Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Notus
2. Idaho City
3. Wilder
4. Rimrock
5. Greenleaf Friends
Written by: Will Hoenike
Kyle DalSoglio has been blessed with some great athletes at quarterback in his 12 seasons as the head coach at Wilder High School: AJ Castellanos, Caulen Michael, and Pablo Martinez, to name a few.
You can add Diego Rodriguez to that list. The two-way All-Conference performer graduated this past spring, so DalSoglio will be on the hunt for the next standout quarterback for the 2021 season.
Will it be senior Adrian Miramontes? Will it be senior Moises Perez? Will it be freshmen Kyevan Gephart or Isaac Rodriguez?
The veteran head coach won’t tip his hand, saying that any of them could see time at quarterback this season.
“Our personnel groups all have decent depth, which helps,” DalSoglio said. “There will be a lot of competition for most skill and combo positions.”
Injuries hindered the Wilder offense in 2020. Cody Walker, arguably the team’s most-talented player, missed much of the season with injury. So did Perez, a speedy receiver capable of making big plays whenever he got the ball. But there were flashes of greatness, most notably an incredible come-from-behind win over rival Idaho City. Wilder trailed at one point in the second half, 42-14, but mounted an improbable rally to defeat Idaho City, 64-54.
Now, DalSoglio will lean on Miramontes and Perez to provide the big plays. Miramontes will move around a lot, sometimes playing on the line and sometimes taking the snaps (“he will see snaps at basically every position offensively,” DalSoglio noted) while Perez will move around as well to maximize matchups. The Wildcats return Santiago De La Cruz and Juan Perez along the offensive line as well as Hunter Onofrei at running back, so there is returning talent to build around.
The loss of Walker was especially notable on defense for the Wildcats last fall, as the team surrendered at least 50 points in each of its last three games. Miramontes will move around the defensive line as well as take snaps at middle linebacker. The team runs four defensive backs in its base defense with cornerbacks moving to defensive end or linebacker on occasion. That group is led by all-conference performer Adrian Ponce, and he’ll be joined by Marco Martinez and Cristian Cuellar. The team is also deep at safety, with Perez, Onofrei, and Jacob Sandoval ready to fill key roles on defense.
It all adds up to a reason for optimism for the Wildcats coming into the season.
“We’ve lost some great players and even better leaders the past few years,” DalSoglio said. “I’m excited to see who steps up to fill those roles with this new group. We have some older guys that need to prove themselves and some younger players coming up that might find themselves playing pivotal roles in the fall.”
There is one guaranteed berth out of the Western Idaho Conference in the 1A Division 1 state playoffs. Many are pointing to Notus as the Pirates return much of the talent from last fall’s 7-1 team. But there are other spots in play – seven at-large berths will be granted to fill out the 12-team playoff field. Last season, no other WIC teams qualified. This year, though, coaches have their eyes on multiple teams in the conference, including Wilder, to be in contention for a playoff spot.