POCATELLO — The Preston defense was stellar all night, but when the game was in the balance late, that defensive unit made perhaps its biggest play of the night.

Holding a slim 12-7 advantage over conference foe Pocatello, Preston faced a fourth down inside its own five-yard line with less than two minutes left. The Thunder (1-6, 0-1) tried to throw for it, but a sack ended their final scoring chance and earned Preston (3-5, 1-1) a 12-7 victory.

With Preston’s victory, the Century Diamondbacks (7-0, 1-0), who were on a bye week, have clinched a conference championship for the first time since 2020. Century had lost 17 games in a row entering the season.

The defense was on display from the opening drive, when Preston attempted an onside kick to start the game and was unsuccessful, giving

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