Written by: Lucas Gebhart
The 5A SIC Foothills pod had two clear tiers last season. The problem for Centennial was the Patriots were the best team in the wrong tier.
Mountain View, Borah and Capital all finished with a combined record of 21-10. The three all made the state playoffs while Centennial, Kuna and Owyhee finished the 2022 season with a 4-23 combined record.
Centennial head coach Matt Greene says getting in the top tier begins and ends with the running game. He says the strength of his offense will be just that.
“How effectively we can establish the run game and stop the run,” he said. “Control the line of scrimmage, limit turnovers, and move the ball on the ground.”
Despite a tough 2021 season, Greene says he has some positive pieces to build around this year and points to his senior class as evidence. The Patriots return six players with all-conference honors, and most are seniors.
“Players like Makyh Murphy, Ben Conder, Damian Suarez, Nick Varchaver, Brad Ames and Dominic Hines have stepped up as leaders,” he explained. “They have established a higher standard of work ethic.”
Ames was a first-team all-conference linebacker last year and Conder also picked up a first-team all-conference nod.
On the defensive line, Fabrice Ndaitouroum was a second-team all-conference pick while Kai Twaddle-Dunham was a second teamer as well on the offensive line. Daniel DeMers and Jacob Carney were honorable mentions in the secondary.
While the 2021 season didn’t go quite like the Patriots had hoped, it was still better than 2020 which featured a winless season and a global pandemic. By the end of the 2020 season, the Patriots had lost 12 consecutive games dating back to the previous year.
Centennial finished with an improved 2-7 record in 2021, but there is still plenty to build on.
The Patriots ended their 12-game losing skid with a 57-30 blowout win over newcomer Owyhee. It was their first win to open a season since 2018.
But the rest of the season didn’t go as well. The Patriots went on to score a combined 67 points the rest of the way, meaning 45 percent of Centennial’s points were scored in the opening week. This drought occurred while the defense gave up an average of nearly 41 points per game.
“We must do a better job of stopping the ground game and getting teams off the field on 3rd down,” Greene said.
Centennial opens its season with Kuna and Owyhee, the two schools the Patriots beat last season.