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New Plymouth High School
School Info
Conference: 2A Western Idaho Conference
Classification: 2A
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Head Coach: Dallan Rupp
Years as Head Coach: 2nd Season
Previous Experience: Assistant Coach at Mountain Home (2006-2012)
Record Last Year: 7-2
State Titles: None
Assistant Coaches:
Jeff Church
Eric Pfeifer
Cody Pfeifer
Cable Campbell
Jason Mowder
Returning Players:
Teegan Petross (Sr, OL/DL)
Justin Griffith (Sr, RB/LB)
Clayton King (Sr, WR/S)
Austin Creek (Sr, OL/DL)
Tate Yager (Sr, WR/CB)
Jake Wilson (Jr, RB/LB)
Cody Fernley (Jr, WR/CB)
Connor Buck (Jr, WR/OLB)
Dylan Hendry (Soph, OL/DL)
Returning Players with Honors:
Teegan Petross (1st-Team All-WIC OT and DE)
Tate Yager (1st-Team All-WIC CB)
Justin Griffith (1st-Team All-WIC LB, 2nd-Team All-WIC TE)
Austin Creek (2nd-Team All-WIC OG)
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Photo By: Patty Theurer - #54 Teegan Petross
“Key Players” lost from last year:
QB/FS Kyler Harris
WR/OLB Tyler Powerll
RB/LB Chase Bowen
OL/DL Marcus Davis
Incoming “impact” players:
Dylan Kuhlmann (Jr, OL/DL)
Dallin Beus (Soph, OL/LB)
Teagan Gross (Soph, RB/LB)
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Team Preview:
Written by: Will Hoenike (@willhoenike)
Second-year head coach Dallan Rupp, fresh off a 7-2 season in 2014, has some work to do in anticipation of the 2015 season.
“Our major challenge is going to be replacing the offensive production that we lost with last year’s seniors,” Rupp told IdahoSports.com. “(Chase) Bowen, (Kyler) Harris and (Tyler) Powell combined for 78 percent of our team’s total offense.”
It was a pretty good offense, too, generating 329 points (36.5 points/game). Though Rupp and his staff need to find some new headliners, there appears to be a good group of athletes to choose from to make plays. Clayton King, Tate Yager, Cody Fernley and Connor Buck all return in a pass-catching role for the Pilgrims and Jake Wilson returns in the backfield as a running back along with Justin Griffith, who was an all-conference tight end as a junior.
“It’s exciting to see new, young guys come in and step into a role and then watch as the team comes together,” Rupp observed.
Exactly who steps under center to direct the offense is still up in the air, but offensive line should be a strength for the Pilgrims. All-conference tackle Teegan Petross returns along with second-team All-Conference guard Austin Creek. Sophomore Dylan Hendry also returns to the offensive line that should be joined by junior Dylan Kuhlmann, making it a big, experienced group to keep the Pilgrims’ ground game in gear.
That same group – Petross, Creek and Hendry, along with Kuhlmann – will anchor the team’s defense along the front line. Rupp has three returning starters at linebacker, with Griffith and Wilson being joined by Buck.
Sophomores Dallin Beus and Teagan Gross should also see snaps from the linebacker position, providing depth for the New Plymouth defense as the group, as a whole, looks to be more efficient getting off the field on third downs as well as creating more turnovers.
The Pilgrim secondary returns a ton of experience with King at safety and Yager and Fernley returning at cornerback. Yager was first-team all-conference as a junior.
The 2A Western Idaho Conference, last season, came down to New Plymouth’s game at Nampa Christian. The Pilgrims pulled out an exciting, 27-20, win and turned that into a conference championship. It’s a matchup that Rupp says fans should be excited to see on Oct. 9 on New Plymouth’s home field.
“It’s been a tight game in each of the past two seasons,” Rupp reminisced. “Last year, it decided the conference championship.”
Looming large in New Plymouth’s WIC title defense is this: the Pilgrims have just three home games in 2015. The ability to win on the road will make or break the Pilgrim season with three of five conference games away from New Plymouth.
That makes road games at McCall-Donnelly (Sept. 25) and at Marsing (Oct. 2) pivotal on the Pilgrims’ schedule. Wins there will set New Plymouth up for another chance to win the conference championship and appearance in the state playoffs.
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