Written by: Keller Sherman

A year ago, it was mid-October and the South Fremont Cougars were 6-1, the only loss being a 32-20 setback against Snake River. After a thrilling 28-26 victory over Teton, excitement was in the air all around St Anthony. However, following a 41-21 defeat at the hands of Marsh Valley and a difficult outing against Sugar-Salem, the Cougars headed into the playoffs 6-3.

The Cougars cruised past Kimberly in the first round, but more than met their match in the quarterfinals against Homedale as they fell to the Trojans 42-13 to finish the season 6-4. In a stacked Mountain Rivers Conference, South Fremont will look to once again be in contention for a conference crown in 2023.

Bryce Johnson will return at quarterback and provide a familiar face of leadership to several new faces around him. Hunter Hobbs, Preston Stoddard, Kolby Clark, Ryker Simmons, and Carter Vining highlight a graduating class that will be missed dearly.

Aside from Johnson, other key returning players include Max Clark, Jose Morillon, Neilson Glascock, Hadley Hill, Raiden Whitmore, Skylar Forbush, and Tayson Gee. These pieces will allow South Fremont to reload and pick up where they left off in 2022.

The Cougars travel to Wood River to open up the season in a Week 0 game. South Fremont took a 20-8 decision last season in St Anthony and will host Timberlake the following week as they seek to beat the Tigers for the second straight season. An early homecoming follows as the Cougars host Salmon on Labor Day weekend.

South Fremont is on the road for their next two games as they travel to Aberdeen and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They will look to avenge a loss to Snake River at home before opening up conference play at Teton.

After the road trip to Driggs to face the Timberwolves, the Cougars will look to complete a revenge tour of the regular season by knocking off Marsh Valley and Sugar-Salem to close out the regular season.

South Fremont has been among the more consistent programs in the state of Idaho in recent seasons. The Cougars will look to make the playoffs for the fourth straight year in 2023. They reached the semifinals as recently as 2020, but the last two seasons have come to an end in the quarterfinals against Homedale. If South Fremont is to go deep in the playoffs this season, they will most likely have to go through Homedale. Can the Cougars knock the Trojan off its horse and make this goal a reality?