Preseason Coaches Poll:
1. Idaho City
2. Tri-Valley
3. Notus
4. Garden Valley
5. North Star Charter
6. Wilder
Written by: Will Hoenike
You’d have to scour the history books to find the last time a single conference underwent such a massive overhaul from season to season as the 2A Western Idaho Conference. The two teams that duked it out for the conference title last fall, Notus and Idaho City, both return more than enough talent to contend for top honors again this fall, but they’ll have to deal with a revamped conference with rivals old and new.
Courtesy of the IHSAA’s two-year reclassification cycle, a pair of traditional 1A powers have moved up from the district’s Long Pin Conference and a Boise-area school has added football and will compete for the first time this fall. In all, the WIC moved from five teams to eight, and before anyone could say “eight-team conference,” Centennial Baptist announced it would not be able to field a team, dropping the conference back to seven teams. Then, in mid-August, Rimrock was forced to withdraw from its season as well.
Suddenly, back down to six teams.
But it looks like a solid six.
NOTUS
The Pirates rode a wild, down-to-the-wire road win over Idaho City late in the 2025 regular season to earn the WIC title. The team’s reward? An opening-round playoff matchup against eventual 2A state champion Kendrick.
This fall, head coach Charlie Shepherd, Jr., returns most of his playmakers on both sides of the ball as the Pirates look to build upon their strong finish last fall. Just as importantly, the second-year head coach points out, is the return of him and his staff.
“As a new coach last year, I didn’t even have kids playing in the right positions until two weeks before playoffs,” Shepherd admitted. “This year, going in, I know what the abilities of my athletes are, and I can put them in the best position to succeed.”
One of the only holes to fill for the Pirates is a vital one – veteran QB/S Derek Huter graduated, taking a lot of experience and athletic ability with him. However, Notus has a player with plenty of game experience ready to move in and take the helm in senior Maverick McKerrow. McKerrow got reps at the position last fall, backing up Huter, and has spent plenty of time refining his skills this summer as the team competed in multiple team camps.
Perhaps McKerrow’s biggest asset is the seven blue-jerseyed players who will be joining him in the huddle this fall. Notus returns three starters along the offensive front: senior center Chris Cook and senior guards Wyse Iverson and Jackson Fields. The team also returns first-team all-conference running back Mark Lungu and first-team all-conference receiver Sawyer Nicoletti. And, for good measure, 6-foot-4 senior receiver Dehaven Wilson returns, as does versatile junior Spencer Hansen, who was voted all-conference last season.
“We hope to establish the run game with our seniors up front who have a lot of experience and toughness,” Shepherd said. “When the defense commits too heavily to the run, we throw it behind them.”
For Notus to take the next step in 2026, the Pirates defense will likely need to be more consistent. Like the offense, most of the key faces are back and, with a year under their belts in the program, growth seems like a natural progression.
“Specifically, we need to get smarter and tougher on the defensive line,” the head coach noted. “Too often we were not only getting blocked, but getting blocked downfield insofar as we were sabotaging our own linebackers and their abilities to fit the run.”
Iverson and Lungu return along the defensive front, while Nicoletti is expected to slide into the safety role that was held by Huter last fall.
IDAHO CITY
Idaho City’s six wins in 2025 were the program’s most since winning seven in a conference-championship season in 2019. The Wildcats return virtually their entire lineup this fall so optimism is high that the team can take the next step and advance to the 2A state playoffs.
Head coach Jason Roeber and his staff must replace all-conference OL/DL Rocco Olvera and all-conference TE/DL Michael Kaczmarek but return the rest of the squad from a season ago.
Senior Josh Burlingame was first-team all-conference last fall along the offensive front while senior Ryan Price (defensive line) also earned recognition from the WIC’s coaches, giving Idaho City a solid foundation upfront despite the key graduations.
That’s good news for the deep and talented group of skill players, led by junior quarterback Jackson Roeber and tight end Mac Roeber. The cousins are joined by all-conference senior running back Mitchell Davis and junior playmaker Cooper Smith. Those two backs, combined with senior Gabe Sheribon and junior Isaac Manor, rushed for 1,615 yards and 27 touchdowns for the Wildcats last fall, though no single back ran for over 560 yards, providing excellent balance and depth.
That same group makes up the core of the team’s defense as well, a group that held six of eight opponents to 26 points or less, which, in 8-man football, is a good number. With Price along the defensive line and Smith at linebacker teaming with Mac Roeber’s team-high sack total, Smith and junior defensive back Bentley Elliot each averaging six tackles per game, and Davis averaging nearly six stops per game along with a sack and two fumble recoveries, Idaho City should be able to limit opposing offenses.
WILDER
The Wildcats showed progress down the stretch under third-year head coach Josh Duty, something he and his staff believe can continue in 2026.
“We are still young and growing. We only lost two seniors last year,” Duty said. “We have a lot of guys coming back, and could have a solid group of upcoming freshmen.”
Leading the charge is dual-threat quarterback Gelacio Martinez. In the team’s season finale against conference champion Notus, Martinez threw for 142 yards and two scores while rushing for 112 yards and two more scores. He’ll compete alongside returning skill-position contributors Omari Barbosa, Jakota Kemp, and Lance Bryce.
Duty and his staff are working with the team to cut down on the number of big plays it allows on defense. The Wildcats allowed more than 55 points four times last season, but they also limited the opposition to 36 points three times, which, in 8-man football, is okay. With a team that was so young last season, there’s reason for optimism. Barbosa was an all-conference linebacker last season and will be joined on defense by Israel Blanco and Dominic Lopez. Martinez, Bryce, Kemp, senior Jonas Puga, and senior Cameron Cowger will also fill roles on the defensive side of the ball.
NORTH STAR CHARTER
The conference’s newest team – the newest football team in the 2A classification altogether – is North Star Charter. The Huskies will move up to the 3A WIC in other sports but, since football is a first-year program, the Huskies were allowed to stay in the smaller 2A classification for football.
That’s not to say the Huskies don’t have athletes. Senior FB/LB Luke Fox was a second-team all-state baseball player last spring for a team that was undefeated in conference play and reached the 2A state tournament. The school’s basketball program went undefeated in league play last spring en route to an appearance in the 2A state semifinals.
Head coach Nick Hagiperos, who has 15 years of coaching experience, will lean into the players’ previous successes to help build a culture on the gridiron.
“Although our experience level is limited among our players, they have approached practice with a positive growth mindset,” Hagiperos said. “Each day they come eager to work and learn.”
Junior Kyler Horning is expected to be the team’s quarterback when it takes its first snap in Cascade on August 21, with Fox behind him in the backfield. Junior Jacob Jones, another multi-sport standout, will likely line up at multiple spots on the field as the coaching staff plans to mix its formations and motions to seek advantageous matchups.
TRI-VALLEY
The Titans advanced all the way to the 1A state championship game last November before falling to Carey, 40-20. But…
Jace Waggoner and his 2,200 rushing yards, 37 total touchdowns, and nearly 100 tackles? Gone. Eli Noah, his 1,100 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns? Gone. Elias Devries and his 100 tackles? Gone. Wyatt Moura, Monte Ingram? Gone. Even junior Gage George, who rushed for over 1,200 yards and 15 touchdowns, graduated from high school early to pursue his chosen professional career.
As if that’s not enough, the Tri-Valley Titans will be looking to replace that massive chunk of talent and production in a larger classification in 2026, moving up to the 2A Western Idaho Conference.
Veteran head coach Tyler Waggoner won’t have the same experience this fall as he did last year, but that doesn’t mean he’s without weapons. The Titans do return two linemen from their powerful offensive attack as seniors Blake Barton and Mishka Rapp will lead the way again this fall.
Senior Anthony Soto and sophomores Paxton Waggoner and Kellan Moura did get some action last season. Waggoner appears to be in line to see time at the quarterback position with Moura and Soto in position to fill roles at the running back spot behind Barton and Rapp. Senior JJ Sutton returns as well to give Waggoner a big target in the passing game when Tri-Valley goes to the air.
There might be a bit more experience returning on the defensive side for the Titans, led by Rapp and Barton along the defensive line and Sutton in the secondary. Rapp was a first-team all-conference performer in the Long Pin Conference as a junior, finishing second on the team with five sacks. That’s one behind the six collected by senior Gavin Springer, who was selected second-team all-conference. Junior Corbin Talbert had eight tackles for loss and recovered four fumbles last fall, and juniors Jack Papineau and Ridge Loveland showed flashes of ability in backup roles in 2025.
Waggoner wants to see eight players compete as one unit on the field. While there may be an early adjustment period, don’t be surprised if they’re squarely in the hunt in what could be a deep and competitive Western Idaho Conference.
GARDEN VALLEY
Jason Yearsley is quietly sneaking up on 20 years atop the football program at Garden Valley (this is his 16th season) but finds himself in new surroundings in 2026. Garden Valley is one of two Long Pin Conference teams (along with Tri-Valley) that moved up a classification, from 1A to 2A.
But his Wolverine squad won’t sneak up on any of the teams in the 2A WIC. For starters, the WIC and Long Pin have played non-conference games against one another for years – Garden Valley defeated both Notus and Idaho City, the two teams who clashed for the conference title, last fall. And, secondly, the Wolverines have been a beacon of consistent competitiveness for years in District 3.
Yearsley and his staff return eight players who earned all-conference honors in 2025 in the Long Pin for a team that won six games and qualified for the 1A playoffs. Among the eight is the heart of the team’s defense, led by all-conference performers Rhett Fackrell and Marshall Coley. The duo combined for nearly 20 tackles per game last fall (Fackrell had 132 tackles, Coley 77). Fellow senior Kendrew Ward was second-team all-conference with 83 tackles.
“Our linebacker core of Rhett Fackrell, Marshall Coley and Kendrew Ward is healthy and strong,” Yearsley said. “With Liam Bower upfront and a big group of guys that get excited to play good defense all around, we have a lot of excitement on the defensive side of the ball.”
Offensively, Garden Valley isn’t afraid to mix things up. Case in point – the team used six different quarterbacks in 2025 – by design.
“We look to have multiple contributors at each position, and we have a team mindset that we are good teammates first,” Yearsley continued.
Senior Teigan Goff, junior Payson Kelley, and sophomores Kyler Smith and Charlie Ballou each took snaps at quarterback last fall. And with the graduation of playmakers Max Yearsley, Tyler Rowland, Madix Miller, and Kegan Welsh from last fall’s team, if that quartet of quarterbacks isn’t under center, they’ll likely be somewhere else on the field.
“This team has a lot of fun, and they stay positive,” Yearsley concluded. “We have good players all over the field and a pretty big senior class that is ready to make this a great season.”