Years as Head Coach
2nd Season

Previous Experience
Skyview HS (asst.), Madison HS (HC), Melba HS (HC), Kuna HS (HC)

Assistant Coaches
Zac Farnam, Mike Howell, Greg Ritter, Dennis Ellis, Manny Chavez, Derek Andreason, Michael Boyd, Tim Young, Mike Rostratter, Jakob Wallentine, Joey Longoria, Blaze Tokioka, Kevin Hastin, Todd Newman, Austin Belvoir, Josh Scott, Jim Whitbread

Record Last Year
1-8

State Titles
None

Returning Players
Carson Rasmussen, OL, 12
Beau Jaques, DL, 12
Zac Nyland, OL, 12
Cooper Hiatt, LB, 12
Gage Haws, LB, 10
Carson Hamilton, WR, 12
Jackson Rasmussen, WR, 10
Cade Walker, RB, 10
Mason Rasmussen, LB, 12
Kaden Newman, DB, 11
Blake Lotridge, OL, 12

Returning Players with Honors
Carson Rasmussen, OL 1st Team All SIC
Zac Nyland, OL 2nd Team All SIC
Nate Gamette, HM Kicker All SIC
Beau Jaques, DL 2nd Team All SIC
Gage Haws, LB 2nd Team All SIC
Kaden Newman, DB 2nd Team All SIC

Key Players lost from last year
Spencer Lake, OL. Was an HM All SIC player, one of our few seniors from first season in school history.

Incoming impact players
Gabe Alvarado, WR, 12
Nolan Scott, ATH, 11
Dalin Walker, DL, 12

Written by: Lucas Gebhart

There’s an eerie feeling across the state about Owyhee Athletics and a shared sentiment that’s it’s only a matter of time before the Storm burst onto athletic landscape in a big way.

In some ways, they already have. Owyhee’s boys’ basketball and baseball teams already have state titles, and the school has only been open for a year.

Owyhee’s football program wasn’t as fortunate as basketball and baseball last season, but make no mistake, this school is filled with athletes and it could only be a matter of time before that talent translates to the football field.

Despite the 1-8 record a season ago, their head coach Sherm Blaser says he saw flashes of greatness out of his young team last year. He’s hoping to see more of it this season.

“We had flashes of being a very good offense,” Blaser said. “We want to continue to grow and build in our system.”

Owyhee lost its first seven before picking up their first win against Boise in mid-October only to lose to Boise the following week. It left a lot to build on, but the football team, much like the school, is now older and growing faster than your average teenager.

The school itself opened the 2021 school year with a little over 1,400 students, making it one of West Ada’s smallest high schools. Don’t expect that to be the case for long. At the beginning of the year, Idaho Ed News reported that Owyhee predicted a senior class of just over 100 students while its freshmen class stood at over 500, meaning that Owyhee is only going to get bigger and older.

The same is true for their football program. The Storm has just over 50 players listed on their roster a season ago, but only 10 were seniors.

Five of their returning players received some sort of all-conference honor last season too. Offensive lineman Carson Rasmussen was a first-team selection while fellow lineman Zac Nyland was a second team pick.

“We feel our biggest strength is our O Line,” Blaser said.

Beau Jaques, Gage Haws and Kaden Newman were also second team selections on the defensive side of the ball and the Storm kicker, Nate Gamette, was an honorable mention.

It won’t take long to see how much this roster learned from last year as one of the season’s biggest tests, the Madison Bobcats, wait for the Storm in Week One. Owyhee will then dive right into SIC play, playing Centennial and Boise the next two weeks before hosting Mountain View and traveling to Eagle and Borah in mid-September. They will close the year with Nampa and Kuna.