Written by: Brandon Baney
The 2021 football season at Timberlake High was akin to riding a roller coaster. There were several surges upward coupled with a couple of heart-dropping plummets. While that’s exciting for the fans, it’s anything but for the coaches and players.
It started with a 27-12 non-conference road loss against South Fremont, a perennial 3A playoff participant. That loss was followed by three wins in a row against tough competition: Shadle Park (Washington), Moscow and Colville (Washington.)
Right when Tigers fans had settled in with a 3-1 mark, the biggest plummet of the year occurred: a 50-0 shutout loss against regional rival Lakeland. But while the drop was sudden, the climb back up was remarkable: a 3-0 romp through the Intermountain League, including a narrow 24-19 win over Bonners Ferry in the regular season finale.
That set up Timberlake for perhaps the toughest drop of them all: a 28-21 loss to Gooding at home in the opening round of the playoffs.
So while Timberlake went a respectable 6-3 in 2021, there’s a certain hunger surrounding head coach Kelly Amos and his team as they prepare for what they hope is a more predictable ride this year. “We are hoping to reduce errors and be more consistent,” Amos said. “Last year we were too sporadic and it cost us some very important drives and games.”
The Tigers said goodbye to a talented senior class, including IML MVP James Billingsley and Defensive Player of the Year Kale Paslay. Billingsley was a two-way force at fullback and linebacker (and even moonlighted on the offensive line when a teammate was injured), while Paslay racked up 87 tackles and 3 sacks from his outside linebacker position.
So with a fresh crop of varsity newcomers, a theme has developed in camp so far at Timberlake. “We have a lot of players that are going to need to compete to earn playing time,” Amos said. “When you have to compete every day, it will make us much better when we compete on Friday nights.”
That sense of open competition is most apparent on the offensive line. Senior Joel Possinger is the reigning IML Lineman of the Year, and fellow senior JT Armes is penciled in a starter, as well. But otherwise, “There are seven other guys that will fight it out for the other three positions,” according to Amos.
When the front five gets settled, they’ll be entrusted to pave the way for a stable of running backs. It’s no secret that Timberlake wants to run the ball effectively, and Wyatt MacArthur, Hunter Higgins, Cooper Lenz, Vaughn Higgins and Jacob Vallieres will all get carries this year.
Junior Cole Meidinger steps in as Timberlake’s new starting quarterback, and he’ll lean on Rajnee Oliviera in the passing game.
Oliviera is a dynamic athlete, and earned 2nd Team All-State honors at defensive back a year ago. He’ll be joined by returning starters Hunter Higgins and Vallieres, making the secondary Timberlake’s biggest strength on defense.
Up front, “We’ll be running a four-man front this year, where we’ll emphasize stopping the run,” said Amos. “Amari James is a returning starter, and the rest will be filled in with several others fighting for playing time.”
MacArthur anchors the linebacking corps, and will be joined by first-year starters Possinger and Vaughn Higgins.
If breaking in several new varsity players wasn’t bad enough, the Intermountain League only features two teams this year. Former IML members Kellogg and Priest River dropped down to the Class 2A ranks, leaving the regular season finale between Bonners Ferry and Timberlake as the de facto league title game. “There are only two teams in our league,” Amos said. “And I think Bonners Ferry will be a very solid team.”
That makes the non-conference schedule extremely important. A certain number of at-large postseason bids are available, but they are determined by the MaxPreps ranking system. Timberlake will take on 4A opponents Moscow and Lakeland, 3A foes South Fremont and McCall-Donnelly, 2A St. Maries, and out-of-state opponents Shadle Park (Washington) and Lethbridge Collegiate Institute (Alberta, Canada).
But Amos isn’t worried about the schedule. The only school he’s focused on is Timberlake. “Our season will be determined by how quickly our players develop into varsity-level football players,” he said.