Written by: Will Hoenike
We’re going to pull back the curtain on “preview” articles a little bit here. When researchers are looking for teams that may make a move up the standings, they’ll look to see who has the most returning players. But, beyond that, which teams return a strong quarterback.
Meet Logos High School of the 1A Division 1 Whitepine League. Head coach Nick Holloway’s team had 38 players listed on its roster last season (for a point of reference, Moscow High, a 4A school in the same city, listed 31 players on its varsity roster). Of the 38, only one was a senior.
Seeing as how its uncommon for a 1A Division 1 team to have 37 players on its roster – let alone 37 non-seniors – that’s a checkmark in the first box. Lots of returning players.
As for the second box, strong quarterback play, you should acquaint yourself with incoming senior Jack Driskill at Logos. As a junior, the 6-footer threw for over 2,300 yards and ran for almost 1,000 more. He threw for 32 scores and ran for 11 more, averaging more than 365 total yards per game last season, leading the way for a team that put up 356 points in nine games during the 2022 season.
“If we pay attention to the details and execute with excellence,” said Holloway when asked about the key to a successful season this fall. “As a newer program, this is only our 3rd year to have varsity football. We think we finally have the pieces in place and the experience to contend for league and playoffs.”
It starts with Driskill, but it certainly does not end there. Driskill’s favorite target, Lucius Comis, also returns this fall after hauling in 12 scoring tosses last fall. Jonathan Morrill, Henry Sundie, and Dom Porras also return after catching at least 15 passes each last season. And six players, including Driskill, who carried the ball in the running game also return this fall.
Comis, Lundie, and Morrill return on defense as well after combining for 19 tackles per game in 2022. Junior Ben Carlson is back after leading the team at eight stops per game last fall and Driskill intercepted eight passes in the secondary.
It’s easy to see the pieces that Holloway is referring to. It’s also easy to see why people around the 1A Division 1 ranks have their eye on the Knights as a potential breakthrough team in 2023.
Logos will have to start fast, though. After opening the season on the road against 1A Division 2 foe Lakeside in Plummer, the Knights host Clearwater Valley and travel to Kamiah – two of the teams expected to be near the top of the Whitepine standings – in consecutive weeks. It’s a challenging start for the Knights, but also an opportunity to announce its presence in the Whitepine race very early in the season.
The Whitepine, collectively, is looking to bounce back after a bit of a down season in 2022 with just three teams qualifying for the 1A Division 1 postseason. Kamiah claimed the automatic berth by winning the league and both Clearwater Valley and Lapwai earned at-large selections into the 12-team field. The league’s combined postseason record was just one win and three losses, though the league has still placed at least one team in the classification’s semifinals every year from 2017 through Kamiah’s appearance last fall.
Can Logos extend the streak to seven consecutive seasons for the Whitepine and, in doing so, help the league get back on track? With the two boxes checked above – and if the Knights can stay healthy – it would seem to be a very fair possibility.