Team Preview:
Written By: Sven Alskog

It was a short-lived retirement from the Twin Falls football program for Allyn Reynolds.

After the Times-News reported that Reynolds would be retiring at the end of the school year on January 24 it was announced shortly thereafter on April 9 in the same publication that he had changed his mind and would be coming back to the sideline and his other positions at Twin Falls as well.

An understatement would be to say that the school and athletic programs are thrilled with the change of heart.

Reynolds enters his 12th season as the head football coach of the Bruins with plenty of changes surrounding the 4A Great Basin Conference including a new pod system which will break the east and west up. In the west pod with Twin Falls will be Canyon Ridge, Mountain Home, Jerome and Wood River. The top two teams in the pod earn guaranteed playoff spots.

On the field, the expectation is for the Bruins to be right up at the top of the conference again.

If there is one thing that stands out about the group, it is the sheer size of the offensive front line.

Behind that unit, the offense should be able to move the football effectively.

“We will be strong up front. Probably the most overall size we have had in five years. Our quarterback is a junior and is a returning starter in Carson Walters. We believe that we will be able to control the football, collect first downs and sustain drives better this year. We don’t feel like right now we have that big threat big play player on offense. We will run three wide receivers with most of our sets and up-tempo with a zone read scheme,” said Reynolds.

First Team All-Conference and Second Team All-State lineman Hudson Klundt leads the charge on the line for Twin Falls. He is joined by Angel Mendoza, Hunter Merriss and Carter Christensen up front to form a group that has the potential to be dominating against Great Basin opponents.

Holding onto the ball and converting when it matters most are focus areas moving into the new season.

“Control the football more, create more offensive plays per game this year and score more efficiently when we get inside the red zone,” added Reynolds.

Running the football effectively is always a staple of the Twin Falls offense. With leading rusher Taryn Casperson graduated, the Bruins will have to find a new man to help control the ball.

Gage Plew and Bentley Swensen could get a bulk of the carries, with Max Sanasan a small in stature, but elusive, speed option.

Slowing down opponents will be a bit more difficult this year with the exit of Conference Defensive Player of the Year Connor Bradley to graduation. Bradley was a dominating force on the end, so finding multiple guys to step in and help fill his void will be huge.

Reynolds expects to still be strong despite the loss of Bradley.

“We will be good on the edges and good size up front. We should be a better blitzing team this year.”

He wants to see the defense do a better job of avoiding big plays on third down situations and also forcing turnovers.

Swensen, a First Team All-Conference linebacker, provides stability in the middle of the defense for the Bruins.

As always, Twin Falls will have good athletes surrounding their inside linebacker to swarm to the ball and get pressure on the quarterback.

In a new-look conference, the Bruins appear to have a recipe ready to experience more success.

“We have a bunch of guys who have a good attitude and want to win football games. The offseason so far has been really good in terms of commitment to working in the offseason,” said Reynolds.

Twin Falls gets the season started on August 24 at home against Pocatello.