Written by: Keller Sherman
As head coach Kevin Kempf enters his third season as the head coach of the Bonneville Bees, his team will look to build on the flashes of improvement shown in 2021. Though Bonneville went 2-8 in 2021, the Bees were still able to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2012. However, Bonneville was soundly defeated by Pocatello in the first round 24-6.
The highlight of the 2021 season came when Bonneville traveled to Shelley and pulled off an improbable upset of the Russets 13-7. A 14-11 win over rival Hillcrest the following week marked the first time the Bees won consecutive games since 2018. Though the season ended on a three game losing streak, there is plenty of reason to believe Kempf and his squad are building towards a possible breakout season in 2022.
Several key pieces from last year’s team return in 2022 including eight players that received all-conference honors. That group is highlighted by senior linebacker RJ Woods, who was named to the first team for the second consecutive season.
In addition to Woods, other returning players that will be crucial to the team’s success in 2022 include senior quarterback Jacob Perez, senior receivers Anthem Dahlke and Tommy Kempf, junior linebacker Koah Harrigfeld, senior defensive back Tanner Hart, senior running back Spencer Sewell, and senior linemen Jarrod Orchard and Carson Chatterton..
Kolton Dallimore, Luke Romander, Dawson Belnap, Kaiden Hansen, Cody Hansen, and Bryce Reese will be the players missed most from last year’s team as Kempf labels these departures as “great players and great leaders”. Despite these losses, he feels his team will still be in great shape as it will return 90% of the starters from last year.
One player that Bonneville will look towards to come in and have a major impact right away is 6-foot-6, 225 pound sophomore Tivon Sakaguchi. He transfers in from Idaho Falls High School where he was the Freshmen Player of the Year last season and is described by Kempf as “big, strong, and fast.” He will play tight end and defensive end for the Bees.
After a disappointing season on the offensive side of the ball last season, Bonneville wasted no time making improvements. Kempf feels that these changes, along with the experienced players on the roster, will help the team make drastic improvements on offense in 2022.
“We started rebuilding our offense (from the ground up) about a week after our last game last season,” Kempf said. “We need to improve in every area of our offense. I believe we were one of the last place offenses for points per game last season. Put simply, we need to improve everywhere. The good news is that we are returning most of last year’s starters and they have lived in the weight room. We will be bigger, stronger and faster than last year.
The Bees only scored more than 14 points once last season, in a 28-21 loss to Preston. Additionally, they only scored 13 points or more on only three other occasions; their two wins against Shelley and Hillcrest and the loss to Century. In their six other games, the offense managed 8 points or less, making improvements on the offense all the more crucial.
While the defense was the strength of last season’s team, it still was not enough to make up for the poor showings that were routine from the offense last season. Both of Bonneville’s wins came when limiting the opponent to 11 points or less. However, in seven of the eight losses, the Bees allowed 20 points or more.
Kempf believes that the defense will carry the team yet again in 202. “We are returning 9 starters from last year. Without question this is the strength of our team,” Kempf said. “Assistant Head Coach Bobby Romander is also our Defensive Coordinator. Our areas of focus this season will be turnovers and flying to the ball.”
The 3rd year head coach has seen many positive changes take place within the program since taking over in 2020. Even with that, Kempf still feels the team needs to continue this momentum to put the struggles of the program in recent years behind them and build a mentality that they can win every game they play. If Bonneville can play with a can win mentality week in and week out, they will be a tough out for anyone on the schedule. Keeping the defense strong and continuing the offensive improvements will go a long way in building a regular contender at the 4A level.
The High Country Conference has produced five of the last six state champions at the 4A classification helping the league to plant itself as the premier 4A conference in the state. Kempf acknowledges this as he believes every team in the league has a legitimate chance to contend. He hopes his team can be the surprise out of the bunch and that by catching teams overlooking the Bees, they will be able to pull off a big upset or two.
Bonneville will kick off the 2022 campaign with a trip to the Beehive State to face the Logan Grizzlies. The Bees will then finish their nonconference slate with dates at home against Century and defending 5A state champion Rigby before heading into the always tough 4A High Country Conference schedule.
The conference slate opens against Idaho Falls. The two teams did not play during the Tigers’ two year stint at the 5A level, so this will be their first meeting since 2019. The Tigers were competitive at the 5A level last season and Kempf believes they will be great on the offensive and defensive lines. The Bees then head to Shelley and will look to get another big win over the Russets.
Bonneville will then take a brief break from league play and close out the month of September with a game against 5A Thunder Ridge. Conference play will then resume as the calendar turns to October with dates against rival Hillcrest and two time defending 4A state champion Skyline. Kempf is prepared for both games to be tough outs as he sees Hillcrest as “young, fast and tough” and notes that Skyline is “returning everyone” from last season’s title team. Bonneville will then close out the regular season with a trip to Blackfoot.
Playing in a challenging league gives Bonneville no easy wins and with no breaks in the non conference, the Bees will have their hands full week in and week out. However, with the amount of work the team has put in this offseason, there is plenty of reason to believe they will knock off someone big. Bonneville will enter the majority of their games this season as the underdog, but that should only fuel the team to go out and leave it all on the field. Win or lose, one thing is for certain; things are looking up for Bonneville and 2022 could be the start of something special for the Bees.