Written by: Keller Sherman
The West Side Pirates completed an undefeated 11-0 campaign in 2021 capped off by the program’s third straight state championship. 2022 could be a rebuilding year for coach Tyson Moser’s squad, however, as 15 seniors, 7 of which were three-year starters on each of the past three state championship teams, are gone. Owen Nielsen, Easton Shurtliff, and Shad Groll return in 2022 and will be expected to lead the way for what is expected to be the youngest West Side team in recent years.
2021’s West Side team was littered with talent and multiple selections to the all-state team. 2A Player of the Year Cage Brokens and three position All-State selection Bryler Shurtliff highlight the group of departures. Shurtliff, who will play at the collegiate level at Idaho State, received honors for his work at wide receiver, defensive back, and kicker. Three additional first-team selections include offensive lineman Fielding Mumford, defensive lineman Jacob Stokes, and linebacker Parker Henderson. In addition, defensive back Cristian Plancarte was named to the second team.
The run game and offensive line should remain strong despite the talent lost from last year’s team. This offensive strength is also West Side’s strength on the defensive side of the ball as Moser states that his team thrives on stopping the run. He also hopes his team will be able to create more turnovers which can easily change the game.
West Side has lower expectations than usual in 2022 and other teams in their league and around the 2A classification will look to capitalize and catch the Pirates in a down year. With many expecting the Pirates to take a big step back this season, Moser sees this as motivation for his team as he states, “Not a lot of pressure on this group. With the loss of the best senior class we have ever had, not many people expect this group to be very good. I’m excited to see how they step up to the challenge.” He also adds that the most crucial element to West Side having success in 2022 will be “how quickly young players learn and adapt to varsity football.”
The Pirates will enter the season on a 32-game winnin streak. They have not lost a game since a 7-6 defeat at Snake River on September 6th, 2019. It’s been even longer than that since West Side lost at home with their last home loss coming on October 13, 2017 to Declo in a 41-7 rout.
A rematch of the 2A state championship game from the past two seasons kicks things off as West Side travels to Firth. The two teams also met in the season opener in 2021 where West Side emerged victorious in overtime by a final score of 26-20. No one else would come within 27 points of the Pirates from there on out until the two teams met again in the game for all the marbles. Still, it was a convincing 33-13 title game win that capped off what will go down as one of the greatest runs in state history as West Side pulled off the rare three-peat and became the first to do so at the 2A classification.
West Side will then return home for two straight home games against Layton Christian, Utah and 3A foe Marsh Valley before an open date leads into conference play. The Pirates have won 17 straight conference games dating back to an October 6, 2017 loss at Aberdeen. They will face a difficult task to increase that streak to 18 however as they head to Bear Lake to do battle with the Bears, who will seek their first win over West Side since 2016. The Pirates will remain on the road for their next two games; a conference date at Soda Springs followed by a non-conference game at Declo. They will then return home for two straight home games to close out the regular season against Aberdeen and Malad.
Many of the players on West Side’s roster in 2022 have been a part of the past three state championship teams in backup roles. Now that they are the future of the program, they must step up in a big way to maintain the elite standard the past three teams have set. The results may not show right away, but these players are capable of building for 2023 and beyond showing that West Side will remain a force at the 2A classification for many years to come.