Preseason Coaches Poll:
1. Grangeville
2. Priest River
3. St. Maries
4. Kellogg
5. Orofino
6. Logos
Written by: Collin Scheel
Had Priest River and Grangeville met a few weeks later than they did in 2025, the Bulldogs might have gotten the best of their far-away league opponents.
But they did not, and the Spartans upset the upper-classmen laden Bulldog squad and won their way through the rest of the Central Idaho League to claim the title and clinch its lone playoff spot.
Grangeville's defeat set the stage for another kind of upset, as the Bulldogs' MaxPreps ranking kept them out of the playoffs altogether, despite their winning record of 5-4.
Going into 2026, Priest River will look to keep hold of its momentum, led by an All-State caliber wide receiver.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, return the majority of their squad which earned nine individual All-State and All-League honors in 2025, and will prove a tough out as they avenge their 3A playoff absence from a year ago.
A newcomer to the Central Idaho League, Logos will play 11-man football for the first time as it moves from 2A to 3A in football only.
The Knights averaged 41 points per game en route to a 10-3 record and a trip to the 2A Championship game in 2025, where they fell to Whitepine League opponent, Kendrick.
Though that eight-man, high-scoring average is likely unsustainable moving into the new season, the addition of a sixth team into the Central Idaho League has granted it two automatic state berths and will give Logos the chance to show its pedigree as it moves into the 3A ranks.
St. Maries has been a part of the CIL for 14 years, and save for its state championship in 2016 has not won a league title since.
In its second season under Coach Hayden Humphrey, who graduated from St. Maries High School in 2016 five months prior to the Lumberjacks' state title later that fall, the team will look to pick up where it left off last year.
In his first season, Humphrey pushed St. Maries from one win in 2024 to four wins in 2025.
Kellogg again has a new coaching staff, and following last year's two-win season, the team will look to begin what could be the start of another Wildcat rebuild.
Kellogg's last Central Idaho League title came in 2022, during the senior season of future University of Miami commits and twins Kolby and Riply Luna.
The Wildcats will look to a new head coach, who also is a recent addition to the continental United States, to get their program moving in the right direction. Coach Sam Mailou will take over the program. He previously served as an assistant coach in Oahu, Hawaii, his home state.
Orofino is also in the midst of a rebuild, and as Coach Seth Melton takes the Maniacs into his second season, he hopes the addition of Timberline quarterback Korbin Christopherson could be the difference maker Orofino needs to push it back to competitiveness in the Central Idaho League.
PRIEST RIVER
Priest River won five games in 2025, four of them against Central Idaho League opponents.
The Spartans, going into their fourth season under head coach Alex Zepeda, will add junior quarterback Jacob Best to their backfield to complement returning league MVP, senior running back Colton Kuprienko.
Best replaces four-year starting quarterback and 2026 graduate, Lucas Matthews.
Coach Zepeda said Best is a mobile quarterback with a strong arm. Mobility at the quarterback position will be key for Priest River this season as it lost All-State offensive lineman Brady Hatten to graduation.
This year’s line, Zepeda added, is young.
“We are young up front, losing a lot of starters on the line last year,” he said. “But based on what we’ve seen so far we are excited for them to show what they can do.”
A crucial offensive component for the Spartans will be its returning trio of Kuprienko, junior receiver Layton Goins and senior running back Nate Fegert. The three combined for 33 touchdowns last season and led Priest River to a Central Idaho League-best 30.8 points per game, and Goins earned All-State first team honors.
“We are returning three skill guys, and will be much more personnel-based this year, adding much more to our offense with the addition of Best at quarterback,” Zepeda said.
Fitting for the reigning league champions, the Spartans also boasted the CIL’s top defense in 2025.
Led by Fegert, who in addition to his offensive output led the Spartans defense as an All-CIL Linebacker, Priest River will see the return of its core defensive group.
“We are returning five skill guys who were all league for us defensively,” Zepeda said. “Our skill group defensively is stacked.”
Three of the team’s first four games are against nonleague opponents, beginning with an August 28 matchup at Bonners Ferry.
The Spartans will open league play Sept. 18 against Central Idaho League newcomer Logos.
Following a trip across the Idaho/Washington state line for its annual rivalry game with Newport, Wash., Priest River will close its regular season with four consecutive league opponents, concluding Oct. 23 at Grangeville.
GRANGEVILLE
Over the years, Grangeville has grown accustomed to landing atop the Central Idaho League.
When the Bulldogs finished second last season, behind Priest River, insult was added to injury as not only did they not win the league for the first time since 2022, but were left out of the 3A playoffs.
MaxPreps rankings put Grangeville 11th in 3A, behind a 2-7 Melba team and 3-6 Malad.
The Bulldogs were ranked two places higher than league-champion Priest River, but due to their failure to clinch the CIL’s automatic berth, landed outside the 3A playoff picture.
Coach Jeff Adams, going into his 11th season, emphasized his group’s focus on keeping its fate out of the hands of the rankings, and getting back to where it has historically been, at the top of the Central Idaho League.
Leading that effort in 2026 will be more than a dozen seniors, including senior quarterback Gage Smith, receiver Tate Schumacher and lineman Carson Astle.
The team returns nine players who were selected for All-State or All-League honors last season. Schumacher was named to the All-State second team and the Central Idaho League’s first team. Running back Hollis Elliott, lineman Orin Farmer and linebacker Kolten Heitzman also made the All-CIL first team.
Smith earned the Central Idaho League’s Offensive Player of the Year honors as a junior quarterback, and, as attested to by Coach Adams, he will have plenty in the way of options this season when running the Bulldogs’ offense.
“We have lots of weapons,” he said. “Team chemistry is off the charts, and we have a lot of senior leadership.”
As with most 3A teams, Grangeville’s upperclassmen-laden roster will see action on both sides of the ball, with the majority of last season’s defensive group returning.
In 2025, the Bulldogs boasted a 22.4 points against average, the second-best among Central Idaho League teams.
Adams said his defense will be “deep in all positions.”
Grangeville, which has won or shared seven of the last 10 CIL titles, plays four consecutive nonleague games to open its 2026 schedule, beginning Aug. 22 against West Jefferson in Nampa.
The Bulldogs’ league opener is set for Sept. 25 at Kellogg, where they will play the first in a stretch of five CIL contests in as many weeks.
ST. MARIES
In their second season under St. Maries alum Hayden Humphrey, the Lumberjacks hope to continue trending upward despite the loss of a large senior class.
St. Maries, which won four games last year after winning one the season prior, will be forced to replace three-year starting quarterback and 2026 graduate, Jack Barta, along with a host of senior starters on both sides of the ball.
Humphrey said his quarterback competition will be a healthy one, and there are no locks for that position, along with many others as practices begin this month.
“We lost 17 seniors last year, and I’m very excited to see who steps up to fill those roles,” Humphrey said.
Returning for St. Maries is a pair of All-Central Idaho League players, including senior defensive lineman Kodi Mitchell and senior receiver Jaxson Harold-Moore.
Harold-Moore averaged 15 yards per catch last season and recorded two touchdowns, one receiving and one rushing. Jaxson had 26 tackles, four tackles for loss and one sack defensively for the Lumberjacks.
Mitchell had 68 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and three sacks in 2025.
Coach Humphrey said his rotation of defensive linemen should give his squad an advantage on the line of scrimmage.
The Lumberjacks’ defensive line will be anchored by Mitchell and complemented by fellow seniors Blane Kucirek and Sawyer Nantell and juniors Michael Kolar, Asher Blankenship and Dylan Gentry.
“I’m hoping this team will be able to control the line of scrimmage, especially on defense,” Coach Humphrey said.
Senior linebacker Kris Brusseau also promises to make an impact for the defense, along with his offensive contributions at running back, which will likely increase following the exit of St. Maries’ leading rusher last season, Aiden Yearout.
Brusseau averaged nearly three yards per carry last season and added a pair of touchdowns.
As for goals for his team, Coach Humphrey will look to get St. Maries back to the playoffs for the first time since 2022. The Lumberjacks have not won a playoff game since 2018.
“I’m excited to see how the younger group develops throughout the season, and to see the leadership that this senior class can bring,” Coach Humphrey said.
St. Maries will play two of the 4A Intermountain League’s three teams in weeks one and two, traveling to Timberlake and Bonners Ferry before hosting Logos in what will be the Lumberjacks’ Central Idaho League opener.
From there, Coach Humphrey’s team will travel to Pullman, Wash. before closing out the regular season with four consecutive league contests, wrapping up at league rival Kellogg Oct. 23.
KELLOGG
Protected by a pair of returning All-Central Idaho League linemen, senior quarterback Porter Lewis and the Kellogg football team will look to turn the tide on their recent stretch of struggles.
Since winning a league title in 2022, Kellogg has finished in the bottom half of league standings in each of the past three seasons.
Now, with a new coaching staff and a trio of returning all-league selections, the Wildcats hope to change their fate in the newly-expanded, six-team Central Idaho League.
Lewis was an All-CIL first team quarterback in 2025, a season that saw Kellogg win two of its first three games before finishing out the season on a five-game losing streak.
Lewis racked up over 1,300 passing yards and had 16 touchdowns during his junior campaign.
Two of the offensive linemen who had a part in protecting Lewis will also return for the Wildcats in 2026, junior John Brownfield and sophomore Robert Clark.
Kellogg returns eight players who saw time on the offensive and defensive lines last season, a factor the Wildcats will look to work to their favor as they aim to get out of the bottom of the Central Idaho League’s defensive averages. Kellogg gave up a league-high 47 points per contest last season.
Apart from Lewis and his five rushing touchdowns last season, one non-senior found pay dirt on the ground for Kellogg, that being incoming senior Taylon White, who added one score on the ground on 23 carries.
Kellogg’s second-leading rusher, Andrew Lewis, graduated. He had 618 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
The Wildcats’ receiving core was also primarily made up of seniors. Of the team’s 17 receiving touchdowns in 2025, 16 were caught by seniors.
Incoming senior Cyrus Reed caught one touchdown pass and had 305 yards during his junior campaign.
Kellogg has the opportunity to find some depth on the defensive side of the ball, led by White, who had two sacks, 48 tackles and five tackles for loss.
Brownfield was also among the team’s top tacklers, racking up 33 tackles and four tackles for loss.
Kellogg, in its first season under new head coach Sam Mailou, opens its season Aug. 21 against Bonners Ferry.
The team will turn around and play its league opener in week two against Logos, followed by a bye week prior to its long road trip to face Salmon Sept. 11.
OROFINO
In Seth Melton’s second season at the helm of the Orofino football program, the Maniacs’ rebuild continues in the form of a core returning group of four seniors.
Melton pointed to seniors Chase Deyo, Liam Miller, Ray Starrs and Luke Dafoe, along with junior Kaleb Kessinger and sophomore Jake Renner, as players he expects to play key roles for an Orofino team that has not recorded multiple wins in a season since 2018.
Starrs and Miller both made the All-CIL second team last season.
The Maniacs were 1-8 in 2025, defeating Bonners Ferry JV by a score of 32-6 for their lone victory.
“As a coach, I am excited to see what year two brings within rebuilding the Maniacs football program,” Melton said. “I’m also excited to see what the experienced senior leadership players will do in leading the team this season.”
In addition to its returning upperclassmen, Orofino will welcome the addition of senior quarterback Korbin Christopherson.
Christopherson is a Timberline (Weippe) student, and joins the Maniacs following the co-op approval of Orofino and Timberline for the 2026 season.
He led the Spartans to a pair of wins in 2025, pushing Timberline to wins over 2A Troy and 1A Lewis County, finishing the season with a pair of wins in its last four games.
Coach Melton said with the addition of Christopherson, he looks for his group’s depth to give it an advantage this fall.
“Korbin is an experienced quarterback, and Liam Miller and Chase Deyo are experienced ball handlers,” Melton said.
On the other side of the ball, Miller was an All-League second team selection last season. Also key for the Maniacs defensively will be Deyo, newcomer Gavin Miller and Kaleb Kessinger.
Orofino’s nonleague schedule kicks off with a pair of teams out of district three, the first test coming at home against Marsing Aug. 21. Week two will feature Parma, followed by a five and-a-half hour trip to Salmon Sept. 4.
The Maniacs’ Central Idaho League run begins at St. Maries Sept. 25 and continues five consecutive weeks, culminating with a regular season finale at league newcomer, Logos, Oct. 23.
LOGOS
Logos will make the jump this fall from eight-man to 11-man football, and in doing so, join the Central Idaho League as its sixth team.
Leading the Knights out of the highly-competitive 2A Whitepine League and into the CIL will be All-State selection Baxter Covington.
Covington was a swiss army knife for Logos during its 2025 campaign that saw it qualify for the 2A Championship game where it fell to then-league opponent, Kendrick.
Covington racked up 1,206 yards of rushing to go with 17 touchdowns on 87 carries.
Additionally, he connected on 20 of the 26 passes he threw, accumulating 261 yards and six touchdowns through the air.
But that wasn’t all.
Covington added a pair of receiving touchdowns to his season totals, catching 10 passes for 102 yards.
“We play him at quarterback, halfback, linebacker, he’s just an all-around stud of a player,” Coach Nick Holloway said.
The transition to 11-man, Holloway added, has been taken in stride by his players, many of whom had the opportunity to experience the 11-man game last season.
Logos’ JV team played 11-man games for roughly half its schedule, facing the likes of Orofino - which the Knights defeated 34-24 last September.
“A lot of our JV guys coming up played in three or four 11-man games last year, and a good portion of those same guys are going to see playing time this year,” Coach Holloway said.
“We also got to attend an 11-man camp at Whitworth University (in Washington) and have had a few chances to run drills throughout the summer, so we feel like we’re getting a good idea of what the challenges will be.”
Senior Judah Carlson was a Whitepine League honorable mention at the offensive lineman position, and Zane Holloway rounds out Logos’ trio of returning all-league players. Holloway, an incoming junior, was also an honorable mention.
“We feel like we’re coming out of one of the toughest leagues in the state,” Coach Holloway said of the 2A Whitepine League. “I don’t think any of the teams in our league view us as an easy game, and we don’t view ourselves that way, either. We feel we can play at a competitive level. Obviously, competitiveness is going to increase, but that’s what we want. We want these kids to learn how to take on difficult things. We’re not going to be an easy out.”
Logos will open its season, for a third consecutive year, with a trip south. The Knights will take on Wendell Aug. 22.
League play will begin for Logos in week two when it hosts Kellogg Aug. 27, after which the Knights will travel to face Freeman, Wash. before playing a second league game, at St. Maries Sept. 11.