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: The North Gem Cowboys
2023 IN REVIEW:
5-4 (second place in 1A DII Rocky Mountain Conference)Missed state
COACH’S RESUME:
Head Coach: Corry Hatch, fifth seasonOverall record: 19-17Assistant coaches: Tracey Corta, Scott Hayden
RETURNING STARTERS:
7 on offense7 on defense
BANCROFT — Eight-man football is what has kept football alive in smaller high schools across Idaho. But with those six less players on the field, it simply proves to be a different dynamic to the game for both teams.
For North Gem High School, the 2023 season additionally proved different and difficult when only nine players came out for the team.
This was a challenge, but after losing the first two games of the season, the Cowboys went on to win five games in a row and finished the season with a 5-4 winning record, good enough for second place in the Rocky Mountain Conference.
The challenge is always there with such a small team. North Gem is the smallest school by enrollment in Idaho to offer varsity football on its own. Many schools of its size, offer co-op football by partnering with another larger school, but not North Gem.
Head coach Corry Hatch took over the football program for the Cowboys in 2020. He established a run first kind of team.
“Well, we are kind of a run only kind of team. We run an offense that keeps the ball on the ground,” Hatch said. “It has become our identity as a football team.”
Hatch will lead the team this season with Tracey Corta as his offensive coordinator and Scott Hayden as the defensive coordinator.
“There are no chances taken by our team. No 50/50 plays,” Hatch said. “We control the ball, the clock, the down, distance and the game. It has worked well for us.”
In the last four seasons, the Cowboys have compiled a 19-17 record, winning the conference championship in 2021 and being runner-up in 2020 and 2023.
Only two seniors graduated last season from the Cowboys’ nine-man roster, leaving the team loaded with seven experienced players returning this season.
Those seven are Hayden Frandsen, Rusty Hatch, Ryver Hayden, Kamaka Miller, Luke Rindlisbaker, Lukky Welker and Craig Yost with five more expected to join later on, according to Corry.
They will all play key roles for the Cowboy this season.
Yost was recently listed as a top-10 running back in the state by Idahosports.com. So he is unquestionably a force to be reckoned with.
As a fullback last season, he compiled 1,100 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Coach Hatch believes Yost is on track to do at least that again this year.
His son Rusty, is the returning quarterback who will lead the team’s offense. He is looking for his third consecutive 1,000-yard season and another dozen touchdowns to add to his already impressive career totals.
The offensive line is an experienced group returning to the trenches. They’ll undoubtedly be key to the team’s “More Runnin’” mantra this season.
Corry said that since 2020, the Cowboys have had games where they don’t pass at all. They come to the field on Friday nights to run the ball.
One potential challenge, is that North Gem’s tiny roster leaves no room for injuries or illness.
But the Cowboys have all positive thoughts going into the 2024 football season with hopes of winning the conference championship.
The players are North Gem tough and plan to execute that on the field.
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