The high school football season in Idaho begins on Aug. 23. So to get you ready, we’re counting down with at least one local team preview every day until kickoff.
Up next: Aberdeen Tigers
2023 IN REVIEW:
6-4 (second place in 2A South East Idaho Conference)Lost 34-8 to West in Class 2A state quarterfinals
COACH’S RESUME:
Head Coach: Derek Jolley, first seasonOverall record: 0-0Assistant coaches: Braden Driscoll, Jared Reed, CJ Harris, Vince King, Mitchell Spence, Philip Klassen
RETURNING STARTERS:
7 on offense7 on defense
Derek Jolley had been waiting nearly two decades for this.
Former head coach Braden Driscoll even said that he should have gotten this opportunity a long time ago.
But Aberdeen’s new head man has the job now. So Jolley, who spent 17 years as an assistant coach with the Tigers, is planning on making the most of it.
“I’m excited about it. But it also kind of feels new to me, even though I’ve been around for a long time,” said Jolley with a laugh. “It’s just a different role and I have a little more on my plate.
“I want to definitely build on the foundation that Cory (Hollingsworth), Jeff (Duffin) and Braden gave our program.”
Jolley, who started out as the junior varsity coach in 2006 and was the offensive coordinator last season, takes over at the perfect time.
The Tigers are coming off back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2018. They’ve also won at least one playoff game in each of the last two years. That’s something Aberdeen hadn’t done in seven years. It had just 16 total wins from 2018-21.
The Tigers have 13 alone over the last two seasons.
“We changed a few things and addressed a few things differently. We did things a little bit different and tried to get back to maybe the roots a little bit of where we were and where we wanted to be,” Jolley said. “So I think we’ve kind of done that and hopefully over the next year or two, we can keep moving in that direction for sure.”
It will help having most everyone back from a squad whose only losses came to teams who either made the state semifinals, played for or won a state championship last season. The Bengals also boasted both a top-10 offense and defense.
Lupe Ortiz is back under center.
The junior was the 2A South East Idaho Conference Offensive Player of the Year in a league with West Side, which has four state titles over the last five years. It was also his first year ever playing the position
“We’re definitely excited to have Lupe back for sure,” Jolley said. “I don’t want to say he got thrown into being the quarterback, but he really only started doing it last June. So it’s been nice this summer to talk with him and actually coach him after having a year under his belt and get a little feedback from him.
“It’s nice to be able to communicate with a guy that has a little more bearing of what’s actually going on.”
The backfield is filled with talent too in the form of seniors Luke Shackelford, Eston Beck and Canon Foster. Shackelford was a second-team all-conference running back a year ago. Beck is the younger brother of Hiatt Beck, who won Aberdeen’s first state title for boys wrestling in 18 years last spring, and was an all-league defensive back. And Foster was the team’s leading receiver last year at tight end. It’s actually a position he’s played before. Foster was one of the starting running backs two years ago.
“It brings a lot of firepower and a lot of experience,” Jolley said. “We’re not really concerned with them. It’s about whether we can make holes for them to run through. So that’s kind of where our focus has been and making sure once those guys like Lupe have the ball, they have somewhere to go with it and are just not running for their lives.”
Senior Campbell Harris and junior Ivan Bribiezca will look to make sure that’s the case. Harris racked up all-league honors at both linebacker (first team) and along the offensive line (second team). He’ll lead a stout linebacking corps, featuring junior Tannon Nelson, a first-team all defensive end last season who’ll also play fullback, and Shackelford.
Bribiezca earned honorable mention at center a year ago.
The last all-conference back from last season is senior Mitchell Elliott. He was a second-team wideout who’ll move over to tight end.
But both senior Jaden Nelson (OL) − Tannon’s older brother − and Eseban Serna (TE), both saw snaps on varsity in 2023.
So is a third consecutive winning season and perhaps more in store for Aberdeen in 2024? It’s something the program hasn’t done since 2016 − the end of a three-year run that saw the Tigers play in back-to-back state championship games (2014-15) and record a third-place finish (2016). So the only thing missing for them is a state title.
“I think that’s not unreasonable at all. We brought a lot of guys back,” Jolley said. “The expectations are not any different than they have been over the last couple years. So we’re going for another winning season and into the playoffs and see if we can’t play for a blue trophy at the end.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0