Photo By Mike Turner - #6 Colton Meyer
Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Horseshoe Bend
2. Council
3. Garden Valley
4. Tri-Valley
5. Salmon River
Written by: Will Hoenike
It wasn’t that long ago that Horseshoe Bend was a member of the 1A Division 1 Western Idaho Conference. If you glance at their 2021 schedule, you might wonder if the Mustangs still are.
Home against Idaho City, home against Wilder, then at Notus. Those are the first three games of the campaign for Horseshoe Bend.
Once those three games are in the books, the Mustangs shift to Long Pin play, which is no walk in the park itself. Thankfully for Mustang fans, head coach Craig Elliott’s team will again feature one of the district’s top playmakers in senior quarterback and defensive back Colten Meyer.
“We will lean heavily on Colten,” Elliott said. “He’s a dual-threat that accounted for almost 3,000 total yards last season.”
Meyer threw 21 touchdown passes and ran for nine more en route to earning the Long Pin Offensive Player of the Year award. That included an impressive performance against a good Wilder team where he accumulated over 300 yards in total offense and had a hand in three total touchdowns.
He’ll have help, though. The Mustangs return all-state offensive lineman Keegan Smith along with sophomore Nick Cooper in front of him and Elliott expects junior Blayne Meyer and sophomore Kaelun Jones to lighten the load running the football. The offense also returns all-conference receiver Decker Larson to a group that averaged 35 points per game last fall on its way to a berth in the 1A Division 2 quarterfinals.
Defensively, Horseshoe Bend should be stout upfront with the return of Smith, a first-team All-State performer along the defensive line where he had over 100 tackles and eight sacks as a junior, and Larson, who earned all-conference honors on defense as well as offense.
“We will be led by Keegan and Decker,” Elliott said. “We would like to improve on our form-tackling and physical play.”
The Mustangs fared well defensively against 1A Division 2 opponents in 2020, allowing just over 25 points per game in those six contests. That includes 28 in each of the team’s two playoff games – a home win over Castleford and a tough road loss at Mullan/St. Regis. If you can keep a team under 30 points, your chances of winning in 8-man football go up considerably. On top of the possibility of an explosive offense beyond Meyer, Horseshoe Bend’s defense should be improved in 2021 after a solid 2020.
“The majority of the returning players from last season spent a lot of time in the weight room this offseason,” Elliott noted. “I expect to see significant speed and strength improvement from six to eight of those players.”
As with any 8-man team, health is pivotal. Most teams are just one or two injuries away from a completely different situation. Horseshoe Bend only graduated five of 19 players from last fall’s roster, which means the team returns a solid number of players, which helps with depth and experience should injuries occur.
“We are no exception,” Elliott said of the injury concerns. “Injury to one player can make or break your season.”
If the Mustangs stay healthy, the team should be in position to return to the 1A Division 2 postseason led by its solid group of seniors.