ORDER GAME PHOTOS

As the 2021 boys soccer season quickly approaches, the high school scene may shake out to be an exciting one this season.

Class 5A

Coming off a 5A state championship win last season, head coach Mike Darrow and the Boise High School Brave aim to reclaim their title once again.

Boise finished with an 11-2 overall record during a chaotic year where a worldwide pandemic affected many programs from across the state.

Entering his 21st season as the Brave head coach, Darrow expressed in an interview that getting over the hurdles of the pandemic, and wildfires creating smoky conditions for players, could be the biggest key to success once again this season.

Another hurdle the Brave may face this season is the ability to regroup after the loss of many talented seniors a year ago.

Boise will be without four first team Southern Idaho Conference (SIC) members from last season, including Nick Liebich, the former 2020 SIC Player of the Year.

Seniors Chase Kluksdal and Cory Cadwell will lead the way for the Brave, both receiving SIC honorable mentions at the end of last season.

Kluksdal and Cadwell will likely aim to be more than honorable mentions this year, while possibly leading Boise to another 5A state title.

Darrow credits a high work rate, strong midfield, and good group of goalkeepers as the team’s biggest strengths going into the 2021 season.

Keep an eye out for the Braves to once again make a splash within the 5A soccer landscape, with many teams across the state vying to take down the defending champions.

Expect the Bobcats of Madison High School to showcase a possible revenge tour this season on their path back to the state playoffs.

Head coach Dan Dummar and Madison have come up short of a state title for the past three seasons. After becoming consolation champions in 2018, and finishing third in 2019, the 2020 season was cut short due to weather problems during the 2020 state playoffs.

The Bobcats fell short against Eagle High School in the state quarterfinals a year ago, before having their consolation game against Centennial canceled due to weather.

Entering his eighth season as the Madison head coach, Dummar seems to possibly have the pieces in place for another deep playoff run this season.

Seven seniors lead the Bobcats this year with some new faces looking to make an instant impact for the team.

One of those new faces will be goalkeeper Thomas Warr, a transfer from Portland, Oregon, who will try and be the missing piece this team needs to bring home a state title.

The camaraderie and friendship this team has going into this season is something that coach Dummar believes to be a big advantage going into 2021, something that he hopes has improved from the 2020 season.

“This team is one, all friends, all on the same page,” Dummar said in an interview. “Playing together as a team and building each other instead of playing for individuals will be key this season.”

While winning a title and getting back to state is always the goal, Dummar and the Bobcats hope to find some revenge along the way, with potential matchups with Eagle High School and Thunder Ridge circled on the calendar.

Coach Dummar hopes to start the revenge tour with reclaiming a district title from rival Thunder Ridge.

“In the district, we look forward to Thunder Ridge,” Dummar said. “They have won the district conference three years in a row against us. It’s our time to take it back.”

If Madison makes it back to the state playoffs this year, Dummar and the team hope to see Eagle once again, but this time with a different outcome.

“At state, we are looking to play Eagle and beat them,” Dummar said. “They have beaten us the last two years in a row.”

Don’t be shocked if you see the Madison Bobcats a part of the championship conversation towards the end of the season.

Class 4A

Entering the 4A field of Idaho competition, the Blackfoot Broncos look to correct its wrongs from a season ago, even if there were little to none.

Blackfoot finished 16-2 last season, but ultimately found themselves in a 4-1 defeat to Vallivue in the 4A state championship.

In his 13th season, Broncos Head Coach Liam Pope aims to bring back home a state trophy, with the last Blackfoot title being in 2011.

Ten years later Blackfoot finds itself back in the race for a championship, but with new hurdles to overcome this season, according to coach Pope.

“Last season was a really good season,” Pope said. “We will need to find a way to get close to the offensive strength we had last year.”

If the Broncos can shoot lights out on offense like they did a season ago, the Broncos will surely be back to a state title appearance sooner rather than later.

That all starts with the leadership of the three returning seniors for Blackfoot.

Midfielders Misa Reyna, Manny Bartolo, and defenseman Wyatt Gerrie will be heavily relied on during the 2021 campaign.

Coach Pope believes that building a strong backbone this year will be a main key to success.

“The key returners I mentioned alongside Gabe Batacan and Cooper Hanson will be important to build a new spine up and down the field,” Pope said.

Sometimes skillfulness and fundamentals can create a strong group of talent, a real benefit that Pope is excited about this season.

“We have coachable kids who want to learn every practice, and several players with good technical skills,” Pope said.

One key matchup Blackfoot has its eyes on this season will be against the Knights of Hillcrest High School.

Hillcrest will start the season as one of the outsiders from many of the state contenders a year ago, but don’t expect that to be the case this season.

After losing in the state quarterfinals in 2019, Hillcrest could not find a way back to the playoffs in 2020.

Knights Head Coach Ryan Ellis hopes to try and rekindle the 2019 magic after finishing last season with an 8-7-2 record.

Putting together a full game is something that coach Ellis hopes the Knights can find success at going into 2021.

“We often struggled putting together two solid halves,” Ellis said. “We will need to improve on that if we want to accomplish our goals.”

Ellis will rely heavily on his seniors and one junior this season to find success once again.

Keep an eye out on seniors Johan Hernandez-Gaytan, Porter Bronson, and junior Thomas Endsley whenever Hillcrest is mentioned throughout the year.

Another name to keep an eye out for will be senior striker Hadrien Pena. After breaking his foot in the opener last season that required surgery, Pena found his 2020 season cut abruptly short.

Ellis has high praise for Pena, and you should expect him to make an immediate impact during his comeback season.

Hernandez-Gaytan returns for the Knights after receiving first team all-conference honors last year. Pena and others hope to join their teammate in earning first team honors once again by the end of the season.

Coach Ellis has established a hungry program at Hillcrest during his first three seasons as the head coach, and Ellis will aim to keep the train rolling going into year four.

Another team trying to rekindle some lost magic will be the Caldwell Cougars.

After winning back-to-back 4A state titles in 2018 and 2019, the Cougars found their three-peat
dreams fall just short in the 2020 state quarterfinals in a 1-3 loss to Blackfoot.

Now in 2021, Caldwell aims to get back on top.

Entering his ninth year with the program, Caldwell Head Coach Rhys Yeakley believes he has the talent to bring home a third Caldwell title in the past four years.

“Top to bottom this is perhaps our most complete and deepest team,” coach Yeakley said in an interview. “We may not have the huge name stars like last season, but we have kids coming off the bench that would have been starters in the past.”

Caldwell brings back four all conference players from last year, with an abundance of transfer talent as well as many young faces on the horizon trying to make their name known.

Leading the way will be Caldwell senior midfielder Danny Torres.

Torres tore his ACL three games into the 2020 season, and after having the past year off for recovery, Torres aims to be one of the best in the conference again by the end of the season.

The amount of depth and morale Caldwell brings into 2021 is something that coach Yeakley finds very exciting.

“Our depth and “team first” attitude this year should lead to a great season if all goes well and the kids develop and come together the way we hope,” Yeakley said.

With high expectations set within the program, expect coach Yeakley and the Caldwell Cougars to be title favorites going into 2021.


Class 3A

Looking ahead at the 3A competition, it would be difficult to not mention Richard Whitelaw and the Sun Valley Community Cutthroats.

A fitting name for one of the best soccer programs in the state of Idaho, coach Whitelaw and Community enter 2021 as the defending 3A state champion for the past three seasons.

Entering his 30th season as the head coach, Whitelaw is in familiar territory of having to reload the roster, after losing 14 seniors from a year ago that helped spark the recent dominance of Sun Valley.

Whitelaw said that he hopes to rely on his young but veteran leadership to help lead the team this season.

“Only eight players in the current squad have played in a varsity match,” Whitelaw said. “I expect them to be the core of the team providing invaluable leadership to the younger players.”

Whitelaw expects all the teams within the High Desert Conference to be much stronger this season, and despite this being a very different looking roster for Community, expect the bullseye on the Cutthroats back to be extra-large this season as they try to claim a fourth straight state title.