Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Kendrick
2. Deary
3. Genesee
4. Lewis County
5. Troy
Written by: Will Hoenike
Welcome to the 1A Whitepine League. It’s a league that returns its 2025 MVP (Deary’s Jarrett Keen), Defensive Player of the Year (Deary’s Blake Clark), and Offensive Player of the Year (Genesee’s Jackson Banks).
It returns ten different players who were selected to the first-team all-league. It returns a league champion, Deary, that won three of its final four regular-season games to clinch the title, averaging 51 points per game in those games. The league’s runner-up, Genesee, went 8-2 overall and averaged more than 50 points per game in its wins. Lewis County, which went winless in league play, allowed only six points (total) in its three non-league wins.
The league looked loaded coming into the 2026 season. And that’s before two 2A teams were reclassified down to the 1A level, and one of those two, Kendrick, has won five consecutive state championships.
Welcome to what could be considered Idaho 8-man football’s deepest league.
DEARY
The Deary Mustangs got hot down the stretch in 2025, including an entertaining win over rival Genesee in the final week of the regular season, to secure the Whitepine title and a trip to the 1A state playoffs.
Providing an encore will not be easy for head coach Tim Olson and his team, even though they’re only looking to replace two seniors from last season.
“Surviving our non-league schedule and maintaining that team chemistry through the season's ups and downs is going to be vital for our success this season,” Olson noted. “We play three teams (Coeur du Christ, Tri-Valley and Wallace) that made the state semifinals or finals last season, as well as Kendrick dropping back into our division, so it is not going to be an easy road, but maintaining a positive perspective and confidence in our team will go a long way to seeing on-field success to make a playoff run.”
Building confidence helps when you return Keen, the league’s MVP, and Clark, the league’s defensive player of the year. Keen had a hand in 30 offensive touchdowns, rushing for nearly 1,000 yards and throwing for another 1,275. Clark totaled 87 tackles – 18 for loss – and added four sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery on defense.
Deary is looking to replace big-play threats Jacob Mechling and Nolan Hubbard (the two departed seniors). Still, Olson anticipates added growth and experience across the roster will help fill that void. Junior Cooper Dammerman rushed for nearly 500 yards and five scores last fall and will have an opportunity to get more touches on offense this fall. The team also returns junior WR/DB Alex Giomi, who missed all of last season with an injury. Clark and junior Kohen Griffin both earned all-league honors along the offensive line last fall, and Olson believes the line should be a strength again this season.
“We are a pretty heavy run-first offense, and I think we'll be able to lean into that again this year,” he said. “We have a big, experienced offensive line and some hard-nosed runners.”
Olson and his staff hope to see the same growth on defense. The group gave up some crooked numbers in 2025, but the staff believes it has the pieces to be more consistent in 2026.
“We still need to get better at rallying to the ball and wrapping up. Creating some more turnovers would be great too,” Olson said. “We'll throw some different looks at offenses based on what they run, but generally speaking we'll be in some kind of 3-front defense with DB'S and LB's coming up to help in the run game.”
GENESEE
The Class of 2026 at Genesee High went winless as freshmen. Won three times as sophomores. Then, last season, the group won eight games and reached the 1A state playoffs.
What’s next for the players who are now Bulldog seniors?
“(It’s a) great group of guys that have been through all the stages of football,” said head coach Jason Hanson. “Excited to see if we can make that next step; we made it to November, but now can we make it to the last week?”
With a senior-heavy team, experience will not be a problem for Genesee in 2026. QB/DB Jackson Banks, whom Hanson calls “our field general and assistant offensive coordinator,” was the Whitepine offensive player of the year last fall. WR/DB Noah Bollman earned all-state recognition for his play on offense and all-league for his play on defense. RB/LB Cameron Holmes will once again play a big role, as will OL/DL Isaac McGlothen. Seniors Hayden Purnell and Mason Poxleitner should see expanded roles for the Bulldogs as well.
The ability to close out wins on the defensive side of the ball will be an important factor in the team’s success this fall. There’s plenty of talent there – McGlothen and Wes Holder on the defensive line, Banks and Holmes at linebacker, Bollman and Purnell in the secondary, but the coaching staff is hoping to see improvement.
“We seemed to let the offenses dictate the game and tried to overwhelm them with our offense,” Hanson explained. “We will need to be more stout at the point of attack and create pressure.”
Illustrating his point, Genesee scored 502 points in 2025. They allowed 318 in a season that ended in the 1A quarterfinals.
“Lots of guys are hungry to build on that success, and with a room full of seniors, there is no better time than now. With the addition of Kendrick to the schedule, it will be no easy task to make another playoff run,” Hanson concluded.
LEWIS COUNTY
Head coach Monty Moddrell’s team may not have the league’s offensive or defensive player of the year returning, but the Eagles do return virtually their entire roster from the 2025 season.
“We have a lot of returners with great game experience,” the 11th-year head coach said. “It will be fun to watch them continue to grow together.”
The team’s roster listed just one senior last fall – Justin Meacham – but valuable two-way player Gatlin Griffith moved to Kamiah, so Moddrell and his staff are looking to replace two valuable pieces.
The team does not lack for talent. RB/LB Jace Cronce earned all-league recognition on both sides of the ball, as did QB/DB Slater Kuther. The Eagles also return bruising FB/LB Jadin Williams and two-way lineman Henry Lunders, giving the team a strong nucleus of experience and talent to build from.
Juniors Keezen Grant (DL) and Wyatt Meacham (OL) were strong contributors last fall, and the coaches expect big contributions from them this fall, along with sophomore RB/DB Jefferson Soderling. Sophomores Copper Cook and Macklin McLeod are among the candidates vying for a larger role for the Eagles this season.
The team has the pieces for a solid defense. Williams and Cronce combined for 18 tackles-for-loss and nine forced fumbles last season while Kuther intercepted six passes. Meanwhile, Grant and Lunders combined for nearly 60 tackles from positions along the defensive line.
The coaches will work to create more consistency on offense, which will be critical in the talented and deep Whitepine.
“Some series looked great, and others left something to be desired,” Moddrell said. “Football is three things: one, blocking, two, tackling, and three, blocking. At times last year, we struggled with one and three.”
KENDRICK
Each year for the past half dozen years, if not longer, fans have looked at Kendrick’s departed seniors and wondered how a small program would replace that much talent.
Yet, the Tigers keep doing it, and 2026 appears to be no exception. Kendrick’s enrollment caused it to be reclassified down from the 2A Whitepine League to the smaller (but very competitive) 1A Whitepine this fall.
Head coach Ty Koepp’s team loses 2025 2A state player of the year, Nathan Tweit, along with all-state performers Tanner Clemenhagen, Cade Silflow, Kolt Koepp, Ralli Roetciscoender, and Travis Hix. Even still, this fall’s Kendrick team returns three all-state performers – quarterback Maddox Kirkland, OL/DL Nathan Kimberling, and RB/LB Orion Stewart.
“I’m excited to see how hungry this group is,” said Koepp. “We’ve just lost a legendary senior class in the class of 2026, so I want to see how these upcoming young guys respond.”
One thing the Tigers’ program has regularly benefitted from is ample playing time for its younger players. The team rolled up 102, 96, 90, and 80 points in victories last season and was held below 54 points just once as it rolled to its fifth straight state title. That meant many opportunities to shuttle players in and out of the game, giving them valuable game experience for future years.
As a result, names like Jerry Anderson, Hudson Kirkland, Blake Morgan, Landon Sneve, Hank Heimergartner, and Kasch Littlefield are hardly unknown to fans in District 2. Those players accounted for 17 touchdowns last season and now have to step into leading roles. The challenge for the Tigers’ coaching staff is making sure the puzzle pieces fit on both offense and defense.
“Getting everyone new to fit into their role and want a bunch of kids hungry to have a fluent offense. Such things as communication, next-level blocking, and route-running ability,” Koepp explained. “And everything (on defense), communication, continue to align correctly to certain formations, and make sure we spend lots of time prepping and know what's coming at us to help our read-and-react time become quicker.”
TROY
The Trojans have a new head coach in 2026; alum Kyle McCall has taken over for Shawn Buchanan. McCall was a quarterback in Troy from 2000-2002, and now he and his staff will work to turn around a Trojan program that has won eight games over the past four seasons and successfully petitioned down from the 2A classification to 1A.
Troy finished strong in 2025, winning two of its final three games – outscoring its opponents 104-84 in those victories.
Senior Peyton Christensen performed well at the quarterback position last season. Over one five-game stretch, he tossed 13 scoring passes and was intercepted just once. Junior tight end Lincoln Barone displayed some big-play capabilities in the passing game, while teammates Jayden Mason, Hinder Hurst, and Ethan McFall showed the ability to contribute on offense as well.
Hurst and McFall could form the middle of a competitive defensive unit and Christensen intercepted two passes last fall.