Photo By Steve Conner - #55 Troy Olmos
Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Bishop Kelly
2. Middleton
3. Emmett
4. Vallivue
5. Nampa
6. Columbia
7. Ridgevue
8. Caldwell
Written by: Adam Bridges
As the start of the season gets closer, schools start to fine tune their team to get ready to play ball. The biggest component for success in high school football is experience and fortunately the Columbia Wildcats are one of the more experienced teams in their division.
The Wildcats were lucky enough to not lose any key players while retaining many crucial players for this upcoming season. These players include seniors Nico Rodriguez, Tyler Smalley and Turner Simpson on the offensive and defensive line, junior Troy Olmos on the offensive and defensive line, juniors Ikaika Ho, Manny Variz and Ramon Caballero at running back and linebacker, seniors Trey Weaver and Conner Burfeind at wide receiver and cornerback, junior Jarrett Buckles at wide receiver and defensive line, junior Andres Waters at wide receiver and linebacker, and junior Matt Davis at quarterback and free safety.
Along with the stable of returning players, Columbia also has quite a few new players that are stepping into impact player roles. These players include sophomore wide receiver Jake Koppen, sophomore linemen Alejandro Waters and Ian Crenshaw, sophomore quarterback Jared Payne, and junior running back and cornerback Kyree Parras.
The biggest strength of this Wildcats offense is their depth. Since Columbia plans to play smash mouth football by running the ball most of the time, having depth allows them to give their star players more rest time and prevent injuries.
“We have 7 returning starters that are familiar with the system. We are also much stronger this season and have very good size up front,” said Columbia head coach Greg Asbury.
The biggest area that this offense needs to improve upon is their scoring ability. Last year, the Wildcats struggled to score when they absolutely needed to. If they can improve their scoring ability and take advantage of every red zone opportunity, this team will be in better shape than last year.
On the defensive side of the ball, Columbia’s strength lies in their speed and size in their front. With their big and quick defensive front, they plan to stop the run game and force opposing offenses to pass the ball on them.
Their biggest place for improvement is their tackling ability. They cannot allow broken tackles on defense. Asbury said the defense needs to swarm the ball carrier. If they allow a team to get free yards from broken tackles, it will be a long season on defense.
The best trait about this team is their work ethic. This team has worked as hard as they can throughout the whole offseason and are ready for that hard work to pay off this upcoming season.
“This group of juniors has had success and put in a ton of work in the offseason. They are ready to compete this year in the SIC,” said Asbury.
If the Columbia Wildcats can improve on their flaws from last year along with staying healthy, this team could be a threat to all opposing teams.