To quote an old country adage, the hay is in the barn. Which in this case means it’s time for fall sports and a new football season to begin. This Friday evening the Braves will try and extend their 21-game winning streak on the road as they face the Shelley Russets for a 7 p.m. varsity kick-off time.

Despite the graduated players such as Bryson Nield, who rewrote nearly all of the SVHS receiving records last season, and record-setting quarterback Smith McClure, the passing game still looks to be plenty talented. In fact, it seems as though the Braves will be reloading again rather than looking for playmakers. There is also the obvious question of potential pressure to extend the three-peat which the program accomplished last fall. Head coach McKay Young says that this year’s team is once again embracing the opportunity.

“The thing with this bunch, is that a lot of those guys would have been good enough to be varsity football players for a lot of teams,” he said of the returning seniors. “They had to bide their time. They had a great JV season with big wins over Highland and Rigby. This is a senior-laden team and they are hungry for their time to write their chapter in the book. I don’t think there’s any over-confidence, I think there’s just some hunger for their turn.”

In fact, there are 28 seniors chomping at the bit to write their own history.

“To have 28 [seniors] out for football is pretty exciting,” Young added. “There’s a different kind of hunger for a senior.”

Returning skill players such as Cooper Lancaster and Roman Erickson will be some of the more obvious returning players, as well as lineman Ryan Talbot. Running backs like Kyan Watson and Nathan Haderlie appear poised to have breakout years, not to mention returning senior Elia Matautia who might be one of the more physically imposing players in Wyoming this season.

“I honestly think we will be as balanced as we have the last several years,” Young said in describing the offense. “We have some good running backs but this is as talented a group of receivers we’ve ever had which is saying something. That’s getting ahead of ourselves in August, but we feel really good about our skill guys and Phoenixx Hovey has put in a ton of time at quarterback. He’s fundamentally sound and super confident and surrounded by a lot of weapons. So there’s a lot to be excited about.”

The Russets played last weekend, falling to Star Valley’s next opponent, the Preston Indians, 37-17.

The Star Valley freshman team will face Shelley at 4 p.m. prior to the varsity kick-off.

“We’re just really excited to finally get going,” Young concluded. “The kids have put a lot of time in over the last nine months to be prepared for this. Especially for these seniors as they are going into their last season.”

“Shelley has one of the best traditions in Idaho. It’s a place that’s used to having success. We expect the games to be good ones but it’s Zero Week so it’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen.”

SVI Media will be at all football games this season with pre-game coverage starting at svinews.com and on the SVI Media YouTube channel at 6:30 p.m.

For more social media coverage, follow this writer on X @DahlErickson as well as accounts from @SVIRadio and @SVI.

Look for amazing new content this season on Instagram @svi_sports_network and @SVI. Look for more disappointing posts from @sportsllama.