Carson High football faces unknown in season opener

POCATELLO, Idaho — Carson High football coach Blair Roman admitted he enters Saturday’s season opener against Lewiston at Idaho State University with some trepidation.

The Bengals went 9-1, losing in the first round of the Idaho state playoffs. The head coach left, and Mathew Pancheri took over. Therein lies the problem.

The Bengals were pass happy a year ago. According to Roman, Lewiston didn’t have a scrimmage, thus he has no new film to look at.

“It’s similar when we played Del Campo (2011),” Roman said. “It’s hard to predict what they are going to do. Their offensive staff is still there. The new head coach was more of a defensive guy.

“They threw it a ton last year; ran pretty much an ‘Air Raid’ offense. The biggest thing we have to be able to do is adjust on the fly.”

Pancheri said the Bengals’ offense has changed somewhat. He said the Bengals have just one starter returning this season.

“We are not going to throw as much as they did last year,” Pancheri said in a phone interview this week. “They threw it 75 to 80 percent of the time, but they had a Division I quarterback.

“Things have gone well so far. We’re getting things together and seeing what we need to do better. We are trying to become a physical football team. We have a very good junior class.”

Junior Tyson Wallace is under center for the Bengals. Pancheri is also high on Treyce Bradley, a 6-foot, 200-pound defensive back and tight end.

“He (Bradley) is a pretty special player,” Pancheri said.

So is Carson’s Abel Carter, and Pancheri is impressed with the Carson standout, who rushed for 1,887 yards and 24 scores a year ago en route to all-league and all-region honors.

“He’s legit,” Pancheri said. “He’s an absolute special player on both sides of the ball from what I could see from the two game films I got.

“I know they have a few linemen back. Obviously they try to run the ball; be physical with you.”

That’s no secret.

“We are still looking for the complementary back to Abel,” Roman said. “We are looking to see who steps up. Kyle (Rudy) is at the top of that list. He is very quick. Hayden Story has looked good at H back.

“I think our offensive line (Blaise Bonomo, Brandon Macias, Dallin Shaffer, Clayton Greene, Carl Cavner, and Vinnie Hershman) has a chance to be real good.”

Dan Morrison starts at quarterback. His back-up, Logan Menzel, has been ill, and his status has been day-to-day. Roman hinted he might bring sophomore Jon Laplante to use in emergency situations.

“Dan has looked solid this week (in practice),” Roman said.

NOTES: The Senators have some nagging injuries. Roman still isn’t sure if starting cornerback Kyle Glanzmann will play … This game is part of the annual Rocky Mountain Rumble. Douglas (9 a.m.), Carson, Galena (6 p.m.) and Spanish Springs (3 p.m.) are also in the event. There are six games total, two on Friday and four on Saturday, all at Holt Arena.