Photo By Mike Turner - #2 Jaxon Anderson
Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Coeur d'Alene
2. Post Falls
3. Lake City
4. Lewiston
Written by: Brandon Baney
The Post Falls Trojans lived life on the edge in 2020, with several thrilling victories and a few agonizing defeats. Their 5-4 overall record may not seem impressive on the surface, but a closer examination reveals an extremely difficult schedule that the Trojans handled well.
In a normal year, Post Falls would fill at least a few open dates on their schedule with teams from neighboring state Washington. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic a year ago, Washington didn’t play high school football until the spring, which left a few holes in Post Falls’ schedule.
The solution? Play everyone in the Inland Empire League twice, once as a non-conference game, and once as a game that would count in the league standings. That meant two cracks at perennial power Coeur d’Alene, and two of the Trojans’ four losses in total.
Post Falls also dropped a 44-42 decision to Class 5A runner-up Rigby in the second week of the season, and fell by a similarly gut-wrenching score of 44-41 to Mountain View in the opening round of the 5A postseason.
Add it all up, and all four of Post Falls’ losses a year ago came to three of the four teams that were playing in the 5A semifinals. Unfortunately, a lot of talented seniors graduated this past spring, including IEL Offensive MVP Tommy Hauser and IEL Defensive MVP Kaden Cripps.
The cupboard isn’t completely bare for coach Blaine Bennett’s squad, though. Senior cornerback Zachary Clark led the state of Idaho in interceptions a year ago, and will team up with safety Chase Berg to form a solid duo in the secondary. Offensively, Jaxon Anderson is a three-year starter at quarterback, as is Austin Portner on the offensive line. Wide receiver Cameron Sessions will also be busy in the Trojans’ up-tempo offense.
Post Falls has settled into a more traditional schedule this fall, as they will play three Washington opponents (Moses Lake, Mount Si and Pasco). They will travel to Rigby for a rematch with the Trojans on September 3rd, and will also play Class 4A IEL members Sandpoint and Lakeland.
The short conference schedule begins on October 8th, when the Trojans travel to Lewiston. They will then host Coeur d’Alene on October 15th before traveling to Lake City in the regular season finale on October 22nd.