Written by: Will Hoenike
Coming off of a nine-win season and an appearance in the 1A Division 1 (now 2A) state championship game, the Oakley Hornets will once again be tasked with reloading coming into the 2024 season.
Head coach Brennan Jones and his staff must replace two-way, first team All-State performers Bry Severe (RB/LB) and Isaac Cranney (WR/DB), along with other key performers like Kooper Beck and Kyler Robinson among a graduating class of eleven seniors that nearly won four consecutive state championships.
That’s a tall order. But, when you’ve had the run of success that the Hornet program has had (six championship-game appearances since 2016), you’ve obviously built a sustainable model that allows you to fill those voids. And this year, it looks like the Hornets will lean on their defense.
Senior Dallin Hardy was second team All-State as an offensive lineman in 2023 and, this fall, he’ll lead a talented and stout defensive group in Oakley. He’ll be joined by senior defensive end Porter Bingham and junior linemen Houston Robinson and Wyatt Bingham, along with youngsters Kohl Beck (sophomore) and Bridger Cotant (sophomore) to build a firm front wall defensively. It’s a versatile group, too, as most of them can shift between the defensive line and linebacker positions based on situations and personnel groupings.
As a group, the Oakley defense held opponents to an average of 24 points per game last fall which, in the 8-man game, is pretty good. But the team slugged its way to the state title game by overwhelming most teams offensively, topping 70 points in four separate games and 60 points in three more. That’s seven of 11 games with at least 60 points on the scoreboard. But this year’s group could look a little different.
The team returns sophomore Jackson Rice at quarterback to take the reins from Robinson. Rice saw some action as a freshman before being sidelined by an injury. Beck and Contant will also have roles on the offensive side of the ball, creating a young nucleus (all three are sophomores) supporting a solid group of returning linemen and tight ends like Hardy, Robinson, and the two Binghams. It should be a good offense, but perhaps not quite as explosive as last year’s team
However, with what should be a strong defense, it likely won’t need to be. It will be allowed to develop and grow over the course of the regular season before what looks like another likely playoff appearance. The Hornets do come out of the gates with a pair of very difficult non-conference games, playing at Grace on August 24 before playing a neutral-site game in Homedale against state powerhouse Kendrick on September 7 before hosting its first home (and conference) game on September 13 against rival Raft River.
Oakley will play another non-conference game on October 4 – an almost 500-mile trip to Moscow to take on the Logos Knights from District 2 in what could end up being a playoff preview between two very good teams.