Written by: Brandon Baney
2021 marked the first year that many of Idaho’s state football brackets were selected and seeded using the MaxPreps rankings. While the system was undoubtedly better than the pre-determined brackets that were drawn up in the past, there were still some hiccups along the way.
Certain schools were vastly over-seeded, while others were criminally under-seeded. It led to some teams having less-than-ideal seeds, and a few schools even missing the playoffs altogether.
The Class 2A bracket, in particular, had many fans scratching their heads and questioning the science behind the MaxPreps rankings formula.
Nampa Christian went 7-1 during the regular season, and won the Western Idaho Conference in emphatic fashion. Their reward? The #5 seed overall and a trip all the way across the state to #4 Bear Lake for their playoff opener.
Bear Lake went 5-3 in the regular season, and appeared to receive a boost from having three-time 2A champion West Side in their conference. No matter how you dissected the MaxPreps rankings, many fans felt that Nampa Christian should have hosted Bear Lake instead.
The Trojans traveled 338 miles to Montpelier for that November playoff game, and narrowly lost 14-6, leaving many Nampa Christian fans wondering, “What if?”
That stinging loss was further amplified by the graduation of one of the most talented senior classes in recent memory: Landon Cheney, Dane Bradshaw, Caleb Johnson, Josh Tiersma, Simon De Jong, Daidan Glenn, Gabriel Bowlin, Geoffrey Williams, and Cody Greentree all impacted the Nampa Christian program in a major way.
“I could name off all of the individual accomplishments of these young men, but it wouldn’t do them any justice,” said Trojans head coach Daniel Jenkins. “The impact these young men left on our program will last for years to come. There were all 2-to-3 year varsity starters for us, and some of them saw limited action as freshmen, as well. Their leadership and mental toughness through adversity will be missed the most.”
Despite losing all of those talented players to graduation, Jenkins anticipates this season being more of a reloading year for the Trojans, rather than a rebuilding year.
The biggest reason for this outlook is the strength of the offensive line. Ethan Pearson was a 1st Team All-WIC selection, and JeanCarlo “JC” Siguenza earned 2nd Team honors. They’ll be joined by returning starters Sean Barton and Christian Langdon. All four are seniors, and will be expected to lead a green group of skill players.
Senior wide receiver Muluken Knudson was an Honorable Metion All-WIC selection, and fellow seniors Trevin McConnell and Devon McDaniel saw limited playing time a year ago at receiver and running back, respectively. Junior tight end Addison Taylor is back as well. The starting quarterback job is up for grabs right now, with junior Aidan Thompson and sophomore Tyler Szilagyi both competing.
Defensively, coach Jenkins is relying on a strong core of athletes. “Our defensive strength is our ability to attack from everywhere on the field,” Jenkins said. “We will again be aligning in a 3-3 stack defense. Our general focus is to limit big plays.”
Pearson and Siguenza were All-WIC selections on the defensive line, while McDaniel earned 2nd Team honors at linebacker. Knudson and McConnell are expected to lead the secondary.
Overall, Nampa Christian has a great chance to repeat as WIC champion in 2022. But it all comes down to the sophomore and junior classes. “I am excited for our youth movement,” Jenkins said. “We have added some new wrinkles, along with some new players on both sides of the ball. We lost a lot of experience, but we have a solid core of talent coming up.”
“We have great team chemistry and great buy-in to the program. I am looking forward to a great season,” Jenkins concluded.