Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Kendrick
2. Deary
3. Lewis County
4. Timberline
Written by: Will Hoenike
Friday, October 15. Deary makes the 15-mile drive south along State Highway 3 to Kendrick for its annual football matchup. The two teams have been the dominant powers in the 1A Division 2 White Pine League for the past several years and, as such, the game has always meant something significant.
Well, this year, there’s an extra bit of intrigue surrounding this matchup. Longtime Kendrick assistant coach Tim Olson is now the head coach at Deary.
One of Olson’s tasks is to lead the Mustangs back to the postseason. Deary failed to qualify in 2020 when a two-point loss to Timberline – Weippe ultimately cost the Mustangs.
Deary will look to replace All-State performer Brayden Stapleton, who rushed for over 2,100 yards and 34 touchdowns in just eight games last fall. He had over 400 yards of total offense and nine scores in a win over Troy, then picked up nearly 500 yards of offense and six total scores in a win over Potlatch three weeks later. He picked up another 450 and eight scores against Lewis County. That kind of explosive production won’t be easy to replace. Olson has three players competing for playing time at the quarterback spot – junior Kalab Rickerd, junior Gus Rickert, and sophomore Blaine Clark – to lead the offense.
“If we can stay healthy, our offensive line (Zachry Leachman, Cole Mulder, Braedyn Stettler) should be very solid,” Olson noted. “We plan on playing to that strength with a heavy run offense supplemented with some play-action (passing). Dale Fletcher and Ricky Bradley will see a steady diet of the ball, hopefully we can control the line of scrimmage and play downhill.”
Bradley, a senior, and Fletcher, a junior, both saw plenty of time on the field last fall, although they were in different roles. The duo combined for 15 tackles in the win over Troy and Fletcher had four tackles for loss against Troy and repeated the feat against Lewis County.
“I think our defensive secondary has a chance to be really good. We have some good athletes back there and, if they can learn to play the run as well as the pass, we should be in good shape,” Olson said. “Last year, the big play was a huge problem. Limit those big plays and make offenses put together entire drives if they are going to score.”
There are still positions to be won and roles to be determined before the team plays its opener at Troy on August 27 and Olson likes what he has seen thus far.
“I’m really excited about this new program,” he said. “This being my first year as a head coach, I am really pumped about the guys we have in the locker room.”
Closing the regular season with back-to-back road games, at Lewis County on October 8 and then the big matchup with Kendrick on October 15, will be a challenge. But Deary has a good opportunity to be in position to qualify for the postseason.
“The biggest X-factor, as it often is, will be health,” Olson concluded. “If we can stay healthy, I think we have a good shot to be in the mix at the end of the season.”