Owyhee made history last season, winning the first playoff game in school history. By defeating Boise in the first round, the Storm took the next step as the program continues to build into a playoff contender. It followed Owyhee’s first-ever playoff appearance in 2022.
Dubbed “Team 4,” Owyhee is looking to build off last season, including the goal of hosting a playoff game and reaching the state championship. While the last few years were cause for celebration, it’s all about business now.
“Yes, we want to be excited if we win a game,” head coach Jason Burton said. “The expectation is going to the playoffs. The expectation is winning playoff games. You love all those steps as you build a program, but we’re all at Owyhee to play in the big games and win the big games. You look at the basketball team, the baseball team, softball team, dance team, cheer team, there’s a lot of state champions in our building. That is the standard at Owyhee.”
The Storm have the pieces to be in the conversation as one of the best teams in the 6A Southern Idaho Conference. On defense, Owyhee has two cornerstone pieces to build around. Senior linebacker Gage Haws has started every game in Storm football history and is a three-time all-conference player. At defensive back is junior Logan Haustveit, who led the state in interceptions. Both have excelled in other sports for Owyhee, with Haws winning a state championship in baseball in the spring and Haustveit with the basketball team in the winter.
Trey Ellis at defensive back and Caden Siegner at outside linebacker round out other key pieces on defense.
“Getting off the field on third down,” Burton said one of the keys to success on defense will be. “Those are the things, when you look at last year, we don’t win some games because we can’t get off the field on third down.”
Two more players stand out on offense. Senior running back Cade Walker was second team all-conference, and Burton thinks he’s due for a big year. Junior wide receiver Ryan Brekke already holds an offer from the University of Idaho and was first-team all-conference.
But it’s at quarterback where the attention will be on offense. Newcomer Cash Cahill and Nate Keith have been battling for the position in the offseason. Cahill comes in from Cole Valley Christian, where he was an all-conference performer. Keith was on the junior varsity squad last season. Burton said he would’ve been the player of the year at the JV level in the conference if they did their own awards.
He’s hoping to see big plays out of the offense this fall.
“We still need to be explosive,” Burton said. “That’s what we’re tracking, how many 20-plus-yard plays did we have. We complete those and that changes momentum very quickly within a game.”
With back-to-back playoff appearances and a number of talented players returning, the 6A SIC River Division is shaping up to be a gauntlet. Four of the six teams in the division reached the playoffs last season.
Owyhee’s list of goals is only increasing by the year.
“As a team, it’s to beat our rivals…go to the playoffs, win playoff games,” Burton said of their team goals. “The one thing we haven’t done as a program besides win a state championship is host a playoff game. We have great fans.”
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