Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Timberlake
2. Bonners Ferry
3. Kellogg
4. Priest River
Written by: Brandon Baney
2020, by Timberlake’s standards, was a year of transition. Longtime head coach Roy Albertson retired after 17 seasons as the Tigers’ head coach, citing his age (72) and COVID-19 concerns. So Timberlake went for a blast from the past, hiring Kelly Amos for his second stint as the Tigers head coach. Amos was the first head coach in school history, back in their inaugural season of 1998, and is just one of three head coaches to roam the sidelines for Timberlake.
So with a quasi-new coach and a lot of underclassmen filling out the starting lineup, Timberlake went 4-4 and were dropped in the Class 3A quarterfinals by eventual state runner-up Homedale 55-19. “We only had 5 seniors last year, plus some early injuries forced us to play several younger players,” Amos said. “That experience gave those players valuable varsity experience.”
Suffice it to say, the Timberlake offense is loaded. “Every year we want to run the football. This year is no different,” Amos said. “We run the Wing-T and have 4 returning running back that have quality varsity carries (James Billingsley, Grady Woodworth, Wyatt MacArthur and Kale Paslay), plus quarterback Ashton Peightal is a dual threat QB. Our true strength will be our offensive line with all 5 varsity starters returning (Paul Turley, Brian Bell, Trevor Cady, JT Armes and Joel Possinger).”
And if that wasn’t daunting enough, teams will also have to contend with senior Zach Yetter on the perimeter at wide receiver. Yetter has received Division 1 offers to play basketball, and broke the Timberlake record for most receiving yards in a single season last year.
Defensively, the story is pretty much the same. “We run a 3-4 front and our main focus is to stop the run,” Amos said. “Our front 7 are all returning starters (Trevor Cady, Joel Possinger and Paul Turley on the defensive line, and James Billingsley, Brian Bell, Wyatt MacArthur and Kale Pasley at linebacker), which will help us control the line of scrimmage.”
“We hope to improve our pass coverage,” Amos added. “We return a lot of experience in the backfield, so that will help with pass coverage.” Grady Woodworth, Zach Yetter, Rajnee Oliveria and Ashton Peightal are projected starters in the secondary.
Expectations are high at Timberlake this year, and the schedule proves it. The Tigers are playing up against Class 4A Moscow and Lakeland, and two Washington opponents: Shadle Park High from Spokane and Connell High. They also open their season with a long trip to South Fremont to play the Cougars in what could be a playoff preview.