"3 Stars" for 3 Teams

Photo Courtesy: Michelle Slate

Every weekend, the Idaho8Man crew picks its "3 Stars" for the past week. The idea is to find three of the best individual performers and give them the credit that they've earned with strong play on the field.

This week, we went with a little different format. Instead of three individuals, we went with three teams.

It's three teams that have struggled in recent years but, as good coaches or mentors will tell you, all great journeys begin with a good first step. Perhaps, down the road, we'll look back at the weekend of September 15, 2017, and realize we saw the first step for Rimrock, Sho-Ban and Murtaugh.

Rimrock (3-1) won eight games in 2011 but had hit a dry spell since then, going 9-29 on the field between 2012 and 2016. But early wins over Valley's JV, Shoshone and Cascade likely have Raider fans thinking about the 1A Division 1 postseason, somewhere the team hasn't been in a while.

First-year head coach Mark Martell's group has shown marked progress on defense this season, only allowing one team - a good Rockland squad - to score over 20 points through four games. The Raiders face another very good team, Tri-Valley, this week before entering Western Idaho Conference play and the WIC seems wide, wide open this fall.

Meanwhile, Rimrock's former head coach, Todd Jensen, is now down the road at Murtaugh (1-2). After multiple seasons serving as the "name" of a co-operative agreement between Murtaugh and Hansen, the Red Devils are by themselves this season and snapped a 28-game losing streak with a 56-18 win at home over Richfield on Friday. The Red Devils hung in against both Dietrich and Camas County before breaking through against Richfield. Now, it's time for the former co-op to face off against one another as Murtaugh will host Hansen in the "Wagon Wheel" game on Friday as the former teammates will line up against each other.

The third team mentioned is the Sho-Ban Chiefs. Andrew Baldwin's team defeated Owyhee (NV) on Friday to even its ledger at two wins and two losses. What's notable about that is the Chiefs won one game last season, only fielded a team for one game the three seasons before that, and its overall record between 2009 and 2016 was 2-41. Two wins. One last season and one (a forfeit win) in 2012.

In looking at the team's upcoming schedule, it's not impossible to see another win or two in Sho-Ban's future, either. The fans in Fort Hall can get excited as the Chiefs continue to make strides.

First, you learn how to stand, then you learn how to walk. Once you learn how to walk, you learn how to run. These three teams, on the heels of some tough seasons, are starting to walk. Only the future will tell us how quickly they begin to run but it's good to see these programs taste some success and see rewards for the time and energy invested on and off the field.

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