Prep football: Top storylines for Week 1 — including the Rocky Mountain Rumble
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It’s on. Week 1 kicks off Friday as all area football teams finally open the 2024 season.
There were some impressive wins last week — looking at you Madison, Sugar-Salem, Highland and Firth. But this week’s top attraction is in Pocatello, where the Rocky Mountain Rumble features seven games over Friday and Saturday at Idaho State University’s ICCU Arena.
Skyline set for early morning season opener
District 5 and 6 teams are all scheduled for Saturday action at the Rocky Mountain Rumble. The top storyline may be the season debut of the Skyline Grizzlies, who take on Morgan (Utah) at 10:30 a.m.
Morgan already has two games and two wins under its belt — scoring a combined 74 points. They shut out Sky View (Utah) 34-0 a week ago.
With the transfer of leading rusher Amani Morel to Rigby, it will be interesting to see how the Grizzlies’ ground game progresses.
Rigby bounce back game?
The Trojans come off a loss to No. 1 Coeur d’Alene and face Wasatch (Utah) in the 7:30 p.m. game.
The Wasps are 1-1 following a 42-0 win over Cyprus. This should be a good matchup for a Trojans team looking to rebound after their Week 0 loss plagued by turnovers.
“We made too many errors, and you can’t do that against a good football program,” Rigby coach Armando Gonzalez told the Coeur d’Alene Press.
How good is Highland?
Maybe all the doom and gloom talk about the Rams and the loss of a deep and talented senior class was just that — talk.
Highland opened its season with an impressive 21-13 win over reigning Nevada state champion Legacy last week and take on Carson (Nevada) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Is Keaton Belnap the area’s top dual-threat quarterback? Stay tuned.
How good is Hillcrest?
Or maybe the question should be how good is Madison? The Knights travel to Madison for their season opener with a group of new faces ready to open 2024, while the senior-laden Bobcats are already in the win column with last week’s 41-6 victory over Bonneville.
Madison’s goal last week was to set the tone early and the Bobcats jumped out to a 34-0 lead at the half. The Hillcrest defense should take note.
Butte County vs. Valley in 8-man matchup
It’s an early-season matchup of two ranked 8-man teams as No. 4 Valley heads to No. 2 Butte County on Friday.
The defending 1AD1 champion Pirates are now in 2A, but seem to have reloaded for another run at the blue trophy. It’s the season opener for Valley, but Butte County is 1-0 after a 36-24 win over No. 5 Logos.
Can American Falls make it a rivalry
There is no love lost between American Falls and Aberdeen — though the rivalry has been quite one-sided. According to IdahoSports.com, the Beavers have not beaten the Tigers since 2012, with several of those Aberdeen victories coming by large margins.
Last year’s matchup, however, ended in a tight 12-8 game. American Falls head coach Tim Hoppe told EastIdahoNews.com that his team has improved from last year and, he believes, has an excellent chance to end its skid.
“I already told them — I’ve been telling them all summer — if we go 1-8, that one win had better be Aberdeen,” he said following American Falls’ 26-8 Week 0 victory over Soda Springs.
We shall find out if this is a new day, or just more of the same for the Beavers.
Can its new coach turn the Blackfoot program around
Preston is coming off a 4-6 record and first-round exit from the state 4A last season, and began the 2024 season with a 41-20 loss to Shelley at home. They may be looking for a rebound, get-right win before back-to-back games against out-of-state foes, but the Blackfoot Broncos may not be the soft spot in the schedule they were a year ago.
Blackfoot has a disastrous 0-9 season in 2023, but new head coach Josh Stewart expects his team to “compete.”
Stewart, who led Declo to a runner-up finish in the state 2A tournament a season ago, said his Broncos are physical and athletic enough to challenge all comers.
It will be interesting to see of Stewart can return Blackfoot to its success of years past — and if that journey begins this week.