Photo By Steve Conner - #1 Bradley Toth
Preseason Coaches' Poll
Foothills Division
T-1. Meridian
T-1. Rocky Mountain
3. Eagle
4. Timberline
5. Skyview
6. Boise
River Division
1. Mountain View
2. Capital
3. Owyhee
T-4. Borah
T-4. Centennial
6. Kuna
Written by: Wayne Dzubak
Coming off of a playoff season in 2019, a proud Borah Lion football program was simply derailed in 2020. The season began late, was short and resulted in a 0-5 season record.
The ball never seemed to bounce the Lions way, especially in a 10 point loss to Boise and a four point defeat at the hands of Capital. Both games were winnable, it just wasn’t meant to be.
Now the Lions will try and rebound in 2020 with a new head coach in J.Q. Kenyon and without the services of a pair of three year starters in lineman Tanner Nett and running back Tyler Phimmasone.
Coach Kenyon may be new as the head coach but he is a familiar face in the Borah program as an assistant the past six seasons and that will help in the transition.
Fortunately the Borah talent cupboard is anything but bare.
On offense coach Kenyon says “Our skilled positions have a lot of talent and that will allow us to use a run and shoot offense.”
Corbin McCarney and Trace Freeman will battle for the starting quarterback spot and according to Coach Kenyon, “Both are good enough to get the job done under center.”
Right now it looks as if Jevon Nelson and Parker Rushton will share the rushing duties as they try and fill the void of the graduated Phimmasone.
Bradly Toth, Luke Darrow and Aidan Bolt are talented wide receivers and will give whoever wins the QB battle some explosive targets to hit.
When it comes to the Borah offense Coach Kenyon adds, “We need to improve our physicality starting with the offensive line.”
Defensively Kenyon and his staff feel they have a top tier defensive front especially with Crispin Simbaragje, a three year starter who was second team All SIC in 2019 and Honorable Mention in 2020. The Borah coaches are also high on Trever McKenna who at 6-5 and 220 lbs. will catch the eye of some college coaches!
Some coaches may want to forget last year’s 0-5 record but the Borah staff is using the mark as a motivational tool. We want to make sure it never happens again” says Kenyon. “No excuses, no hiding from what happened last year. Just working to improve.”
With that philosophy in mind, the Borah coaches say the key to success in 2021 will be “attitude” and “turnovers”. Creating havoc has been the key to Borah’s defensive success is recent years and on the flip side, they must also protect the ball. Fundamentals and mental toughness are the marching orders for the coming season.
The season begins Friday August 27th at Dona Larsen Park as the Lions tangle with Timberline before their annual neighborhood showdown against 4A Bishop Kelly in week two.