Resilience marks this years' Badgers
November 14, 2013
By Coach Ed DePriest

Although it was not the way any Badger player or fan would have liked, the 2013 football season came to an end in Homedale Saturday with a 67-0 loss to a very strong Homedale team.

The Badgers played very well in the first quarter, holding the high powered Trojan offense to no points. The Badger plan was to keep the ball away from the Homedale offense, which was working until a miscue on a fourth and one at mid-field caused the Badgers to turn the ball over.

Homedale capitalized and took the lead moments later. An interception, short punt, and some missed assignments resulted in a blitz of 33 points in an eight minute period to give Homedale a 33-0 lead at halftime.

Homedale took the second half kickoff down the field and scored. The remainder of the game saw all players seeing playing time in what was the last game for the Badger seniors.

This 2013 season was the culmination of a challenging four years for this senior class.

Having five coaches over the four year period, these seniors have to be given kudos for sticking it out and turning around last year’s 0-8 season into a winning regular season of 5-4 and a trip to the state playoffs.

As was the last Badger football team's trip to state in 2010 against Fruitland, these Badgers drew their first state playoff game against what may end up being the eventual state champions in Homedale.

When looking at the season, the Badgers losses came at the hands of some very strong teams. Freeman of Washington is undefeated and quite possibly a state champion. Orofino was 8-1 with their only loss coming to perennial power Grangeville. Timberlake played Fruitland tough before falling last weekend, and Homedale, who beat Fruitland 35-13 earlier this season, could very well end up a state champion.

These Badgers never gave up and came from behind in games against Libby and Medical Lake for wins. Although many times over-matched in numbers and size, the Badgers played hard to the end of every game this season.

If one word were to describe this team, it would have to be resilient.

The loss of two two-way players mid-way through the season and a couple of players due to athletic code violations 24 hours before the Homedale game, presented many Badger players the opportunity to step up and contribute.

These players and the team were able to adjust and finish the season with wins over Priest River and Kellogg to qualify for state.

The Badgers will lose the following seniors: Kyler Rice, Connor Bennett, Bryan Youmans, Josh Pluid, Christian Trocke, Matt Sabin, Anthony Skeen, Sean Varelman, Jack Rossi, Robert Swanson, Mat Kramer, Cody Luckey, Travis Beck, Quinn Cummings, Chase Hannahs, Brandon Newsom, Jonathon Gaspar, Parker Davis, and Wyatt Snider.

These seniors demonstrated Badger pride throughout their careers and, as with all Badger football alumni, are now members of a very special group who will forever be Badger football players.

As we look to the future, we must acknowledge and address some realities. The games that the Badgers lost were to teams who were bigger, faster and stronger.

They got that way because they have paid the price of hard work in the off-season.

If we want to compete with the likes of Freeman, Timberlake, and Homedale, we must, as players, coaches, parents, and a community, commit to doing what is necessary to get bigger, faster and stronger.

To meet this challenge will take sacrifice and a team effort.

It will mean a consistent off-season commitment to weight-lifting and conditioning. You don’t win games from August to November, you win games by what you do from January to August.

If we all don’t make this commitment, then not much will change. We will win a few, lose a few, and most likely have the same results as we have the past five to ten years.

Again, I would like to offer a huge thank you to this year’s team and those 19 seniors who are now moving into the next phase of life. Your efforts this season can be the catalyst for a positive change in the direction of Badger football.

As I have said before: As Badger alumni, take the opportunity, whenever possible, to come back and give back to the Badgers of the future. Good luck in whatever direction your lives take you, and thank you.