Written by: Will Hoenike
Over the past ten years, few high school football teams in Idaho, at any level, have been as consistent as the Raft River Trojans.
The 1A Division 1 squad from Malta, located about 35 miles southeast of Burley, has an overall record of 80-24 in the past decade, qualifying for the state playoffs each season, including a perfect 12-0 state championship team in 2016.
For those of you who want to skip the rest of this and just pencil the Trojans in for six wins and at least a third-place finish in the Snake River Conference, go ahead. History says you’ll probably be right. But, just for fun, head coach Chad Evans and his players will go ahead and play out the season to see if those numbers will live forever in ink.
“With only returning three varsity starters from last year, only one of which is playing in the same position as last year, we will have a lot of kids stepping up and playing big minutes,” said Evans, the sixth-year head coach.
It’s not a new concept in high school football – especially at the 8-man level – to see a prominent skill-position player move to quarterback following the departure. Tate Whitaker was an all-state performer for Raft River last season, totaling 40 touchdowns passing and rushing, to help his team reach the state quarterfinals. With his graduation, Evans and his coaching staff have moved Tanner Tracy to the quarterback position this season. The senior was an all-conference receiver for Raft River last season and is comfortable with the ball in his hands.
Protecting Tracy will be senior Talon Taylor, the lone returning starter who will be playing the same position, along the offensive line with newcomers Ryder Dalton and Ethan Felthauser, both juniors. That group will be tasked with helping pave the way for an offense that averaged over 30 points per game last season, including three games of over 50 points.
Junior Kai Ward, an all-state kicker, will expand his role to include more time on offense and defense this fall. He’ll fill a role at running back along with junior Blake Tracy and hope to continue a long line of highly-productive Raft River running backs, like Ethan Bernad, Thaine Loughmiller, Cutler Erickson, and Wacey Holtman, among others.
“I’m excited that we basically have a clean slate to work with,” Evans said. “These kids have played together as a group for a lot of years and it is exciting to finally see them get their time under the lights.”
Coaches will often tell you that championships are usually won on defense. Raft River’s state championship team from 2016 held ten of its 12 opponents to less than 20 points, with seven of those ten being held to a single score or less. The Trojans’ defense performed admirably last season until faltering down the stretch due to some injuries. With Taylor and Dalton anchoring the defensive line in front of the two Tracys and Ward, the pieces are in place for another solid defense for Raft River.
The path to the top of the Snake River Conference, as usual, is riddled with landmines and Raft River faces two of the more dangerous ones very early in the season. The Trojans travel to Twin Falls in the season’s second week to take on the explosive Lighthouse Christian Lions on September 8 and then return home the following week to face heated rival – and two-time defending state champion – Oakley on September 15.