Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Sugar-Salem
2. South Fremont
3. Teton
Written by: Marlowe Hereford
The second consecutive season in 4A for the Mountain Rivers Conference brought about continuity and also a changing of the guard with new faces on the gridiron and the sidelines.
For the fifth consecutive season, Sugar-Salem went undefeated in conference play. The Diggers, who entered last season having won six titles in seven seasons in two different classifications, received the No. 2 seed for the 4A state playoffs and reached the semifinals before falling to the team they had defeated in the 2024 state championship game: Homedale. Eight days later, No. 3 seeded Homedale went on to win the 4A state title over No. 4 seeded Kimberly.
Teton, with a new coach, also reached the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year last season, and South Fremont won its first conference game since 2022.
What will the third season at the 4A level have in store for the Mountain Rivers Conference teams?
SUGAR-SALEM
The Diggers entered last season having graduated numerous members of the 2024 4A state champion team, going on to finish 8-2 overall upon their semifinal loss to eventual state champion Homedale.
Ace Clark (Second Team All-Idaho Defensive Back, All-Conference Co-MVP), Carson Richins (Second Team All-Idaho Offensive Lineman, First Team All-Conference offensive lineman) and
Kimball Tonks (Second Team All-Idaho Running Back, First Team All-Conference running back) are among the athletes who graduated from last year’s team.
Senior Frank Fillmore (First Team All-Conference Offensive Player of the Year) returns as quarterback while senior Adriane Williams (Second Team All-Conference Defensive Lineman), senior Latrell Markle (First Team All-Conference Kicker), senior Everett Poole (First Team All-Conference offensive lineman), senior Mathew Madsen (Second Team All-Conference defensive lineman), senior Josh Peterson (First team All-Conference defensive back), senior Brooks Robinson (Second Team All-Conference offensive lineman) and junior Walter Fillmore (First Team All-Conference linebacker) are among the returning athletes for Sugar-Salem.
“We take pride in controlling the time of possession and limiting how much our opponent has the football,” Sugar-Salem head coach Tyler Richins said. “In the run game, we grind out tough yards, often breaking big plays, and in the pass game, we take advantage of high percentage pass concepts and use numbers to our advantage.”
Richins added that the Diggers aspire to be more consistent in the red zone and more productive on third downs this fall.
Defensively, Richins said forcing more turnovers and winning the second half will be top priorities.
“We emphasize team tackling and assisted tackles,” Richins said. “We want our players to fly to the ball and play very physical defense. We want to stop our opponents’ run game at all cost and give up no big plays.”
Richins said winning in the trenches will be Sugar-Salem’s X factor for 2026, and he is excited to see how his former JV players compete at the varsity level.
“Many of these kids have had to play an extra year of JV, play a backup role, and now it’s their turn to place their mark on our program,” Richins said.
Sugar-Salem begins the season August 22 with a rematch of last year’s semifinals, facing Homedale at Canyon Ridge High School.
SOUTH FREMONT
South Fremont went 3-6 overall in 2025 and 1-1 in league play.
The Cougars graduated Kelton Ricks (First Team All-Conference defensive end), Teyken Conger (All-Conference Honorable Mention offensive lineman/defensive lineman), Tucker Jacobsen (wide receiver/defensive back), Keoni Horikami (All-Conference Honorable Mention offensive lineman/defensive lineman), Tayson Jensen (offensive lineman/linebacker) and Kayson Briggs (wide receiver/defensive back).
Cy Hill, a senior, will again be under center this season for the Cougars.
“[He] does a really good job running our quick passing game and knows how to read defenses very well and get the ball out quickly,” South Fremont head coach Chad Hill said. “We will count on him to make quick reads and get the ball out to (senior wide receiver/linebacker) Nash Brower, (senior running back/linebacker) Tayson Farley, (senior wide receiver/defensive back) Kreston Carpenter, (junior wide receiver/defensive back) Kru Yancey, (junior wide receiver/defensive back) Carson Peebles, (sophomore wide receiver/defensive back) Creed Inns, and (sophomore wide receiver/defensive back) Braden Farley.”
Hill, Brower and Tayson Farley received First Team All-Conference honors last season while Carpenter and Peebles were Second Team All-Conference.
Hill described the Cougars as an intelligent and athletic group that will ‘be able to match up well with a lot of teams.’
“We have some very smart football players who can make plays,” Hill said. “We are a spread offense that likes to be balanced. We need to create more turnovers and get off the field when we force teams into third downs.”
Additionally, Hill described the Cougars as unselfish with a team-first mentality. He added that a series of questions will be the X-factor for South Fremont this season.
“Are we able to control the line of scrimmage?” Hill said. “Can we run the ball when we need to and can we protect the quarterback? Defensively, can we stop the run?”
South Fremont begins the season August 21 at home versus North Fremont.
TETON
Teton went 2-7 overall last fall and 0-2 in league play, reaching the first round of the state playoffs before falling 40-21 to Weiser.
The Timberwolves graduated Luke Nelson (All-Conference co-MVP, and a quarterback/free safety who accumulated 2,700 all purpose yards as a senior), Bradley Brown (Second Team All-Conference wide receiver/defensive back), Raffa Ortiz (First Team All-Conference defensive end), Hyrum Godfrey (First Team All-Conference offensive/defensive lineman) and Josh Olivas (First Team All-Conference linebacker).
Senior Drew Moss (First Team All-Conference wide receiver), senior Luke Gankofskie (running back/linebacker), senior Karter Miskin (Second Team All-Conference offensive lineman), Colt Kay (Second Team All-Conference defensive back), Gideon Taylor (First Team All-Conference wide receiver) and senior Mason Kunz (Second Team All-Conference offensive lineman) are among the returning athletes for Teton. Kunz, Miskin and Gankofskie are team captains, and Gankofskie has made the move to running back.
Shane Braman returns for his second season as head coach, bringing with him the familiarity that has been established from his first season in Driggs.
“I was not hired until June 17 last year, so we were learning everything on the fly with very little time to prepare for a season,” Braman said. “We have a much better understanding of the players and they have a much better understanding of us as a coaching staff and our schemes.”
Braman expressed his enthusiasm for Teton’s increased strength and size, which the Timberwolves made a priority over the offseason in the weight room.
“I am excited about our increased size and strength up front this year,” Braman said. “We have a great group of seniors and some of our younger players have made great progress this offseason and have taken on leadership roles within the program. We will also have increased roster depth at most positions compared to last year.”
Braman said Teton excelled in the passing game last season but will aim to improve the run game this fall and defensively, force more turnovers. He added that the Timberwolves have veteran leadership in their entire defense.
Health and finishing games will be crucial to Teton’s success in 2026.
“Unfortunately, Teton does not get as many students out for football compared to the rest of 4A Idaho,” Braman said. “If we stay healthy, I know we will be a dramatically improved football team this year. We were a very competitive team last year, but we lacked the size and depth that was required to play one of the highest ranked strength of schedule in 4A. We will be a much more prepared, bigger and confident team this year.”
Teton begins the season Aug. 28 at Jackson Hole, Wyo.