Written by: Lucas Gebhart
Last season was Nampa’s first in Idaho’s 5A classification. Expectations were low, but Nampa had a new head coach and one of the best running backs in the state.
The result was seven wins and a playoff berth – not bad for a team that was only expected to win a game or two.
The only problem about exceeding expectations is others tend to notice. That’s exactly what happened to Nampa this winter as head coach Jon Choate, after just one season with Nampa, was lured back to the college coaching ranks by the College of Idaho.
Their star running back, Daniel Carillo, is also gone – lost to graduation after rushing for over 1,700 yards and a mind-blowing 22 touchdowns.
Back to the drawing board.
“We have completely revamped our offense and that should give teams a lot of problems,” said new head coach Dave Sandau said. “We should have a solid offensive unit and a physical group that flies to the football.”
Sandau, who like his predecessor, brings college coaching experience to the table, inherits a very young team. Their new running back, Josh Peterson, is one of the few returning seniors. The rest, including their new quarterback, Dom Almarez, are underclassmen.
“We have a very talented sophomore group and many of them are going to get varsity minutes,” Sandau said.
In all, seven sophomores are expected to see the field quite a bit this season. The list includes Tez Hernandez (slot), William Raass (guard), Gage Keyes (center), Ryland Rush (safety), Eli Kincheloe (defensive end) and Hugo Afamasaga (defensive end).
It will be a tall order against a tough 5A SIC schedule. But then again, we said the same thing last year.
“I’m excited to see all the hard work these young men have been putting in translate to the football field,” Sandau said. “We have really tried to elevate our summer workouts and practices and these young men have met the challenge head on.”