Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Oakley
2. Raft River
3. Lighthouse Christian
4. Glenns Ferry
5. Murtaugh
Written by: Will Hoenike
There’s stepping into the pool … and then there’s running down to the far end and diving right into the deep end.
Veteran head coach Lonnie Funkhouser begins his third season with the Glenns Ferry Pilots with a heck of an opening-day challenge – a Saturday-afternoon, neutral-site date with perennial power Prairie in the annual Idaho 8-Man Classic at Middleton High School on August 28.
The Pilots, who only played four games in 2020 due to COVID issues, will spend their fair share of time in the deep end of the pool by virtue of competing in the Snake River Conference, which provided both teams that competed for the 1A Division 1 state championship last fall. The Pilots will host Raft River (defending champion) and Oakley (runner up) in back-to-back weeks in early October, so the season-opener will give Funkhouser and his program a good idea of what they need to do in order to compete in the ever-deep, ever-talented Snake River Conference.
A more-consistent offense will be key to success for Glenns Ferry in 2021. The Pilots were blanked in two of their four games last season and they’ll be looking to replace all-conference lineman Brad Christensen and wide receiver Wyatt Wooten.
Funkhouser does return key ground option Wyatt Castagneto and young offensive lineman Caleb Black. If the team is able to sustain drives with a sound ground game, it will take pressure off the team’s defense.
The Snake River Conference gets one automatic berth into the 1A Division 1 state playoffs. After that, there are seven at-large berths that teams across the state will battle for. The Pilots will face plenty of state-caliber competition during the regular season so, if they can stay healthy and reach postseason football, there will be few teams in Idaho – at any level – more battle-tested than them.