Written by: Brandon Baney

Rigby’s run the past four years in football has been unprecedented. Prior to the 2019 season, the Trojans had never won a state championship on the gridiron. Fast forward four years later, and the Trojans have gone 42-5 with three titles.

Rigby head coach Armando Gonzalez has seen a number of talented athletes turn out for the football team. Top athletes combined with unenviable depth leads to, well, you saw the numbers above.

For those thinking that Rigby’s time at the top might be coming to an end, don’t say we didn’t warn you. Rigby’s 2023 team is once again loaded and ready to compete for 5A football’s top honor.

For starters, Luke Flowers is back to quarterback the Rigby offense. Flowers picked up All-State honors a year ago, and was named the High Country Conference Player of the Year. He just committed to play for the University of Montana, and threw for 3,009 yards and 32 touchdowns in 2022. Flowers now becomes the third Trojans QB in a row to commit to a Division 1 school in the Big Sky Conference, following Keegan Thompson at Idaho State and Tiger Adolpho at Weber State.

High Country Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Year, wideout Brady Packer, graduated, as did tight end Brevin Larsen. But Flowers has plenty of returning targets to throw to. Senior wide receivers Kade Steffler and Koen Peck were heavily involved in the offense a year ago.

Rigby’s top running back from a year ago, Sam Gamino, also graduated. Senior Payton Klinger saw plenty of reps last season, though, and has home run abilities from the backfield.

Klinger will have a strong, experienced line to run behind. Junior Feki Pouha is back to lead the offensive line after starting every game as a sophomore a year ago. Seniors Braxton Geisler and Bruin Bowman, and junior Slayde Johnson also started a year ago, and make the O-Line even stronger.

The defensive losses were slightly higher for Rigby. Defensive linemen Siope Fangupo, Sam Webster and Jacob Womack, linebackers Connor Gneiting and Zach Hawkes, and defensive backs Zxaeb Falevai and Jack Boudrero all graduated.

Mason Burgess returns at linebacker, and Reggie Groom started at safety a year ago. Senior Brock Klinger and junior Parker Graham also saw time in the secondary a year ago.

The Trojans will start their season against Coeur d’Alene at the University of Montana in Missoula on August 18th.