor Delaney
Sports Editor
With nearly 2800 fans filling the Holt Arena with their cheers, the Idaho State University football team secured a home-turf victory Saturday afternoon against the University of Idaho Vandals in the Battle of the Domes. In their last home game of the season, the Bengals gave it their all to win. Coming out of halftime with 14 points, the Bengals led the game by eight points over the Vandals’ six points on the scoreboard. With the U of I team taking the lead by a single point in the third quarter, ISU came back with a vengeance in the fourth quarter of the game. The Bengals took their Black Flag Week motto seriously and never surrendered. The Bengals took the win against the Vandals, with the final score for the game coming out at 24 points for ISU, over U of I’s 22 points.
When asked in a post-game interview how he felt about the announcement that the next season will be played with a full capacity of fans in the stands, Coach Rob Phenicie replied, “It’s the way it should be right now, I don’t see why it isn’t. We should have a full house today.”
When asked about the respect his team earned this game, Phenicie responded “Well you know, Idaho State, we have to fight, scratch, claw, bite, anything, to get an inch of respect out of people. They don’t realize how good of a program we are. They just see the record. They don’t see the 31-27 game, they don’t see the 46-42, all they see is ‘Eastern Washington – win, Idaho State – lose’. So, you know, I don’t think people give us the amount of respect that we need. We need to go above and beyond what Montana or Montana State or Weber State does in order to garner votes.”
ISU junior Tyler Vander Waal said in a postgame interview on beating the Vandals, “It’s an unreal feeling, just the rivalry that is there. And I think this game means more than just a rivalry game. You know, there’s kinda bad blood in the water between both teams, and to come out on top, it’s incredible. Nothing beats winning, but winning against your rival? Nothing can top that. It was just a surreal moment.”
Vander Waal added “It was pretty trippy for the most part. I mean, excuse my language, but they were talking a lot of shit. So I think that just makes the win more bitter-sweet. But yeah, you could definitely tell, just the atmosphere of the game, there were high stakes.”
“Honestly I didn’t really know what the ‘black flag’ meant until Coach Phen told us on Monday,” said Vander Waal. “It’s just having that mentality that you don’t lose, you won’t come off that field unless you have a win. And I think it showed during practice.”
Vander Waal added “Like Coach Phen said, ‘Surrender or die’, is kinda what it is. We’re not going to surrender, so we either win or give everything we’ve got out on the field. It’s really just a mindset, and my first Black Flag Week coming out with a victory 1-0 against these guys, there’s no better feeling than that.”
