Five storylines heading into 2024 high school football season

As some teams are still performing games in their leagues, other teams are already in off season preparing for the next season while others are anxiously waiting for the new football season to begin. About one month of training is left before the start of the regular season on August 23rd.

The problem is the new classification system which is now in place in the IHSAA as the new season begins statewide. It has become more competitive now; 6A is now the highest followed by 5A, 4A 3A, 2A and finally 1A.

Last season only one Treasure Valley team made a state championship game. In the boys’ 4A basketball championship game, Bishop Kelly was victorious over Hillcrest, which proved the Bishop Kelly team to be eight times state champion in the school.

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Whether or not they will make it back to the state championships to defend their title is one of the biggest questions going into the new season. Below are the other five major headline stories of the fall:

This is the question that Eagle and all their fans will be hoping to answer when the new season starts.

Eagle was ousted in the 5A state semifinals last year by Coeur d’Alene and that defeat would have been bitter.

Apart from a playoff match in which a tough Viking side came to their house and the Mustangs engaged in a physical battle losing 28-35. The timing on entering the game is always important and this was evident when Eagle was scoring about 28. 2 points per game. To Coeur d’Alene, they bowed to 7-6 after they were confined to only six points.

That was a bitter note for their season to end on and one that saw stars on the field from the start. Seth Brock a student at Billing Senior High Playing at the defensive lineman/tight end was the 5A SIC River Division co-Player of the Year. future Collegiate Athlete for Idaho State Davis Harsin was selected as a second team all conference player, sophomore running back Noah Burnham rushed for 1, 401 yards and 18 touchdowns.

The burning question still persists, do they have the quality to deliver as they did the previous season?

Although Harsin was the primary quarterback for the team last year, Ramsey took most of the back-up quarterback time to shine. He was a second team all-conference FLEX classification player and mainly functioned as a running back from the quarterback position.

Without Harsin to watch, he’ll have the keys to the offense with arguably the best running back in the state next to him. Defensively, four All-Conference players are back. Eagle should be in the list of the favorite teams in the state this in the fall counting on ten winning season achieved last year.

The final KW dance for Zeke Martinez and the Meridian Warriors

Zeke Martinez and the Meridian offense won’t back down from an Eagle charge towards the title game.

The Warriors are expected to challenge for the 6A SIC title with Martinez back in his third and final year at the team as the starting quarterback. Whenever you have a player as having the experience of Martinez at the central position, which is the heart of the field, you stand a chance.

It could be remembered that the Warriors struggled at the onset of the last season and the team suffered its first two games. Six-straight triumphs were registered before falling to Eagle in a SIC championship game after going to overtime. They also qualified to state semifinals and like I said Highland beat them thus qualifying to be state champions.

What has Martinez planned for his last year? He played in the championship of his sophomore year too and took Meridian with him to the lead in the state with 21-7 before the final quarter. Rigby replied to the quarter by putting 21 more points on the board to make the final score of 28-21.

They will come into this season having to replace their two main runners from the previous season; Rylie Byington who was a 5A SIC Foothills Division Player of the year and Marco Del Rio who was a first team all-conference selection. Thus, for the years of its existence, Meridian graduated 15 all-conference players.

However, the Warriors feel assured each time that the ball is snapped that they have the most experienced quarterback in the conference.

Now in his first season as the Vallivue head coach is Shea McClellin

The ex NFL player who played for five seasons signed up for the Vallivue job at the beginning of the year after two seasons at Boise State and Marsing. He took the Huskies to playoffs last year for the first time since 2013 and earned the 2A Western Idaho Conference Coach of the Year.

Moving up a rank with the Falcons, McClellin aiming at taking the team back to the right path after the 2023 disappointing season. Layne Coffin retired before the last season, however he was Vallivue’s head coach for 17 years and his win-loss record is 124/96. Their coach last year was Brynie Robinson and their record was 3-6.

The Falcons are expecting him to make explosive contribution to the team like he did in Marsing early this year. The novelty of having a former NFL player, much less a Super Bowl MVP, pacing up and down the touchline is factor. Can you predict how the first year is going to under McClellin?

Many people are going to have their sights pinned on the former star Bronco to see how he will get it right to be a high school football coach in a higher class.

Can Bishop Kelly come out as the state champions for the second time?

The 4A championship came right down to the last moments before Hillcrest took the field to attempt a 27-yard field goal to tie it and send it to overtime. However the kick was missed and Bishop Kelly won by 29-26.

Now their sight is set for year 2024 to see if they are capable of repeating it. Of course, like most championship teams there is still a lot of production to replace on the roster.

Some of the histories include that the running back Peter Minnaert was the Gatorade Idaho Football Player of the Year in 2023 where he rushed for 1,646 yards and 30 touchdowns. The seemingly exhausting and inexorable running was his main reason to give them a sparking championship season. Right in front of him was an Offensive Lineman Rakeem Johnson. Besides opening up holes for runners along the line of scrimmage this Michigan State-signee was also a force on defense as a lineman and was awarded the Player of the Year in the 4A SIC conference.

Those are the two most significant losses, but back this season are nine all-conference players Parmeter added, including junior quarterback Ben Avella.

Being from the 4A SIC, Bishop Kelly is usually among the best teams and a playoff run should be anticipated. But can they capture the state title again for the third time in schools history?

Another major question to be answered is how is Homedale able to come out of this rut?

Usually in the past years, Homedale’s season has come to an early conclusion at the instance of Sugar-Salem. But last season, the Trojans were defeated by Teton in the semi-finals at home, 49-42. Teton then was defeated by Sugar-Salem in the championship match.

Homedale’s basketball team has a history of getting to the state championship game within the last six years, four times. However, since 1997 the school has not claimed a state championship. They have developed the Snake River Valley Conference as their own conference by clinching the last six titles of the conference. But even through they recently enjoyed some success in their conference, it Weiser that has been the state champion in the last six years and not Homedale.

Thus, I ask, how do the Trojans overcome Idaho’s best in order to capture a state title?

It is a great challenge that the head coach Matt Holtry has to overcome especially since this is his 17th season coaching the Homedale team. He has the program in a spot that many coaches in their right mind would wish to be-in winning conference championships and fighting for state championships.

It is about getting the final set to the puzzle or the last key to the lock irrespective of what that might be.