Written by: Will Hoenike
Each year, we ask coaches to identify other players to watch in their conference. Coaches around the 1A Division 2 Whitepine Conference identified Lewis County senior Ty Hambly, the reigning conference Most Valuable Player and a second team All-State selection at linebacker.
Lewis County head coach Monty Moddrell, who has been around for seven years now, had a more succinct answer.
“All of Kendrick’s roster,” Moddrell said.
While there’s no doubt Kendrick is the thousand-pound gorilla in the conference as the defending state champion with virtually its entire roster back, Moddrell’s Eagles have a very solid core of players returning as well, led by Hambly, who ran for 986 yards, passed for 827, averaged ten tackles per contest, and returned three kicks for touchdowns as a junior.
“We try to take advantage of Ty Hambly’s athleticism as much as possible with roll-outs and RPOs (run-pass options) where he can check down to his feet if nothing is there,” Moddrell said of his senior quarterback and linebacker.
The Eagles, for the most part, were effective on offense in 2021, averaging a little under 40 points per game. The team’s offensive front will be buoyed by the return of junior Nic Kirkland who missed his sophomore season because of a shoulder injury sustained playing baseball. He starred for the team as a freshman and should slide in to one of the team’s two guard positions in front of Hambly. He’ll be joined up front by three-year starting center Jasper McCorkle and versatile senior TJ Fetters.
That trio will lead the way for a talented backfield of Hambly, senior Wyatt Webb, and junior Gage Crow.
“We try to utilize Wyatt Webb’s speed on the edge and Gage Crow’s power up the middle,” Moddrell explained. “Nothing too incredibly fancy, just fundamentally sound technique and proper angles.”
With Hambly, Webb, and Crow also back at linebacker for the Eagles this fall, Moddrell and his staff hope to see continued improvement from the team’s defensive line to make the rest of the defense even better. Kirkland brings depth to the defensive front, as does sophomore Trevor Knowlton who missed much of last season with an injury himself.
“We have pretty good speed in our linebacking corps and look to them to come up and make big plays,” Moddrell said. “With some improvement up front in our defensive line and some new faces in the secondary, we should have a strong defense.”
The Eagles’ schedule presents a nice balance of winnable contests and strong challenges leading up to the start of Whitepine conference play on September 23 against the aforementioned Kendrick Tigers. The game, which will be played in Craigmont (Lewis County, a co-operative team of Highland of Craigmont and Nezperce High Schools, splits its home games between the two towns), has undoubtedly been circled on a lot of calendars across Lewis County after Kendrick blasted the Eagles on its way to the state title last fall.
Lewis County will also travel to Meadows Valley, near McCall, on September 16 where they’ll face old friend Jared McIlvain. The Mountaineers head coach is a former Lewis County assistant and the two squads have been friendly combatants as Meadows Valley restarted its football program last season after a ten-year hiatus.
Like is often the case, health and depth will be critical factors in Lewis County’s push to the 1A Division 2 playoffs. The team reached the playoffs in 2019 but failed to qualify the past two seasons. With a good group of seniors and strong collection of incoming talent, the door is ajar for the Eagles to return to postseason play.
“We look to have the most numbers we have had in a long time and this is exciting,” Moddrell said. “We should be in the low twenties (in total participation) and can finally field some legitimate scout-teams in practice. The boys have been working hard in the offseason and I can’t wait to see the payoff.”