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Lakeside High School
School Info
Conference: 1AD2 District 1-2 White Star League
Classification: 1A D2
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Head Coach: Chris Dohrman
Years as Head Coach: 4th Season
Previous Experience: 15 seasons as HS assistant and middle school head coach
Record Last Year: 4-4
State Titles: None
Assistant Coaches:
Butch Nomee
Chuck Sanchez
Tony Bova
Returning Players:
QB/LB Bryar Sanchez (Sr)
RB/DB Jordan Davison (Sr)
OL/DL Anthony Swisser (Sr)
RB/DL Shawn Davison
C/DL Paul Sperber (Jr)
TE/DE Trey Weinclaw (Jr)
FB/LB Devin Arroyo (Soph)
OL/LB Joseph Bowlman (Soph)
Returning Players with Honors:
Bryan Sanchez, All-White Star
Key Players lost from last year:
LB/FB Bishop Fisher
WR/DB Gabe Kolar
TE/DE Alex Pakootas
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Incoming impact players:
QB/TE Jayson Hall (Fr)
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Team Preview:
Written by: Will Hoenike
The good news for football fans in Plummer is twofold.
First, the team at Lakeside High School showed definite progress last season under fourth-year head coach Chris Dohrman. If you go back to the 2015 season, the Knights won just one football game. Last year? The team won four times, including league wins over Clark Fork, Timberline (Weippe) and Lewis County.
Secondly, and more importantly, Dohrman and the Knights have a good core of players back this fall, led by All-League quarterback Bryar Sanchez and talented running back Jordan Davison.
“We return most of our backfield and interior linemen,” Dohrman told IdahoSports. “We need to continue to improve our offensive line and tight end play.”
Having three linemen back who saw playing time last fall – senior Anthony Swisser, junior Paul Sperber and sophomore Joseph Bowlman – should help with the growth along the offensive front. If that group gels quickly, it’ll mean good things for Sanchez and Davison, who will be joined at times in the backfield by junior Shawn Davison and sophomore Devin Arroyo.
Opportunities abound for players when the Knights go to the air as wide receiver Gabe Kolar and tight end Alex Pakootas have both graduated. Junior Trey Weinclaw is first in line to step into a pass-catching role at tight end for Lakeside. Freshman Jayson Hall could also factor into the team’s passing game this season.
The Lakeside offense scored 30-plus in four games last season and notched 26 more in a season-ending win over Lewis County. The pieces are in place for the Knights to continue to score. The bigger gain, however, may be the ability to stop the opposition from scoring.
“We have several returning starters who will give us some experience,” Dohrman said. “We need to improve our tackling and discipline on defense.”
Sanchez, Arroyo and Bowlman should man the linebacker spots with Shawn Davison, Sperber and Swisser up front along with Weinclaw. Jordan Davison returns to the team’s secondary. As a unit, Lakeside held four teams under twenty points – the team’s four wins – but also struggled against the White Star’s Elite teams, surrendering an average of over 50 points in the team’s four losses.
And therein lies the challenge for Dorhman and his team in 2017. League rivals Deary and Kendrick both appear to have strong teams again this season. To close the gap on a potential playoff berth, Lakeside needs to close the gap on Deary and Kendrick. That pair of teams posted a combined White Star record of 11-1 last season, with the only defeat coming when Deary was blanked by Kendrick in October. To be the best, as the saying goes, you have to beat the best.
The Knights get to see how much they’ve grown and improved right out of the gates, too, with a season-opening home game against Kendrick on September 1. It is part of a schedule that sees Lakeside play five home games in the first six weeks. If the team takes advantage, it’ll put itself in position to reach the 1A Division 2 state playoffs. The flip side of that, though, is that they’ll complete the regular season with three straight games away from the friendly confines in Plummer, including a regular-season finale at Deary.
“We are returning a good group of players,” Dohrman added. “So it will be exciting to see how they improve on last season.”
There is both challenge and opportunity for the Knights this season. The challenge will be in proving they can play with the league’s elite. The opportunity comes in being able to go head-to-head with them to show what they can do. Again, that’s the good news for football fans in Plummer. Their team will have a chance to climb in the standings and qualify for the state playoffs.
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