Written by: Will Hoenike
After not playing football at all in 2020 and 2021 – and playing just one game in 2019 – the Cascade Ramblers are going to attempt to revive its once strong program in 2022.
The head coach is Keala Hoe and the season is scheduled to kick off on Friday, August 26, on the road against defending Long Pin Conference champion Horseshoe Bend.
The program won a state championship in 2003 under longtime head coach Pal Sartori but has fallen on tough times in recent years. Before playing just one game from 2019 to 2022, the Ramblers had seven consecutive seasons with two wins or fewer. Its last break-even season came in 2011 when Cascade went 3-3.
The school’s enrollment, according to the Idaho High School Activities Association, is just north of 60 students, which puts it about in the middle of the 1A Division 2 classification. And before you think, “well, maybe they just don’t have great athletes,” the school’s basketball program has reached the state tournament in two of the past three years and played for the state title in 2020. It had two boys qualify for the state track and field meet in the pole vault last spring. The school has good athletes and success in other programs.
Now, it will try to rebuild in football. The team currently has one home game listed on its schedule, September 16 against Tri-Valley.