Written by: Brandon Baney
After living life as the toast of the Western Idaho Conference in 2020, the Melba Mustangs took a step back in 2021, finishing second in the league to Nampa Christian.
And heading into the 2022 season, the consensus among league coaches is that Cole Valley Christian is the top contender for the WIC title.
In theory, this leaves Melba lost somewhere in the fray for the second year in a row. But anyone sleeping on Melba is making a mistake.
Despite finishing 7-4 in 2021, head coach Juan Colunga's team was sneakily one of the most dangerous squads in Class 2A football.
"All four losses last year were within reach," Colunga said. "I believe we could have won them all if we were mentally tougher, more consistent, and had been able to execute in all three phases of the game."
"That ultimately falls on me," Colunga added. "And those are the priorities that need to be fixed if we are win to our second WIC title in three years and make a deep run in the state tournament."
The building blocks are there. Cody Dickard is one of the best centers in the entire state, and Colunga says his skill group is the best in the conference.
Junior Cache Beus returns at quarterback for the Mustangs, and he'll have plenty of speedy wideouts to get the ball to. "Kaden Dayley, Brenton Overall, Noah West and McKoy Richardson have stood out this summer," Colunga said. "As well as young players like Rylan Frank and Nate Wellington."
Gabe Shaffer is the top running back after leading Melba in rushing a year ago, and will be joined by newcomers Manny Zapata and Carlos Colunga.
Besides Dickard at center, the Melba offensive line is relatively untested. "This group of linemen sat behind an experienced senior group (last year)," Colunga said. "But they helped the JV win back-to-back WIC titles."
Evan Michaelson is penciled in at left guard, while Wyatt Meyers and Kory Magdaleno will battle for the starting right guard job. Trevor Rhoades, Dallas Mickelson, Justin Anderson and Eli Doughty are all fighting for time at tackle, while the tight end battle will feature Nate Wellington and Kory Magdaleno.
Defensively, Dickard and Overall are locked in to starting jobs. Rhoades, Mickelson, Kory Magdaleno, Beus and Meyers will all see time as well.
All three starting linebackers departed via graduation, but senior Manny Zapata started most of his sophomore year before injuries derailed his junior season. Zapata and Michaelson will play outside linebacker, while Carlos Colunga roams the middle.
Dayley and Shaffer both started at cornerback a year ago, and will be joined by safeties Noah West and McKoy Richardson.
"This should be one of the toughest defensive groups we have put out in my six years at Melba," Colunga said But, he acknowledged that mentally his team needs to be stronger.
"The one area that will allow us to become a championship team is accountability," Colunga said. "Too often last year we had opportunities to make plays such as interceptions, 4th down stops, the winning catch, 1st down reads, and we could not make them."
"Too often we made excuses as to why an assignment was missed and that will always lead to mediocre teams and a mediocre record," he added. "I feel we have kids who are accountable and that will help this year."