Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Notus
2. Idaho City
3. Wilder
4. Rimrock
5. Greenleaf Friends
Written by: Will Hoenike
A good recipe for positive energy on the football field: win your final two games plus return several key players the following season. Presto! You have positive energy.
When canvassing coaches around the 1A Division 1 Western Idaho Conference, a lot of voices identified the Rimrock Raiders as a team that could make noise in 2021. The team went 3-4 last season but won impressively in its final two games, taking both contests by a cumulative score of 126-26.
New head coach Sam Ward will have to replace versatile and productive Michael Nanney but may not have to look far as senior Gus Black returns to the Raider lineup after earning first-team All-Conference honors on both offense and defense last fall. In those final two games, Black carried the ball 16 times for 244 yards – over 15 yards per carry – and chipped in 17 tackles on defense.
But Black isn’t alone. Senior Pedro Valera is back after scoring eight touchdowns last season. Senior Alex Martinez caught over 20 passes and made 46 tackles. Sophomore Ira Black may move under center this fall after playing in multiple spots last season, including a 24-tackle season on defense.
The Raiders come out of the chutes with a big test in their opener, traveling to Dietrich to play the defending 1A Division 2 state champion Blue Devils. Conference play opens on September 17 when Rimrock hosts Greenleaf Friends Academy.
The Western Idaho Conference gets one automatic qualifier to the 1A Division 1 state playoffs. The qualifier in 2020 was Notus, who appears strong again in 2021. Can Rimrock move past Idaho City and Rimrock to challenge the Pirates? People who closely follow the conference think the answer to that question might be yes.