Written by: Will Hoenike
Expectations are justifiably high in western Canyon County, where the 1A Division 1 Notus Pirates return the Western Idaho Conference’s offensive and defensive players of the year under the tutelage of fifth-year head coach Joe Woodland.
The Pirates are coming off a seven-win campaign that included a conference title, but must replace four-year starting quarterback Kaeden Clemens and All-State defensive end Julian Gallegos, among others. Clemens was injured early in the team’s quarterfinal playoff game against Butte County, which jump-started the transition to now-sophomore Benny Guevara.
“Benny has a really strong arm,” Woodland said. “We are hoping to use our speed and take advantage of some one-on-one situations.”
Fortunately, it won’t all fall on the shoulders of Guevara. The Pirates return dynamic senior running back Carter Woodland and a pair of first-team all-conference offensive linemen in senior Aaron Jimenez and junior Easton St. Germain. Woodland ran for over 1,500 yards to spearhead an offense that averaged nearly 50 points per game. All-Conference receiver Grayson Pylican also returns to the Pirate offense, so it isn’t a stretch to see where Notus could match – and perhaps exceed – the offensive output of 2021.
Defensively, the Pirates return a solid core of productive players, including Jimenez, who earned second-team All-State recognition following a vote of the classification’s coaches.
“Aaron usually requires a double team, which gives other athletes an opportunity to make a play,” Woodland said. “Our defensive line has been tough up front the past two seasons.”
Jimenez will be joined up front by seniors Eli Hill and Connor Stafford, but Woodland and his staff will be looking to replace all-conference linebacker Elijah Martin.
“We need to continue to improve at the linebacker position,” Woodland said. “We will move some guys around and disguise some of our blitz formations to take advantage of our speed.”
The coaching staff, for very good reason, feels good about its secondary, led by Carter Woodland and Tristan Aspiazu, each of whom received all-conference honors as defensive backs last fall as juniors. Only two teams scored more than 22 points against Notus last season – a mid-season non-conference loss to Horseshoe Bend and the playoff loss to Butte County.
The Pirate defense will be tested right out of the chutes in 2022 as Notus will face reigning 1A Division 2 state champion Kendrick at the annual 8-Man Classic at Middleton High School on August 27. Kendrick averaged over 55 points per game in its victories last season, including games of 82, 72, and 70 points. Another tough test will travel to Notus early in the campaign when Clearwater Valley out of District 2 visits the Pirates on September 9.
The 1A Division 1 Western Idaho Conference will take shape early in the conference portion of the season as Notus, in back to back weeks, travels to rival Wilder before hosting Idaho City. If the Pirates are successful in those two games, they’ll find themselves in the conference’s driver’s seat.
A key component to any 8-man football team is good health. Notus is no different.
“We have to stay healthy,” Woodland concluded. “We have some good football players but we are not as deep as in years’ past.”
That word of caution aside, Notus has the looks of a playoff team in 2022 featuring two of the classification’s top players in Carter Woodland and Aaron Jimenez.