Bonners Ferry Badgers

Fall sports wrap up. By Robert Lavala. Photos by Karen Perkins.

Football – As faithful fans went to all the home games and many braved the distance to go to the away games, we understood that we were the underdogs. We had 18 players in uniform for the Varsity squad on a good day, and on most other days we had between 13 and 15 in gear and ready to take on all challengers.

One thing our young men do not lack is heart. They play as hard as they can and do the best with what they have been given. With the coaching staff having its issues early on and our team being so young, we were in for a tough season. You could only have Badger pride watching our 13 players face Timberlake in our final away game. After all, Timberlake had almost 50 players and 18 of them were seniors. Awesome job guys!

Next year we are looking to be more mature and will be ready to go the distance. According to Athletic Director Keith Carey, “We are opening up the coaching positions for the 2015 season and taking applications. I know that whoever ends up getting the coaching job is going to be getting a great group of athletes next year. This year we were young and it showed up sometimes, but we always had the athletes to be able to compete. Next year we will have more experience and the athletes we have will be even better.”

Soccer - Coach Ed Moe led the Badger Soccer team to an amazing season, placing fifth in State and having an overall record of 11-9-1. This total included the non-league games against much more difficult opponents as well as matches at Districts and State. Coach said, “We went 1-2 at State, losing in the quarterfinals 5-0 to the eventual State champ Wendell, bounced back the following day to edge American Falls 2-1 on penalty kicks, then fell on Saturday in the 4th place game to Community School of Ketchum 2-0.”

I asked Coach Moe what he attributes to the success of the program: “Bonners Ferry's six state trophies are second only to the Community School of Ketchum, which just two weeks ago surpassed us with their seventh. Only three schools, Payette, Gooding, and Wendell, have won multiple state titles. I have basically kept the program steered in the right direction, a path smoothly paved by my predecessors.”

Coach: (I really like) “the daily interaction with the boys at practice, watching their development and improvement over the course of an 11 week season, and helping guide them to success on the field. It's been a fun ride!”

Volleyball – Spending a few minutes with coach Kendra Maas, you can tell she is excited about what happened with the very talented girls’ volleyball team this year. She cited the dedication of the girls for their first return to State in 20 years! “I don't ever give them the option of losing,” Mass said and added, “We had a great season.” The final league record was an amazing 8-0 placing the Badgers in first place in their bracket going into the State tournament in Twin Falls. Maas is looking forward to another great year in 2015. This year's Varsity line up included Jasmine Hill, Mackenzie Mendenhall, Savannah Woods, Amanda Wilson, Malorie Stippich, Jayten Everheart, Ciera Woods, Aaliyah Zarate, Miranda Wenk, and Kadi Bateman. Great job ladies!

Coach: “It is great as a coach struggling with who to put in as a starter.”

Cross Country – Asking coach Tyler Warner how the teams did this year, he said excitedly, “Pretty dang good!” The overall sense from Coach Warner was that not only is this year’s cross country squad really exciting to work with, but those coming back for next year are going to bring a high level of competitiveness to the teams.

Coach Warner coaches both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams and tells me that since the workouts are virtually the same, “... it is pretty easy to coach both”. Other differences he mentioned was the fact that the boys like, “Rah, rah, rah and 'chest-thumping.'” While the girls are a bit more technical in their need of affirmation and coaxing. “Although,” Warner said, “One of my girls is a huge Seattle Seahawks fan and to get her motivated I would just tell her to go 'Beast Mode'! One of her favorite players is Marshawn Lynch who uses that terminology. When I use that she really bears down... she gets it”.

The season this year was capped off by the entire boys’ team going to State and one of the top girls qualifying for State. Jacob Perkins won the Division 1, 3A Championship and the teams, overall, did very well.

Coach: I really like, “...hearing a freshman say at State, 'We ran at State! How cool is that?'”

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