Written by: Keller Sherman
Not many could have expected the Firth Cougars, a team that has been among the more dominant at the 2A classification in recent years, to be undergoing a coaching change entering 2022. However, after the resignation of Jordan Bartlett, Rigo Vasquez assumes head coaching duties after a three year stint as Firth’s defensive coordinator. He inherits a program with sky high expectations that still seeks its first state title since 2006. Vasquez will look to guide the Cougars there as the 2A classification looks to be wide open for the first time in recent years.
Firth will be loaded with talent to help get them to a state title. Several all-state and all-conference selections return in 2022. That includes three first-team all-state defensive selections in Kyle Jacobsen, Alex Vasquez, and Burton Park. Two additional players were named to the second team in offensive lineman Mario Lizarraga and defensive lineman Arik Blonquist. The Cougars also had several entries to all-conference teams highlighted by first-team quarterback Gage Vasquez.
The Cougars expect to reload in areas where they lost talent with incoming players Jeffery Edwards, Darrell Vasquez, Garrett Nelson, and Wyatt Nelson. Athan Blondquist is a notable loss from last year’s team and Vasquez describes him as “a work horse on the defense.” Blondquist was a two-time all-state defensive end in 2020 and 2021 as well as the Nuclear Conference defensive player of the year in 2021.
Firth will run a Wing T offense. It will once again rely on the senior leadership that has been present in the program for many years. Vasquez lists a trio of three-year starters as key players on offense: Gage Vasquez, Alex Vasquez and Kyle Jacobsen. The offensive line will be young, however, and Vasquez hopes that he can “get some young talent going early in the year.”
On defense, a 5-3 scheme will be utilized. Vasquez is excited to see what the defense can do this season. “With Kyle Jacobsen leading the defense and Burton Park and Alex Vasquez helping out we have a strong core group defensively,” Vasquez. The secondary and pass defense will be areas that the Cougars look to improve on.
As players come and go, Firth has been able to reload efficiently, which has helped the Cougars to become one of the top programs in the state. “Over the last three years we have had some success with keys players graduating and underclassmen jumping into those roles with most of this senior class having had 3, if not 4 years of varsity experience,” Vasquez said of the team’s ability to reload.
Even with multiple seniors in starting positions this upcoming season, Vasquez believes it will be the underclassmen stepping up and playing well defensively that will be crucial to the Cougars making a deep playoff run.
Firth will have an early opportunity for a statement win when three-time defending state champion West Side comes to town to open the season. A home game against Soda Springs precedes two challenging road dates at Bear Lake and Declo. After an open date, conference play begins in full swing.
League play starts out on a soft note with Ririe on the road followed by Salmon at home, but the difficulty picks up in their final two games. The Cougars will host North Fremont in a game that will likely decide the conference title and follow that up with a road game at a West Jefferson team that Vasquez believes will be scary. He praises their new coach and new system and believes that combined with their talent, the Panthers “can be a scary team not just in our conference but in the state.”
As a first year head coach that has been with the program as defensive coordinator for the past three years, Vasquez will look to achieve the rare feat of being a first year head coach to win a state title. Everything is there for Firth to win their first state title since 2006, but the big question will be if it can all come together to make the goal a reality.