Written by: Keller Sherman
The Filer Wildcats hope that a 6-3 campaign in 2021 is a sign of things to come. While they came up just short of making the playoffs, there is plenty of reason to believe Justin Brandsma’s team is poised for a breakout season in 2022. Brandsma has brought a new culture to the program and he, along with his players are capable of taking the program to heights it has not seen in a long time.
Ashton Souza, Will Meyers, and Matt Bowman are all key returning players. Incoming players Wyatt DeFord, Jarrett Evans, and Greyson Long should make an immediate impact. They will need to step up in a big way as Brandsma believes that his team lost a great senior class. “All of our seniors will be hard to replace, it was a great group of kids,” Brandsma said. “Two that left huge shoes to fill are Joseph Bertao, his big playmaking ability and his leadership and Chris Coach, leadership on and off the field.”
The offense has the potential to be the best it has ever been for Filer. “Our offense will be a lot stronger in the passing game than it was a year ago. We have some great athletes we are adding to the mix this year that will allow us to further open up our playbook.” Brandsma said. He added that his team will “continue to build and perfect our system.”
The defense will also be strong. “Ashton Souza, Matthew Bowman, and Will Meyers are all returning starters coming off great junior campaigns. We have a high energy group that have worked hard this offseason to further perfect their craft.” Brandsma said. He also adds “cleaning up the secondary” as an area his team will look to improve on.
The Wildcats have perhaps as talented a team as they have ever had this upcoming season. Brandsma is excited to see this talent “showcase their skills on the field.” He also adds, “This year's X-factor will be our desire to win. This team knows they have an opportunity to accomplish something that Filer hasn’t seen in a long time and they are eager to make their community proud.”
The schedule picks up slightly in difficulty. North Fremont and Valley are off the schedule from last year and they have been replaced by challenging games against Sugar-Salem and Snake River. The good news? Both of these games are at home. If the Wildcats can find a way to win at least one of these games, it would be huge towards building momentum as they get into the meat of their schedule.
Filer will then hit the road for two straight road games. First in a non conference game against American Falls followed by the conference opener at Wood River. Conference play will then take a brief pause for a game against Wendell before picking back up again for a road game at Kimberly followed by a home date against Gooding. They will wrap up the regular season with one last non conference game at Declo before returning home for Senior Night against Buhl.
The Wildcats enter 2022 with as much optimism as they have ever had in recent years. With Gooding expected to have a down year with a new head coach, Filer will be among the other teams in their league looking to capitalize on the opportunity. Expect an exciting race to unfold in the Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference and Filer to be right in the thick of it.