PREP FOOTBALL PREVIEWS: West Side looks to continue arguably the state's most impressive dynasty

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: West Side Pirates

2023 IN REVIEW:

9-2 (first place in 2A South East Idaho Conference)Beat Declo 41-13 in Class 2A state championship game

COACH’S RESUME:

Head Coach: Tyson Moser, 16th seasonOverall record: 136-27Assistant coaches: Tyler Brown, Richard Condie, Mike Robinson, Colby Crozier, Wayne Henderson, Kasey Fredrickson, Zayne Fredrickson, Lyle Henderson, Josh Blaisdell, Jacob Stokes

RETURNING STARTERS:

5 on offense5 on defense

There’s a strong case to be made that no program has been better over the last 20 years than West Side.

It has 177 wins, 18 playoff appearances, a 35-game winning streak − the best in Idaho since Snake River racked up 54 from 1998-2002 − no losing seasons and seven state championships during that time frame. Head coach Tyson Moser has been at the helm for six of those titles, which puts him third on the all-time list.

“Yeah, it’s hard to believe sometimes,” Moser said. “I’ve just been really lucky to keep the same staff. Someone texted me the other and asked me if I had all my coaches back and I do. That’s pretty rare. It really is to have the same guys with you through that whole stretch.

“So it’s been a fun run for sure.”

And if history is any indication, it's one that will continue on this season.

But it will have to do so with largely a new crew. The Pirates lost five all-state and 10 all-league players, including reigning Class 2A Player of the Year, Parker Moser − Tyson's son. However, they really haven’t had any problems reloading from year to year.

The last losing season in Dayton was all the way back in 2001.

“It starts when the kids are young. There’s just kind of an expectation there,” Tyson said. “Once you get the kids believing that they’re not going to lose football games, it just kind of starts to feed itself.

“That’s why momentum and tradition are so hard to stop sometimes.”

Crew Sage is one will be looking to maintain that this season.

He was one of the heroes of last year’s state championship game. The senior defensive back had not one, but two interceptions in the final against a Declo team that handed West Side its first home loss in nearly six years during his absence in the regular season. It was one of four games he missed with a leg injury. Sage still did enough to walk away with first-team all-state honors, though. Yet, the Pirates may need him more on the offensive side to fill the void left by Parker at tailback where Sage was an all-conference player running the ball himself at fullback.

“Crew’s going to be a huge player for us. So we have to keep him healthy. He’ll step in and take over where Parker left off last year,” Tyson said. “He’s got a ton of potential and he is obviously a great defensive player for us, too. So Crew should be a big part of what we do this year.”

Joining him in the usual three-man backfield at West Side will be junior Judd Selley, who was a second-team all-league offensive lineman last year, and sophomore Drake Sage − Crew’s younger brother. It’s a unit that Tyson actually feels will be more balanced than last year.

They all should benefit from having Raef Graves back to block for them, too. The 6-foot, 190-pound senior guard was a first-team all-state offensive lineman last season. He’ll anchor a line that also includes another all-state player in senior Dallas Nelsen, who had 50 tackles and 10 tackles-for-loss on the defensive side last year, and fellow senior Ivan Campbell, a second-team all-conference player at tight end in 2023 who’ll be back on the defensive line, as well.

“So really there’s three guys there that played every game all game last year on that front six,” Tyson said. “So that’s going to be huge, especially when we’re having a new quarterback. It’s going to be super nice to have that experience on the line.”

That quarterback will likely be Trayce Stone. The senior was a second-team all-league utility player a year ago when he played wingback. Stone, though, did take all of the backup quarterback reps last year.

He’s more of a mobile quarterback, which Tyson said the program hasn’t really had in some time.

“That’ll be interesting. He’s a pretty quick kid and throws a decent ball. So we’ll find out what he can do,” Tyson said. “It’s gonna take him some time. He didn’t grow up in our system. He grew up actually in Preston and he moved here as a junior. But I was really happy with where he was during our summer camp.”

With another state title, West Side would tie Snake River for the second-most in Idaho history at 10. But for Tyson, it’s never really been about that.

“Our goal is really never to win the state championship. I think that’s kind of an unrealistic goal. Our goal is to be in the hunt,” Tyson said. “I think it’s been seven straight years in the semis. The championships are great, but it’s just consistently putting out winning teams. I think that’s probably what I’m most proud of.”