Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. North Gem
2. Watersprings
3. Rockland
4. Mackay
Written by: Will Hoenike
If you want to win a good-natured bet with a friend who doesn’t know much about North Gem football, no matter the down or distance, tell the friend that the Cowboys will run the football. First-and-ten? Run. Second-and-12? Run. Third-and-one? Run. Second-year head coach Corry Hatch doesn’t shy away from his team’s reputation.
“I guess you could call us a running team,” he said. “We will run, plan to run, and may only run.”
According to Hatch, North Gem ran the ball on over 90 percent of its plays from scrimmage last season and totaled 3,300 yards on the ground. The Cowboys only attempted 49 passes all season and Hatch would like to see the team improve its efficiency when they do throw, but the bread and butter will be on the ground.
“Our running game is tough. We are able to eat clock, churn out first downs, and make explosive plays,” Hatch said. “We return all 3,300 yards of rushing offense from last season, they are improving every day.”
Leading the way is a senior quarterback who may be a relative unknown among casual fans but coaches are well-aware of him. Bridger Hatch ran for over 1,700 yards as a junior, scoring 27 touchdowns on the ground, as North Gem reached the 1A Division 2 state playoffs. As a result, coaches across the state of Idaho voted Hatch as the second-team All-State quarterback.
Hatch will be joined in the backfield by senior fullback Brett Yost and running backs Austin Lloyd and Chayce Low. Senior Ransom Cooper returns at center and will be joined along the offensive front by seniors Jackson Cook, Jared Rindlisbaker, and junior CJ Hill. The Cowboys averaged nearly 50 points per game in its wins last fall and put 42 on the board in their season-ending loss to eventual state champion Dietrich. The potential is there to put up some big, big numbers in 2021.
Defensively, Low and Yost will man the linebacker spots in the team’s 3-2 scheme with Cook and Cooper playing along the defensive front.
“We need to improve our defensive discipline,” Hatch said. “I want assignment-sound players. We were a top-3 scoring defense a year ago and I want the defense to be even better this year.”
A key for North Gem this season is closing out tight games. The Cowboys started the season with back-to-back losses by a total of ten points and then dropped a pivotal Rocky Mountain Conference game to Watersprings by a single touchdown. There was also a mid-season loss to Dietrich by just ten points. That’s just a few snaps away from being a seven or eight-win team instead of a four-win team.
If North Gem can win its close games, it’s a program that can dare to dream big – which would be ending a lengthy drought for teams in District 5 and 6. Dating back to 2009, the two districts have advanced just three teams to the 1A Division 2 semifinals (Butte County in 2016 & 2017 and Mackay in 2009). That’s 48 total semifinal teams, four per season over twelve years, and just three out of either District 5 or 6. Likewise, District 1, the North Star League, has produced just three semifinalists in the same span. That means 42 of the last 48 semifinalists have come from Districts 2, 3, and 4.
Districts 1, 2, 5, and 6 have combined to produce just one state champion – Mackay in 2005 – since Idaho added the 1A Division 2 classification prior to the 2004 season. The other 16 champions have all come from either District 3 or District 4.
Could North Gem end that dry spell? Multiple factors will determine it, but there are worse bets to be made.