West Side adds to its collection of banners with its 7th championship in 15 years
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The East Idaho Sports team has selected a group of fall sports season award winners — players and teams of the year. The award winners will be announced, one per day, in a continuing series.
DAYTON — If there was any question before this year, those questions are gone — West Side football is in the midst of a dynastic run.
The Pirates sealed their fifth state title in six years, beating conference foe Declo in the 3A State Football Championship Game on Nov. 22. For its continued dominance, the West Side football football team has been selected as the EastIdahoSports.com Fall Boys Team of the Year.
Head coach Tyson Moser has been at the helm for throughout this run, and led the Pirates to seven state titles since 2010.
“We have been on a really incredible run of very good (football) the last eight seasons, and especially with the five state championship in the last 6 years,” Moser said. “Each of those state championship teams had their own identities and struggles, but I think this team had to overcome the most to win it.”
He added:
“We dealt with more injuries this year than the previous five years combined. Kids were constantly moving positions to cover for an injured player. The playbook was constantly changing to accommodate the kids in new positions. Despite all these issues these kids found a way to play their best football the last four weeks of the year.”
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Star running back Crew Sage was one of the players who suffered an injury, and was sidelined when his Pirates faced rival Declo in September. West Side was unable to get its offense going in that game, suffering a loss despite holding the Hornets to six points — falling 6-0.
In a rematch, with the trophy on the line, Sage was back on the field and rumbled his way to 118 yards and two touchdowns.
Declo was again held to six points. But this time around, the Sage-led Pirates scored 27 for a dominant title-claiming victory.
Aside from the shorthanded regular season loss at Declo, West Side throttled its opponents — all save for a regular season showdown with Abrdeen, which they won, 14-12.
They faced the Tigers again in the semis of the state tournament. West Side beat them 29-0 the second time around. That week of practice was when Moser said he really thought he would be bringing another banner back to campus.
“The Monday we started preparing for Ririe in quarterfinals, I knew we had turned a corner,” the coach said. “The Wednesday before we played Aberdeen in the semifinals, I knew we were ready.”
The Pirates graduate a number of key contributors, including Sage, this season. But they will return several others, including Crew’s younger brother Drake Sage who ran for 85 yards and one score in the title game.
Moser believes his team can make another run next season, but understands it will be an even tougher road.
“Repeating is very difficult,” he said. “You have a target on your back all season, and every team you play brings their ‘A’ game.”