BOISE, Idaho — What started out as a season to build on quickly turned sour for the Timberline High School football team.
In 2021, the Wolves went 5-4 and earned a spot in the 5A state playoffs.
In 2022, they failed to win a single game.
Seventh-year head coach Ian Smart said last season was "an eye-opener" for a lot of Timberline's roster as it was the "first kind of lack of success that they've had."
"Everybody had just like, has such an awful taste from last year," senior tight end and defensive tackle Lucas Midgett said. "They just want to move on and win."
Turning the page and finding success is something Smart, Midgett and the Wolves think they are capable of doing this year for a number of reasons.
Last year, the Timberline freshman team went 9-0, winning the 5A Southern Idaho Conference (SIC) title.
"They're coming up expecting to come play and take people's jobs," Smart said. "So, I think for us, competition breeds greatness."
"It's fun to see them because they don't lose, they win," Midgett added. "It's in there helping bring new energy to the team."
That 'energy' shift has been felt by everyone.
"I mean, everything is different," senior wide receiver Aiden Nixon said. "With the new leadership and the new coaching, I think we got like a different kind of confidence this year."
Also new this year, a bell etched with the letters E.D.G.E.
Energy. Details. Grit. Emotional consistency.
"That's the motto we're living by and every day, we have to come in and ring the bell," Midgett said. "That is what we are going to hold ourselves accountable to."
The Wolves open up their season against cross-town rival Boise on Friday, Aug. 18.
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