The homecoming crowd was energized. The sidelines were pumped. The Bruins were on the move.

In an instant, it all changed.

Twin Falls appeared poised for a comeback Thursday night, but a quick sequence of plays changed all that, dooming the Bruins to their third straight defeat in a 39-20 loss to Pocatello.

Trailing 20-7 in the third quarter, Twin Falls moved the ball to the 50-yard line and had the home crowd rocking. But sophomore quarterback T.J. Ellis was sacked for an 11-yard loss. The very next play he was taken down 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Just like that Class 4A No. 1 Pocatello (5-0) took back the ball and the momentum, scoring two quick touchdowns in the waning minutes of the quarter to forge a 33-7 lead.

"His youth came out a little tonight in that," Twin Falls coach Allyn Reynolds said of Ellis, pointing out that his young QB should have thrown the ball away on both plays.

"He made a bad decision, but it's only his second varsity game. He's doing fine," Reynolds added.

Ellis was solid at times as he finished 17-for-28 for 139 yards and two interceptions before yielding to Tyler Myers in the final period.

The Indians' ground game, which generated 255 yards on the night between 10 different ball carriers, flexed its muscle early. Pocatello took the opening kickoff and marched 56 yards in six plays, capped by Greg Cleary's 7-yard scoring sweep. Wes Howard's touchdown with 2 seconds left in the first quarter made it 13-0.

The Bruins (1-4) then missed a key opportunity after driving to Pocatello's 29-yard line when D.J. Gilbert took a fake punt 11 yards. On third and fourth down, Twin Falls twice ran the same passing play and twice got the same heartbreaking result as Ellis' passes slipped through the fingertips of an open Braden Box inside the 10-yard line.

Down 20-0, the Bruins finally got going as Ellis completed five straight passes to reach the 20-yard line. From there, Devin Bryant took a reverse pitch and found a wide-open Jon Pulsifer for a score.

"We were a little better offensively tonight than we've been, but I'm concerned that we have to resort to a trick play to get the ball in the end zone," said Reynolds. "That's not going to win you football games down the road. It's fun for the fans, and it's exciting, but we have to establish a running game."

For Pulsifer, it was his first career touchdown and came on a career night. He wound up with season-best nine catches for 94 yards, including the TD.

"It was nice to get that, but too bad we lost," said Pulsifer.

As for the running game, Twin Falls totaled 147 yards on 38 carries. Gilbert, who was limited due to a recent shoulder injury, had 24 yards. Dylan Powell led the way with 57 on 11 carries.

Box, who tallied 48 yards on 18 carries, had two short fourth-quarter scoring runs to trim the deficit to 33-20. The second of those was set up by Sawyer McMillen's interception of Pocatello quarterback Hayden Green, who finished 7 of 12 for 101 yards and two scores.

Pocatello got the ball back with just 25 seconds to play after Box's final TD. Instead of taking a knee, backup quarterback Joshua Pollard launched a 60-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Hanson to cap the scoring.

The bright spot: The Bruins didn't quit in the second half, playing tough even after things went south late in the third.

"We made a little progress," said Reynolds. "But we still have a long ways to go."

The Bruins travel to nearly rival Jerome next Friday before returning to Region Four-Five-Six play on Oct. 17.

"We're still looking to our last two conference games," Reynolds said of remaining contests with Skyline and Idaho Falls. "We have to."

Pocatello 39, Twin Falls 20

Pocatello 13 7 13 6 - 39

Twin Falls 0 7 0 13 - 20

First quarter

Pocatello - Greg Cleary 7 run (Hayden Green kick) 10:16

P - Wes Howard 3 run (kick failed) :02

Second quarter

P â€"- Michael Decker 10 pass from Green (Green kick) 2:39

Twin Falls - Jon Pulsifer 20 pass from Devin Bryant (Braden Box kick) :18

Third quarter

P - Wyatt Holtman 4 run (Sawyer Jeter kick) 1:12

P - Colter Morton 15 pass from Green (Jeter kick) :08

Fourth quarter

TF - Box 4 run (Box kick) 4:49

TF - Box 5 run (kick failed) :44

P - Kyle Hanson 60 pass from Joshua Pollard (kick blocked) :25

Mike Christensen may be reached at 208-735-3239 or sports@magicvalley.com.