McCall - Donnelly High School
School Info
Conference: 2A Western Idaho Conference
Classification: 2A
Head Coach: Lee Leslie
Years as Head Coach: 4th Season
Previous Experience: 35 Years
Record Last Year: 5-4
State Titles: None
Assistant Coaches:
Tim Thomas
Mark Wright
Dan Erikson
Linzie Green
Returning Players:
Seth Jones, TE/OLB, 6’2", 180 lbs, 12
Scott Carr, OL/DL, 6’0", 220 lbs, 12
Josue Hernandez, 5’10", 185 lbs, 12
Stockton Raines, WR/DB, 6’2", 170 lbs, 12
Noah Ormsby, RB/OLB, 6’2", 195 lbs, 11
Colton Alvarez, OL/DL, 6’4", 230 lbs, 11
Beau Carr, RB/LB, 5’10", 175 lbs, 10
Tuff Bentz, FB/LB, 6’2", 195 lbs, 11
Nic Hardy, WR/DB, 5’9", 160 lbs, 11
Parker Pyle, OL/DL, 6’4" 190 lbs, 11
Returning Players with Honors:
Stockton Raines, First Team All-WIC WR
Josue Hernandez, First Team All-WIC DT
Beau Carr, Honorable Mention All-WIC LB
Noah Ormsby, Honorable Mention All-WIC WR/DB
Seth Jones, Honorable Mention All-WIC LB
Tuff Bentz, Honorable Mention All-WIC LB
Key Players lost from last year:
Ben Knudson, 3 Year Starting QB
Kaden Deluna, 3 Year Starting TE/DE
Incoming impact players: Pete Knudson, QB/DE, 6'4", 190 lbs, 11 DJ Green, RB, 9 Gideon Lowen, OLB, 10 Wylee Onthank, DB, 10 Cooper Stokes, FB/LB, 10 Issac Stokes, FB/LB, 12
Team Preview:
Written By: Sven Alskog
The one-two tandem of quarterback Ben Knudson and tight end Kaden Deluna brought a lot of wins to the McCall-Donnelly football program and helped redirect course for a school that had struggled on the gridiron for years prior to their arrivals and the start of the Lee Leslie era.
Now that the elder Knudson and Deluna have graduated, it will be Ben’s younger brother Pete taking over as the man behind center.
Pete Knudson has good size at 6-feet-4-inches tall, with a nice arm to go along with that. One of the best things the junior quarterback will having going for him this season though is a talented group of skill position players in the backfield and receiving core.
Tight end Seth Jones, wide receivers Stockton Raines and Nic Hardy and the backfield trio of Beau Carr, Tuff Bentz and Noah Ormsby should all be able to make major impacts on the offensive side of the ball.
“We are capable of a power running and spread offense. Beau Carr will be a star and Pete will take over easily for his brother Ben,” said Leslie.
With confidence that the offense shouldn’t miss much of a beat, Leslie has to feel even better knowing that nine defensive starters return as well.
Colton Alvarez will be manning one of the defensive end positions and has the task of replacing Deluna on that side of the ball. Fellow defensive line mates Scott Carr and Parker Pyle are some of the faces that will join him up front, with talented athletes all over the field behind that group.
To go along with experience, the unit has also put in a lot of work this offseason to improve.
“We should be faster and stronger than any team in the past ten years. Massive gains in the weight room this year,” added Leslie.
He has been impressed with the effort from the kids in that area specifically over the past couple of years, and especially this year.
“Complete buy-in in the weight room. The program runs itself now. Kids are learning to give service to others and love each other.”
The 2A Western Idaho Conference appears to be pretty wide-open this season, with just about any team looking to be a contender if some things fall into place.
McCall-Donnelly starts its 2018 season on the road up in Orofino on August 24.
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