Photo By Kelly Magee - #5 Colston Loveland
Pre-Season Coaches' Poll
1. Kimberly
2. Gooding
3. Buhl
4. Filer
Written by: Brandon Baney
When assessing the state of the Gooding Senators program, one doesn’t have to look any further than the team’s name. Things are “good” in Gooding, but can they be “great?”
That’s the question that swirls around a team that went 8-2 a season ago before falling to South Fremont 26-20 in the Class 3A quarterfinals. Gooding has several talented players, but do the Senators have the depth that is required to navigate the loaded 3A postseason field?
Any discussion about Gooding football in 2021 has to start with senior tight end Colston Loveland. The 6-5, 240 lb. behemoth became Idaho’s fourth four-star rated recruit in twenty years this summer, and ultimately committed to the University of Michigan.
“Colston will garner a lot of attention,” Gooding coach Cameron Andersen said. “So we will have to be dynamic and creative to get him the touches he needs for us to be successful.”
The man in charge of distributing the football to Loveland and company this year is senior quarterback Kurtis Adkinson, the reigning Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference Offensive Player of the Year. Adkinson threw for over 1,600 yards a year ago, but Coach Andersen says Gooding’s strength this year will actually be the ground game.
“We have great experience up front and in the run game,” Andersen said. “We return a lot of box players, starting with left tackle Cooper Pavkov and center Daniel Spellman. They have started for a couple of years and we will rely heavily on them this season.”
Pavkov and Spellman are seniors, and will be joined on the line by seniors Elijah Williams and Dakota Sage, and junior Alec Hall. Senior Tayt Gillette returns to headline the backfield, but junior Austin Olsen will also see time at running back.
With the Gooding running game looking strong, coach Andersen says the biggest area of improvement offensively has to come from the sideline. “We need more creativity in the play action and vertical passing game from me as a play caller,” he said.
The Senators defense also looks strong this season, as several offensive players will contribute on that side of the ball as well. Gillette was the leading tackler from a year ago, and headlines a linebacker unit that also features Loveland, seniors Sam Demale and Brooks Norby, and junior Shade Malcolm.
“Similar to our offense, we bring back lots of box experience,” Andersen said. “Dakota Sage is a dynamic run defender at nose guard and we will need to lean on his abilities early.” Sage will be joined on the defensive line by senior Dylan Brooks and junior Klynt Whiting.
The secondary will be relatively untested. Senior cornerback Taylor Cavitt earned 1st Team All-Conference honors a year ago and is the only returning starter. Fans will want to keep an eye on sophomore Gayge Thiemann at free safety this year as well.
Overall, Gooding has the top-end talent to compete not just in the SCIC, but also statewide during the playoffs. For coach Andersen, the formula is simple. “Our ability to pass the ball out of play action and stop the pass will probably dictate much of our success,” he said.