Written by: Brandon Baney
A year ago, the Idaho High School Activities Association began allowing teams to petition down a level in individual sports. Previously, a school had to petition all of its athletic programs, and a determination was then made based upon how competitive the school had been at its current classification level.
The Wood River football team became the first to petition individually, and the IHSAA granted their request, allowing the Wolverines to move down to Class 3A competition for football, while remaining in Class 4A for every other sport.
The result? A 3-7 overall record, but more importantly, a 2-2 mark within the Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference, good enough for third place and an at-large bid into the Class 3A playoffs. It marked Wood River’s first trip to the postseason since 2016.
Their reward? A long trip north to play undefeated Bonners Ferry and a narrow 21-7 loss. Getting a taste of the playoffs have left these Wolverines hungry for more, according to sixth year head coach Shane Carden. “We were very close in a lot of games last year and I’m excited to see this team make the jump and win those close games,” Carden said. “We were close to winning the playoff game last year, it came down to a couple of big plays we didn’t make, and that could have been the first playoff win in school history. This year we want to make that happen for our program.”
Last year, Wood River featured an explosive passing game. But three-year starting quarterback Sawyer Grafft is now at Santa Rosa Junior College in California, and his top receiver, Zack Dilworth, is at the University of Montana-Western in Dillon.
No problem for Wood River. They’ll shift to the running game a little more this season. “We have a large group of running backs and fullbacks led by Caleb Hothem,” Carden said. “It will allow us to run the ball more with the experience offensive line we have.” The O-Line will be led by seniors Ethan Desler and Andrew Lago. Both were All-Conference selections a year ago.
The passing game isn’t totally non-existent, though. “We have two very fast receivers in Gavin Hunter and Anton Holter,” Carden said. “They will allow us to spread the field out.”
Just like on offense, Hothem will be the featured piece. The senior has recorded more than 100 tackles each of the past two seasons. “We have more depth at linebacker this year and plenty of DBs that will be competing for starting jobs, which should make everyone better,” Carden said.
Overall, the SCIC will be a difficult conference in 2023. Defending champ Buhl lost a lot to graduation, but opposing coaches say Buhl will be reloading rather than rebuilding. Kimberly also made the playoffs last year and could have one of the most explosive offenses in the state. Gooding and Filer featured young teams a year ago, and are now a year older. Like most tight races, whoever stays healthiest could survive the SCIC gauntlet. “We have to take care of our bodies and stay healthy,” Carden concluded.