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Nampa High School
School Info
Conference: 5A Southern Idaho Conference - West Division Pod A
Classification: 5A
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Head Coach: John Choate
Years as Head Coach: 4th Season
Previous Experience: Boise High School (2years), Caldwell High School (7 Years), Meridian High School (4 Years)
Record Last Year: 4-5
State Titles: 1984
Assistant Coaches:
Dan Richards
Ty Thomas
Ralph Angstman
Tony Zaragoza
Van Dunn
Marcos Sanchez
John Parsons
Zach Randolph
Ben Adams
Returning Players:
Elijah Dittenber, WR/DB, 12
Pedro King, RB/DB, 12
Kooper Wilcox, QB/DB, 12
Ray Cisneroz, RB/DB, 12
Dahlan Silvis, LB, 12
Kaleb Peterson, LB, 12
Christian Haragos, H/LB, 12
Cameron Benjamin, OL/DL, 12
Wyatt Silvis, H/ILB, 12
Joeseph Tonga, OL/DL, 12
Izzy Concepcion, OL/DL, 12
Rob Davenport, OL/DL, 12
Returning Players with Honors:
Pedro King, Honorable Mention All SIC TB
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Photo By: Loren Orr - #Kooper Wilcox
“Key Players” lost from last year:
Leo Garica (WR) Accounted for over 1,000 all purpose yards, Keenan Wilcox (Safety, H) 2nd team Offense and Defense, Cory Lester – 3 year starter at Center, Mason Schuler – HM Dlineman in 2014
Incoming “impact” players:
Victor Marquez, TB/LB, 11
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Team Preview:
Written by: Chris Langrill
The Nampa High football team finished with a 4-5 record last season, and head coach Jon Choate has a pretty good idea of how the Bulldogs could have finished with a winning record: stronger finishes.
“Point production dropped in the third and fourth quarters of most of our games,” Choate said.
Choate said it is a team goal to manage the second half of this season's games better.
“With as many two-way players as we have, we need to find creative ways to limit the number of snaps our two-way (players),” he said.
Choate said if that goal can be accomplished several positives can emerge this season.
“We have speed on the perimeter and the perimeter run game,” he said. “Kooper Wilcox returns at QB after a very productive 2014 season, along with Pedro King at tailback.”
King, who also plays defensive back, was honored as an honorable mention all-SIC player last season as a junior.
The offensive line returns three starters in Cameron Benjamin, Joey Tonga and Rob Davenport. But Choate said it will have to be juggled some, and unit as a whole will have to jell in order for it to have a successful campaign.
Choate said the theme of playing a strong second half carries over to the defense as well.
“We must improve our third-down conversions and have some gas left in the tank to keep games close in the third and fourth quarter to give our team an opportunity to win,” he said.
Rob Davenport, Joey Tonga and Cameron Benjamin return to help solidify the defensive line, and the linebacking corps will feature experience and talent with Wyatt Silvis and Christian Haragos leading the way. The secondary lacks experience, but Choate said he thinks the unit could have solid depth with plenty of speed at the corner position.
Choate was pleased with his defense's ball-hawking personality last season, and he wants to see that remain a part of the Bulldogs' mind-set.
“We have had a knack for taking the ball away, and that needs to continue,” Choate said.
The bottom line: Choate, in his fourth year as head coach, believes he knows what it will take for his team to succeed. He's eager to see how the season plays out.
“I'm excited to see how the young players develop and how our team will respond to adversity,” he said. “The only thing we guarantee our kids every year is that at some point in the season we will have to deal with injury and adversity.”
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