Written by: Keller Sherman
Parma will welcome its fifth head coach in five seasons as the Panthers will hope they have finally found their man to rebuild a program that has struggled mightily in recent years. Jarome Bell comes in with 26 years of coaching experience under his belt. Can he be the one that gets the Panthers turned around?
Ian Alvarez, Domingo Asumendi, Trenton Pierce, Jess Echevarria, and Wyatt Troyer are key returning players for the Panthers in 2023. Both the offense and defense will seek to be physical while also improved in all areas. Bell believes that youth will be good for the rebuild and that the x-factor for Parma is buying in and forgetting quickly when things go bad.
The schedule opens with two straight home games against Cole Valley Christian and Grangeville. Winning one of these two to kick off the season would go a long way for creating some momentum to take into the thick of the Panther schedule. A road tilt at Nampa Christian and a home date with the only team Parma beat last season, Marsing, lead into conference play.
Conference play features two home games and three road games. The road slate includes trips to Homedale, McCall-Donnelly, and Weiser. Fruitland and Payette will visit Parma. The home date against Payette to close out the season may be the best opportunity for a conference win. Last season at Payette, the Pirates’ 42-14 victory marked the closest margin of defeat for Parma in a conference game.
Bell knows full well that he is tasked with a ground-up rebuild of the Parma program. Can he make some strides in year one and make some of the games more competitive? Many will underestimate Parma and come into a date with the Panthers expecting an easy win. Catching an opponent sleepwalking into a game against Parma could be a great opportunity for the Panthers to capitalize and perhaps pull off an upset or two.