Written by: Will Hoenike
Led by one of the area’s top returning quarterbacks, the Lighthouse Christian Lions look to take a step forward and challenge for the 1A Division 1 Snake River Conference title in 2023.
Senior Justice Schrader and a slew of talented athletes return after the team recovered from a slow start to reach the state playoffs last fall. The Lions played one of the toughest schedules in all of Idaho 8-man football last year but won two of their final three games of the regular season to reach the postseason.
Only three seniors graduated off that team. Make no mistake, the Lions will miss Walker Goettle, Austin Ledford, and Carter Munsee, but first-year head coach Logan Bosma brings back Schrader, All-State receiver Jack DeJong, and several other talented playmakers this fall.
Schrader threw 23 touchdowns in eight games last fall and averaged nearly 215 yards per game through the air. A lot of those targets went to DeJong, who had 48 receptions for over 1,000 yards and 15 scores for the Lions.
But there were others. Seniors Case Van Leeuwan and Micah Denny combined to catch 21 passes last season and junior Koby Stevenson could see an increased role in the offense this fall.
Defensively, the loss of the graduating seniors is highly visible. The three combined for nearly 180 tackles, paced by Ledford’s 13.9 per game. He also tied for the team lead in tackles for loss. Van Leeuwen and DeJong return to the defensive lineup and will benefit from an additional year of experience for sophomore linebacker Johnny Millencamp.
Lighthouse Christian has another extremely challenging schedule to open the season. After opening with a non-conference game at home against Wells (NV), the Lions travel to Grace to face a Grizzlies team that reached the 1A Division 1 state championship game last fall. Then it’s into the deep end of the pool in conference play with consecutive games against Raft River, Carey, and Oakley, each of whom reached the 1A Division 1 postseason last fall.
The Lions are well-positioned to compete in the uber-difficult Snake River Conference. Staying healthy and developing strong players to help replace the departing seniors will go a long way in determining just how far this Lions team can go.